Coney Island Freaktoberfest

Shmaltz Brewing Company
Brewed at Olde Saratoga Brewing (Mendocino Brewing Co.)
Style: Oktoberfest/Märzen
San Francisco, California USA

Draft at Redlight Redlight. Weird beer. This one pours a very lightly hazy blood red color, capped with a foamy, strawberry milkshake colored head. The foam settles quickly to a wispy film, leaving delicate sheet-like lacing in its wake. The aroma shows heavy, sweet notes of caramel malt and glazed biscuit, followed by dry grains, piney hops, and hints of citrus. The flavor is sugary sweet, showing way too heavy on caramel, along with astringent pine hops that burn the back of the throat. The medium-plus, sticky body starts out mildly annoying and ends up downright cloying. This is an odd one. Drinkable, but not very good.

I must say that drinking something this red and not tasting fruit was weird. Pure red pour with a reddish/purplish head. Aroma is very plain and malty. Some hints of hops can be found on the nose, but not a lot. Beer is a little better than some are rating it here. Malty flavor gives way to an odd bitterness at the end.

Draft@Redlight. Light dusty nose, almsot no aroma whatsoever. Weird red-purple color with a pink head. Bland ricey lager flavor. Off finish. Light and fizzy. Is this a pale lager with food coloring? Shite.

Pours a "freakish" red. I’m not a fan of coloring beers so it doesn’t get high points from me, pretty nice malt thickness at the start but ends with a faint and unsatisfying dry hoppiness, this brewery makes some good beers - but this isn’t one of their best offerings.

Dark red/cherry colour with a pink head. It looks like a kriek...not sure where that colour comes from. Some caramel and wood aromas. It’s sweet, thick on the palate, with caramel, toast and a modest earthy hoppiness and a slightly dry alcoholic finish. An odd duck, but similar in structure to the Sword Swallower.

I’ve pretty much been a fan of the beers under the Coney Island name, but this is a TRAINWRECK! Pours blood red with a soapy dark pink head. I loathe artificial coloring (or anything artificial) in beer. The aroma has toasted malt, sweet marzen caramel and just a bit of hops. Medium body with some weird slickness and underlying carbonation. The flavor starts somewhat medicinal, muddy malt, spicy hops and some plastic. The finish has lingering plastic, spicy hops and semi-sweet malt. On the positive side it is unique, on the negative side it’s impossible for me to enjoy. This sucks, but I’m looking forward to seeing their next new beer redeeming them.

22oz bomber. Pours a bright ruby red, almost like a fruit punch. Love the Halloween blood idea. Very small, fizzy, pink head. Cool looking beer for sure. The aroma is better than people are giving this credit for. Very sweet caramel malts with a distinct candy cherry smell. Some grassy citrus hoppiness to it as well. The flavor is very nice for an "Oktoberfest," actually. Nice balance of sweet malts and a hint of cherry flavor with the sharp piny/citrus hop bitterness. No hint of alcohol whatsoever. Pretty full bodied and finishes really tart, dry, grassy, and sticky. Overall, really cool beer. Deserves a better rating than its currently being awarded.

Red like strawberry soda. Freakish looking brew. I was almost afraid to taste it but no pop aroma. Has a pink half-inch head. Taste is nothing like it looks. Flavor is like a tasty West Coast APA or lower-end IPA. Hoppy with a substantial malt backing. Grapefruit-orange hop flavor. Abv says 6.66%, get it? (666) Very tasty bizzarely colored brew. Perfect to have at a Halloween party. Cool label too.