Fresh off their prominent showing last week during SF Beer Week, Shmaltz Brewing Company is poised to make a splash in the local drinking scene this year. The highly-acclaimed, award-winning brewery is set to release a slew of new beers in the upcoming months.

After collecting a total of 8 gold medals and 3 silvers last year at the World Beer Championships, Shmaltz proprietor Jeremy Cowan teamed up with a publisher to put out his very own book: Craft Beer Bar Mitzvah. This year, America’s best craft brewery will release 3 limited edition specialities including Barrel-Aged Funky Jewbelation in March–aged in bourbon and rye whisky barrels for over a year and weighing in at close to 10% ABV.

In July they’ll release Reunion Ale ’12, in conjunction with Terrapin Beer Company. Brewed in memory of a woman who lost her life to Multiple Myeloma, this charitable collaboration benefits the Institute for Myeloma & Bone Cancer Research and raised more than $130,000 for the cause last year alone. It’s not every day that you get to drink for a good cause, so make sure to pick up a bottle–or six–this summer.

In the winter months, Shmaltz will blast your brain with their Jewbelation Sweet 16–an ale brewed with 16 malts, 16 hops and boasting a 16% ABV. This wicked wallop has been called one of the “Top 50 Beers in the World” and, ironically enough, was even named the “Best Christmas Beer” in a recent blind tasting here in the Bay Area.

2012 promises to be bigger and better than ever for a brewery that has constantly been on the rise since their humble beginnings (100 cases of HE’BREW Beer) in San Francisco, almost 16 years ago. To the talented brewers at Shmaltz, we say, “Mazel tov!” But please try not to break your glass.

• Tag: Bar Mitzvah, Bars, beer, Best of, brewing companies, chosen beer, events, HeBrew, San Francisco, Shmaltz