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

Pour from the 22oz. bottle into a glass: I expected more from Coney Island. Resiny mouthfeel well into the bitter, slightly thick finish. Some citrus notes added, which is cool. Drinkabily: It’s basically a mediocre lager. I’d be happy with a 1/2 pint. Rebuy: It’s memorable... so I’ll think about it, but probably not. #119 on 13092009, DG.

This bottled brew from a bottle shop poured a small sized head of foamy with a frothy top white colored bubbles that were mostly diminishing and left behind a hazy typically carbonated yellow-orange colored body. The mild aroma was malty and sweet. The semi-thick crisp and clean mouth feel was very tingly at the start and at the finish. The flavor contained notes of hops and was lagerish. A decent one that I would consider buying again.

Golden with a rapidly falling white head. Has an aroma of pine, sweet malt, and a slight metallic scent. Has a grainy sweet malt taste initially with a powerfully bitter, resiny finish, that I initially would enjoy but didn’t like when it sat in my mouth for very long.

Bomber. Pours light brown with a thin white head. Nice citrus hop aroma. Smooth crisp malt taste with a really nice citrus hoppiness. Very solid hoppy lager.

(bottle). Light amber color with light cloudiness. Small white head. Moderate hop aroma. Sweet malt and hop flavors. Avg duration. Smooth finish with light bitterness. Slick texture. Moderate carbonation. Spare lacing.

Yellowish orange pour with a nice slightly orange-tinted head. Nice and long-lasting. Smell is kinda disappointing...maybe it was just my bottle, but it doesn’t really smell very good. Taste is fine...sorta peppery up front, smooth finish. Light citrus fruits in the taste, maybe a little apricot. Not that bad, but nothing exceptional.

I see this beer all the time and its always $4.99 sometimes i’ll see it for $3.99 for a 22oz bottle. Today i saw it for $2.99 and it made me curious so i bought a bottle. It’s basically one of those bottles you just buy for the cool looking label but once you pour it, it also looks really nice too. Its 99 degrees today and this beer has that light orangey, refreshing, summer beer look to it. I must say its also quite refreshing and pretty good, its nothing to write home about but i would drink it again. It has that orangey zest to it as the color promotes and is also a tad hoppy. Not bad but not great... good overall.

Bomber from WT on August 12, 2009. Cloudy orange color. Frothy white head. Hoppy aroma (wow, this is a lager, isn’t it?) followed by a light, spicy bitter sip... quite a pleasure drinking. The hops and gravity of this brew make it a pretty darned good strong lager. It only has a 68 percentile, but I can’t put it down... maybe because it still reminds my mouth of a lighter beer (lager) that requires constant sipping... not sure... Also, something’s in the finish - might be peppercorn.