As Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, approaches, the husband and wife team Portland brewery Leikam Brewing have an unusual question in mind: what will Rosh Hashanah beer taste like? Every year, The Kosher Brewery interprets the Jewish New Year in a limited edition beer that reflects the flavors and traditions of the High Holidays.
In 2023, Leikam brewed a pomegranate-flavored blonde beer in collaboration with Muriel’s All Day Eats, based in Seattle. The beer was inspired by owner Sonia Marie’s tradition of making fesenchan, a Persian chicken stew with pomegranate, for Rosh Hashanah. For 2024, Leikam is brewing Party Like It’s 5785, a stout with dates, honey and cinnamon, named after the upcoming year on the Jewish calendar. For Marie, the flavor is all about “reflecting the sweetness of the new year with the dates, honey and spices of the season.”
When developing the annual flavors, Marie and her husband, Theo Leikam, try to think about Jewish traditions expansively. “For us, it’s about how to communicate through food the feeling of tradition, which is a bit difficult because everyone has different traditions,” Marie says. While dishes like brisket and tzimmes with prunes are often closely associated with the high holidays, they primarily represent Ashkenazi traditions. Persian Jews may prepare khoresh siba plate of stewed meat, while Sephardic Jews tend to include sweet, sticky dates in their Rosh Hashanah food.Marie hopes the brewery can offer flavours that are familiar to everyone, regardless of their upbringing. “I think one of the things we hope is that people find a bit of their heritage when they drink beer,” she says.
In addition to the beer, which will be available exclusively on draft starting October 2, Leikam will also be offering challah from a local baker. Baked by SaraBoth a vegan and egg challah can be pre-ordered, and a limited quantity will also be available for purchase in-house.
Leikam Brewing’s Rosh Hashanah beer offers a connection for Portland’s diaspora Jewish community at a time when many of the city’s other Jewish culinary hubs have closed. From Kornblatt and Kenny & Zuke’s closed permanently in 2023, followed by Sweet Lorraine in 2024Looking ahead to the rest of the year, Leikam already has plans to invite the community back for Sukkot and Hanukkah celebrations.
This year, Rosh Hashanah will be celebrated from the evening of October 2nd to the evening of October 4th.
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