Shmaltz Brewing To End Its 25 Year Run

“You can’t start a new chapter without putting a period on the last one. Otherwise it’s just a typo.” –  Shmaltz founder and owner Jeremy Cowan

Shmaltz Brewing Company has announced its farewell season after 25 years in the beer business and what an incrediable run it has been.

Founded by Jeremy Cowan more than two decades ago, Shmaltz Brewing has always been fun to watch. The brand has had an infectious sense of humor that’s as winning as Cowan’s bigger-than-life personality and humorous spirit.

And under his direction, what began as a quirky holiday experiment, evolved into an award-winning operation known for its creative beers and brand building, and as a champion of contract brewing.

When Cowan began hand-delivering his beer out of his grandmother’s Volvo, in 1996 there were only 700 craft breweries, only 25 of the overall beer market.

Along with other “Class of ’96” breweries (Stone, Firestone Walker, Victory, Three Floyds, Two Brothers, Original Sin, Iron Hill, Coronado and many others) Shmaltz put roots down for an industry that has grown to nearly 10,000 craft brewers and over 20% of the overall beer market by revenue.

Shmaltz operated the “World’s Smallest Commercial Brewery” in Coney Island, Brooklyn, which spearheaded the creation of Coney Island Craft Lagers (sold to Alchemy & Science, a division of Boston Beer Company). And under Cowan’s guidance “HE’BREW Beer” found its way into fanatical TV shows and motion pictures such as Friends, Garden State, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, CNN Headline News, The Today Show, and many others.

Shmaltz secured the only license from CBS Consumer Products to brew two critically acclaimed Star Trek Golden Anniversary Ales to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the iconic franchise, Star Trek. And later released a Collector’s Edition beer commemorating the 30th Anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Proudly participating across the spectrum of the Jewish community with non-profits, arts groups, and service organizations, “HE’BREW Beer” made it to the White House for “Jewish Heritage Night” and served during multiple presidencies (Bush, Clinton, Obama), as well as multiple eras of New York City Mayors.

A bottle HE’BREW Beer remains in the permanent collection at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco.

Over it 25 years in the biz, Cowan’s brewery always overachieved…

Shmaltz was ranked one of the “Top 100 Brewers in the World” by RateBeer in 2013.vAnd the brewery amassed more than 50 medals at the leading craft beer festivals, including the Great American Beer Festival, World Beer Championships, US Beer Tasting Championships, and others.

With plans to cease operations at the end of 2021 Shmaltz Brewing is going out with a bang with special Anniversary releases and a nationwide tour celebrating the brand and its legacy.

Cowan, who touches on a quote that may or may not be from Groucho Marx, ‘You can’t start a new chapter without putting a period on the last one. Otherwise it’s just a typo,’ has plans to stay involved in several different the brewing biz.

Cowan and his staff will continue to focus on Alphabet City Brewing Company, the 518 Craft tasting room in Troy, New York and furthering their consulting practice helping other craft brewers.