Coney Island Lager

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

22oz. Bottle: Astringent aroma with notes of malts, grains, hops, light caramel, light toasting, slight sweetness, slight berry (juniper?), and herbs. Poured orange/amber in color with a large, fluffy but dense off-white head that lasted throughout. Clear. Very sparkling. Full of tiny particles throughout, as well as a few large particles. Small lacing. Flavor is lightly sweet and lightly bitter. Tastes of hops, malts, slight cola, slight metal, light toasting, light caramel, slight medicine, herbs, hop leaves, grains, toffee, slight citrus, and some wheat. Light to medium body. Thin, chalky texture. Average to lively carbonation. Lightly sweet, grainy, malt, and bitter hop finish is chalky.

On tap at the Federal, Durham. Shared by my buddy David - thanks, David! Nice soft amber body, with a moderate beige head, minimal lacing. Sweet bready aroma with just a hint of fruits. The taste is very crisp and moderately nutty. Interesting how distinct the taste is from the aroma. Anyways, I found it an enjoyable, sessionable brew.

copper pour whitish nice head. Aroma of spice, yeast and allium. Bland taste and mimnimal body. Better than most of it’s type, but not so good overall.

20081020 Bomber from Spirits RB. Pale motor oil amber below a hefty beige sponge of quickly fading foam. Aroma is mineral, salty, light peppery herbs. Body is light with fairly aggressive eff. Fair but lingering sweetness at odds with but beating a final bite of earthy hops. Good enough.

Bottle from a NYC deli. It’s the He’brew guys again, eh? I would have thought it risky to cahrge serious money for lager in such a fierce market. But this is a nice, malty, pleasant lager, probably similar to what you could have had on Coney Island ca 1910. That being said, all the fuzz on the label about 6 malts and 4 hops is a bit too much. But it was lovely with a slice of spinach pizza.

22 oz bottle. Pours amber, small head, blah, blah, blah. Nothing exciting and just really one dimensional. Aroma and flavor is malty and a small bitter finish. Slightly watered down. To sum it up with one word....boring.

Bottle… Clear amber lager with a mid-sized, wispy, off-white head. Good retention. Toasty, biscuity, toffee and spicy hop aroma. Medium to full-bodied with intermediate carbonation. Like the nose, the flavor is biscuity and toasty with moderate, spicy, European hop bitterness. Lengthy, moderately bitter finish.

Amber-orange with a sudsy head. Light body, moderate carbonation, easy drinker. Malt profile had toast, rich toffee and a bit of caramel. Zingy, herbal bitterness (grassy, weedy). Decent beer, but nothing to raise a brow over.