By Manny Frishberg, JTNews Correspondent
In the beginning, Jeremy Cowan created a Hebrew beer upon the earth.
Yet the taste was unformed and void, and darkness was upon the face of the drinkers, and he hovered over the shoulder of the brewmaster.
And Jeremy said: “Let there be a light.” And there was a light.
And Jeremy saw the light, that it was more of a pale amber ale and that it was good; and the brewmaster divided the light from the darkness.
And so it was, that the genesis of the Schmaltz Brewing Company came—not 5,765 years ago but eight, in San Francisco—a land more often associated with Sodom than Eden in many people’s minds. That Hanukkah, Cowan borrowed $2,000, his grandmother’s Volvo, and contracted with a local microbrewery to cook up a 100-case batch of what he labeled “Hebrew Genesis” ale.
Cowan explains that the difference between “pilsner” beer and ale is all in the brewing process, meaning he technically produces and markets ales.
Of course, this was not just a spur-of-the-moment act by Cowan, now in his 30s. He said the idea of a Jewish brew was a running joke among his small circle of Jewish friends going to high school in Menlo Park, a town between San Francisco and San Jose.
The occasion for the unveiling of He’Brew Beer in Seattle was a gathering of the Ben Gurion Society put on by the Young Leadership Division of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle. The society honors members of the community between the ages 21 and 45 who already strongly support Jewish community causes.
A few dozen people mingled amid sweeping views from more than halfway up the historic Smith Tower in downtown Seattle for this post-Hanukkah beer-tasting.
When he started, Jeremy said he expected to end his first season with about 80 cases left over to share with friends, and readily admits that he “knew nothing about the beer business.” He said he did not know about distributors when he began approaching individual store owners to place his 22-ounce bottles with the Chagall-like Hasidic dancer on the label.
“I thought the trucks that go around with ‘Budweiser’ on the side were owned by Budweiser. They’re not. They’re owned by middle-men.” he said.
Remarkably, taste won out and the clear deeply colored ale sold. In the years since 1996, he has experienced monumental growth in his one-man operation, with sales rising by 500 percent two years ago and another 700 percent last year. In 2004 the Shmaltz Brewing Co. (employees: one) sold He’Brew Beer in 1,000 retail locations in 25 states.
“It’s really been an incredible experience for me, to understand a little bit more about small business, especially, and how the marketplace works,” said Cowan.
Along the way, to increase the number of stores that would handle the product, he switched from the larger single bottles to more familiar 12-ounce six-packs. He also introduced more ales, Messiah Bold and, in celebration of his eighth year in the craft-beer market, the Miraculous Jewbelation.
But there is more to making a truly Jewish beer than a few bad puns and a painting of a dancing Hasid. For a start, all three He’Brew beers are strictly kosher. To ensure the highest standards of Kashrut the brewing is all done under rabbinical supervision, and the end product is certified by the Los Angeles-based Kosher Supervision of America. One of the labels quotes Deuteronomy 8:8 in praise of barley. In addition, Jeremy said, (his tongue planted firmly in his cheek throughout most of the evening) he wanted to add another layer to the mix.
“I wanted to tie into a little bit of Jewish tradition in terms of text, in terms of culture, in terms of community. So in my head all of a sudden came up with the idea—there’s the Three Pillars of Judaism, I could have the Three Pillars of Shmaltz Brewing Co.”
After some banter for an audience that had already had a sip or two, someone in the back identified the Three Pillars of Judaism as: the People of Israel, the Land of Israel and the Torah.
“I figured it had worked out pretty well for Judaism, I could try it out for the Shmaltz Brewing Co.,” Cowan said. “Quality—that’s the first pillar. The second is community and the third pillar is schtick.”
Sticking with the theme of numbers in Judaic tradition, he said the latest brew, Miraculous Jewbelation, is a tribute to the number eight and its special place in Jewish culture. It was crafted from 8,000 pounds of eight malts, eight select varieties of European and Pacific Northwestern hops, and weighs in at a hefty 8 percent alcohol content.
“Jewish interpretation suggests that the number eight transcends the purely physical world of seven days, seven colors of the rainbow, seven continents,” he said in a press release. “Eight emanates beyond what simply exists, reflecting our human drive to participate in the evolving drama of creation.”
Near the end of the evening, Jeremy summed up his experience to date: “I figured after eight years, it really is actually, slightly a miracle that this beer exists. I made 100 cases with no experience and no idea what I was getting into. It really has been the best-of-times/the worst-of-times, heartaches and some really fun stuff along the road.”
As for tasting some of Shmaltz’s microbrews for oneself, for now that requires a trip to a neighboring state, although Cowan promised that he is in negotiations to have his ales sold in Seattle-area stores soon.