Coney Island Lager

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

Bottle. Amber colored pour. Tall foamy off-white head. Nose is caramel, soft citrus, light earthy and floral hops, some spicy notes and toasted malt. Taste is caramel, sweet malts, fruit flavors (mostly citrus but a hint of pear in there), spicy and earthy hops, light floral notes and some nuttiness. The body on this is a bit chewy for a vienna with a moderate carbonation and a medium overall feel. Ends with more caramel, sweet malts, fruit notes, peanuts, spicy and floral hops and bready notes.

Bottle. Aroma of toasted malts, sweet notes, seguing in and out of fruitiness including cherry and lemon, maybe some semi-sour apple. Some supporting hops evident in the nose, but more so in the mouth, balancing nicely the otherwise sweet, rich malt, although the toasty character helps balance the sweetness as well. Fruity notes again dart in and out. A damn fine beer.

Bottle. Pours a deep orange/brown with a thick, foamy light tan head. Aroma of nice flowery hops with toasted and caramel malt. Awesome! Flavor is quite good as well, nice light floral hops and sweet malt. Slight toasted malt presence, particularly in the finish. Superbly drinkable. Similar to SA Boston Lager but more full-bodied and not as sweet. A top-notch vienna and one of the best lagers I’ve had. Definitely superior to its 3.35 average.

06-Sep-08 (22-oz bottles: Purchased at BevMo in La Jolla, CA and www.liquidsolutions.net) Terrible marketing if you ask me. Coney Island Lager doesn’t inspire me to buy the beer because I’m thinking it might be a standard "Premium Lager," but as a beer geek, I bought it anyway (twice!), and it paid off because this beer is very lovely. Big, malty flavors, fairly toasty, lightly sweet and caramely, even a touch smoky, with a gently bitter but not hidden hoppy character for a balanced finish. Medium in body and carbonation, quite clean for a malt-driven beer, and easy to drink. Malty, toasty, and mildly caramely nose, but it’s not more just than mildly sweet, and there’s a modest hop aroma in the background. Amber in color with very nice clarity. The off-white head rises to almost an inch on the pour before slowly settling to a wide ring. Decorative, honeycomb-shaped lacing remains on the glass. Much better than expected, a very nice Vienna-style lager, and definitely worth recommending.

Solid lager. Dark golden color with a large white head. Lots of caramel going on with a nice bitter hoppy finish. Impressive.

Aroma is sweet with a little malt. Color is a deep gold with a hint of orange. Carbonation is good with a very thin head. Taste is bright and hoppy. Starting with medium body it goes down with a slight creamy feel. Finish comes in sweet with a hint of malt then a bright hop flavor that has just a touch of citrus and a faint bitterness. After taste is dry with the bitterness riding along. This is a great Lager with amazing hop character.

Draft, Beer Island at the one and only Coney Island. Pours a transparent ruby color, moderate head. Lacy finish sticks to side of glass throughout the drink. Aroma is very faint and with sharp hop character. Taste is highly bitter with a hint of caramel. Palate is below average and goes down harsh with harsh aftertaste. Very dry. Expected more from this one but you might as well give it a shot if you are out on the boardwalk.

Pours amber into a stein. Off-white head quickly subsides to hug rim. Crisp with caramel from front to back. Dark caramel hop finish.