Our Israeli craft breweries have been introducing new beers throughout the war, although it’s understandable why there have been fewer than in previous years.
Here are some new ones you should try during this holiday season.
Israeli craft beers for the holidays
The Oak & Ash Brewery in Beit Shemesh has been issuing boxes of four new beers at a time. The bottles are only numbered and to know what each bottle contains, you have to read the box.
For example, the box called “Meet the Brewer” contains four beers, each created by a different Oak & Ash brewer.
The American Pale Ale is dry-hopped five times, which gives it very hoppy aromas and flavors. I picked up on sweet citrus, floral, melon, lemon, and pine. Yet, it is not very bitter. The body is thin, the finish is dry and refreshing. Alcohol by volume (ABV) is 4.7%.
Black IPA is a beer style that combines characteristics of stout and India pale ale. This Oak & Ash version is brewed with oatmeal and is called Here and There, which makes perfect sense. It is very dark brown, with aromas of sourdough bread and roasted malt, but very little from the hops. The balance is heavily in favor of the stout over the IPA, until the finish when the hop flavors come through. It’s a beer that’s fun to drink, with ABV at 5%.
A third beer from the box is called I Love Sour, a sour beer brewed with bergamot citrus, lime juice, and lemon zest. The aroma and the flavor are lemony, just a wee bit sour. It’s a refreshing drink, perfect for hot days, and the 4% ABV means you can drink a lot of it. I felt it would be more “beery” if there was a stronger hop presence.
Oak & Ash beers are not so easy to find in beer and liquor stores, but you can easily order them from the online store (oaa.co.il).
ALSO ISSUING new beers on a regular basis is the Schnitt Brewpub in Tel Aviv. Since its opening two years ago, Schnitt has only sold its beers to customers at the pub. A few months ago, it began to brew and can its beers at the BeerBazaar Brewery in Kfar Daniel. Partner Amir Neuman told me that the plan was to introduce new cans for sale every month. “Most of the new issues will be one-time brews,” he said, “but we also have cans of core beers which will always be available.”
Four core beers have already been issued. In the Little is called a Session IPA, which means you can drink more than one during a “session.” The beer has an ABV of 4.5% and is brewed with three American hops that give it aromas of citrus and pine, and flavors of grapes, melon, and peach. It is a flavorful beer with a robust body and thoroughly enjoyable.
Yes Yes, No No is a classical Bavarian wheat beer (hefeweizen), at 5.2% ABV. It’s hazy as it should be, with aromas of bread and banana. The flavors are banana and cloves (also as it should be). It’s a bit on the heavy side for a Bavarian wheat, but if you like this style of beer, you should say “yes” to Yes Yes, No No.
The other two core beers are Why Like This, a dry-hopped blonde ale; and What Was Was, a New England IPA, fruity and aromatic.
The cans of Schnitt beer, the core beers and the limited editions, are available for purchase online (Hebrew only) at schnitt.co.il/product/8-cans/
ANOTHER BREWERY that has begun to can its beers is Herzl, located in the Tefen Industrial Area. The brewery is shared by Herzl, Negev, and Malka, under the ownership of Hacarem Spirits Ltd. All three are now issuing their core beers in cans, but only Herzl is using cans exclusively.
Herzl’s new beer is called Hazy Shmazy. It’s a hazy IPA, a beer style that is almost synonymous with New England IPA. Most of them get their haziness from the addition of oats to the brewing process (as is the case for Hazy Shmazy) and are known for their intense fruit flavors and aromas, a smooth, “juicy” mouthfeel and, of course, a very substantial cloudiness.
Hazy Shmazy is very hazy and very pale. It has aromas and flavors of pine, kiwi, mango, and other tropical fruits – in short, delicious. There’s an extra bitterness behind the fruit that makes you want to keep drinking. And you can, since the alcohol is a moderate 5.5%.
HAGIBOR BREWERY (“the hero”) in Karmiel has a new beer honoring all the women heroines – civilians and soldiers – “who are all around us and give us inspiration, strength, and significance.”
It’s a lager named HaGiborot (“the heroines”), made with lemon grass, ABV 4.8%.
It pours out clear and very pale. You get a weak aroma of lemon, but the lemon flavor increases with the swallow. This is a very simple lager, nothing complex, but quite refreshing and thirst-quenching.
QUITE THE opposite is a new beer from the Shevet (“tribe”) Brewstillery in Pardess Hanna. To their six core beers they have added Tipsy Wizard, a strong Belgian triple ale, weighing in at 9% ABV!
It’s a golden, semi-hazy color, with strong aromas of bread, sweet spice, and alcohol. The taste is very rich and fulfilling: Cloves, sweet banana, and perhaps a touch of plum. There’s also alcohol in the taste, but it doesn’t interfere with the other flavors. The mouthfeel is dry and full. This is a sipping beer that you’ll appreciate more as the days get cooler.
THE HATCH Brewery, Jerusalem’s only commercial brewery, produces new beers on an almost continuous basis. Under the guiding hands of owner Ephraim Greenblatt and brewmaster Shmuel (“Schmulz”) Naky, many of these beers are highly unusual, to say the least.
The one I tried most recently is called Farm Culture, which is one of the possible translations from the original Hebrew. It is a Saison-style beer aged in barrels with tarragon herb and sugar apple (sometimes called custard apple or sweetsops). In addition to barley malt, the grains include wheat and rye malt. ABV is 6.1%.
The beer is a hazy, grayish orange color. The aroma was new to me: Some kind of herbal or spice, together with tangerine. I don’t know the smell or taste of tarragon, but I suspect that was it. The taste was slightly sour, with that same herb. Even though I am not a big fan of sour beers, I thought Farm Culture was very refreshing and enjoyable.
Hatch beers are not generally available in liquor stores. However, they do have an attractive and informative website in English where you can order their beers (hatchbrewery.co.il/en/).
LASTLY, there is a new Session IPA from the Srigim Brewery on Moshav Srigim (Li-On). This brewery produces two brands: Ronen and Emek Ha’ela, and the new beer bears the latter name. Srigim introduces new beers very rarely, so this is considered a main event on the Israeli craft beer scene.
The Emek Ha’ela Session IPA is brewed with the addition of wheat malt, which adds a semi-haze to its light golden color. The white head is large and fizzy.
It is very aromatic with citrus fruit, specifically grapefruit, though there is no mistaking the malt backbone. The citrus continues in the flavor, with some tropical fruit and spice – though I couldn’t be more specific than that. The finish is dry, and with a very low ABV of 3.8%, this is a true session beer that entices you to keep drinking.
The writer owns MediawiSe, an agency for advertising and direct marketing in Jerusalem. He writes a web log on Israeli craft beers called “Israel Brews and Views,” which can be found on Facebook.