Coney Island Sword Swallower Steel Hop Lager

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

Bomber. Clear dark gold with a fluffy white head. Biscuity and herbal nose, light white pepper and a touch of alcohol. Fairly full body. An initial smack of alcohol mellows into a peppery, herbal bitterness on top of a strong bready flavor. Alcohol pops up again late. Pretty good.

Bottle 650 ml
Appearance: Amber gold brew with thick creamy mid sized head. Slight haze.
Nose: Heavy aroma , toasty with strong caramel sweetness, spicy citric hop backing.
Flavor/Palate : Full bodied. Continuity of aroma. Caramel sweet malt spiced up with spiced hops of citric nature. Its set up works better if you compare to Coney Lager. More substance fills well making pleasant drinkable brew. Well done American rendering of strong lager.

Glistens golden in the afternoon sunlight, crowned by a slim but sturdy white head. Uber-fresh grain aroma signals a sturdy malt backbone. Cereal is brightened by lively, leafy hop. Very nice crisp dry finish. Alcohol is noticeable--a punchy brew. Long-lasting hoppiness at end. We really need more hopped up lagers like this!

Single from Three Cellars Milwaukee. Nice easy hop and bitter taste. Smooth and very enjoyable.

Appearance: Pours a clear, effervescent, copper body with a thin, bubbly, white head. Smell: Citrusy, spicy nose laden with hops and lesser notes of pale malts, fresh dough, and light caramel sauce. Taste: Pale, caramel maltiness with a medium sweetness and a background hint of grain-packed bread. Juicy, oily tangerine taste. Peppery, spicy, citrusy hop character with a medium-high bitterness. Light touch of alcohol warmth. Long, bittersweet finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation. Very slight stickiness to the mouthfeel. Drinkability: A classy, hopcentric lager, it paired rather nicely with a spicy pepperoni pizza and a few Tevo’d episodes of Cold Case. As part of the Coney Island series, it came in third for me after the Lager and Albino Python.

Medium, clear gold, creamy, long lasting white head, quite attractive. Aroma was a big shot of hops, mostly floral, but with quite a bit of spice and faint tropical notes. Lightly biscuity malts are dominated by another shock of hops, this time with some grapefruit notes mixing in with the floral and spice character. I think blind tasting, I would have picked this as an IPA without thinking about it. Not bad, but at one point while drinking it, I actually wondered if it might actually be too hoppy. Possibly the first time that thought has ever entered my mind.

Clear golden pour with nice carbonation streamers and a lasting, creamy white head. Aroma has some nice hoppy notes along with some bisquit/bread. Pilsnerish flavor, spice, herbal saaz notes and a really clean malt background, toasty and grainy. Alcohol is there but muted. Basically a nice, freshly hopped, strong lager with a clean and crisp finish. All around great brew. Surprised it’s rated so low...

(22oz bottle) Crystal clear apple juice body topped by large off-white head. Aroma is medium sweet, bread, some herbal, spice, light apple. Taste is medium sweet, herbal/pine, some bread, trace of alcohol. Pretty bitter. Medium body, light stickiness, fairly drinkable.