My first beer article appeared 13 years ago in this publication, when I welcomed Herzl Beer, the city’s first and only commercial brewery.
When Herzl moved to bigger and more modern quarters in 2021, the same facility was taken over by the Hatch Brewery.
Now that Hatch has closed, a third occupant – Jerusalem Brewing Co. – has moved in. Like the two others before it, it is Jerusalem’s only brewery.
To find out more about what’s going on, I visited the brewery, located in the Talpiot industrial area, accompanied by several members of the Israel Brews and Views Tasting Team.
We met brothers Eitan and Oren Nidam, who are handling the day-to-day operations of the brewery for a consortium of 10 family and friend investors. “Our main shareholders are either women or soldiers, active or in the reserves,” Eitan proudly pointed out. “Our dream was to build something with our friends that actively connects us with Jerusalem and our community. What better way to do that than with beer and the social environment it creates!”
Unlike almost every other brewer I have spoken to, Eitan, 38, and Oren, 45, started the brewery without having experience in beer culture or home-brewing. They came to Israel from Westchester, New York, though at different times. Both are married with four children (two born in Israel) and have experience in various tech enterprises. Eitan is keeping his day job in digital marketing, while Oren is devoting all of his time to growing the brewery.
‘A beer made in Jerusalem!’
The brothers were primarily motivated by their desire to engage with their city and community. Beer was chosen as the means to accomplish that. “Jerusalem shouldn’t be without a brewery,” Oren said. “We need to have a beer made in Jerusalem!”
Eitan and Oren learned the trade very quickly. Since the start of the year, when the Jerusalem Brewing Co. opened its doors, they have produced four different beers and marketed them very assertively using social media and real-time events. A fifth beer, a Lager, will be available very soon.
“Oren and I do all of the sales and distribution to bars, restaurants, and retail stores,” Eitan said. “We went to local bars and restaurants individually and asked if they would sell our beers. Customer service is very important for us.”
Oren added: “Don’t forget our outreach to catering companies, producing private label beers for weddings and other celebrations, and organizing ‘happy hours’ for hi-tech and other companies. On the evening of this recent Independence Day, we opened our brewery as an ‘urban beer garden,’ and we will continue to use it for other community events.”
Looking to the future, the brewery just purchased two 1,000-liter fermentation tanks. The fermentation stage of the brewing process is what causes most bottlenecks in production, so these new additions should enable the brewery to get more beer to the market faster.
The brewmaster is Mendel Shnider, who learned the trade while working for Hatch, and is now with the Jerusalem Brewing Co., where he is responsible for creating all of the beers.
Each of the beers has a Jerusalem-related name and a narrative label.
Shel Zahav (“of gold”) is, logically, a Golden Ale, 4.9% alcohol by volume. The label shows a golden landscape near Jerusalem. The beer is light, flowery, and mildly spicy, with low bitterness, and flavors of lemon and cloves. The tasters called it “easy to drink.” Brewmaster Shnider said that this is a beer he would normally brew as a lager, but he fermented it at a higher temperature suitable for ales.
HaSadna (“the workshop”) is the name of the street where the brewery is located, and the label shows a scene from the brewery. It is an Amber Ale, 4.7% ABV. The aromas are pine and citrus, flavors of toast and caramel. It combines the hoppiness of a Pale Ale and the sweet spiciness of a Stout. The body is full and creamy. The tasters agreed: An interesting beer and quite delicious. Shnider used Magnum hops for bittering, and then Citra for dry-hopping.
The label of Holy Roller IPA depicts an old man walking through the Mahaneh Yehuda market. “That’s our grandfather,” Eitan explained. “He was a real holy roller: A true Jerusalemite; religious, but he knew how to enjoy life. Beer and arak were never far away.”
The beer is darker than most IPAs, but the tasters felt that the aromas and flavors are classic for the style: pine and citrus (orange), flowery, with a very bitter finish. Brewed with four hops: Magnum, Simcoe, Galaxy, and Citra. A very successful IPA, 5.4% ABV.
Jerusalem Syndrome is the most recent beer, a 4.5% Stout. The label depicts a blazing fire behind a stone arch. The beer itself is totally dark, with aromas of heavily roasted malt, and tastes of bitter chocolate and cocoa. Although low in alcohol, it is very rich and roasty.
Which of these beers are the favorites? I asked Eitan. “It depends on whom you ask,” he answered. “Israelis as a group prefer the Amber Ale. Those who consider themselves ‘beer geeks’ like the IPA. Most interesting are those who are not beer drinkers. They like the Golden Ale.”
Jerusalem Brewing Co. beers can now be purchased at many mini-markets in Jerusalem, and at bars, cafes, and restaurants including the Denver Steakhouse, Papagayo, Power CoffeeWorks, Mike’s Place, Barmon, Babado, Etz Zion Coffee, Cholent Bar Katamon, American Pie Pizza, Pasha Catering, and the Kos Shel Bracha liquor store.
For Jerusalem beer lovers, we are indeed fortunate to have good people brewing good beer in our city. As craft breweries all over the world remind us, “Drink local,” and so we should.
The writer is the owner of 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.
Source:
www.jpost.com
