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. Gold/light amber color. Light floral and herbal hop aromas. Slightly sweet but clean cereal malt flavor with an earthy and herbal hop backing. Seems to have a strange orange-come-licorice thing going on. Smooth carbonation. In the end, I was pleasantly surprised by this one. Decent citrusy hop balance in a medium-bodied lager.

22 oz. purchased at the local Whole Foods. I don’t know what drove me to purchase this beer, but I figure "what the hell?" Anyways, a nice thin head sits on top of this beer. It eventually fades away to a smaller almost non-existent head. Copper brown in color; this beer looks fairly decent. A fairly decent aroma of hops in this one. I was surprised by this, I was figuring there would be a lot more malts, but it is surprisingly hoppy. Not a very nuanced aroma, just hoppy, with some sublte malt sweetness i.e. a rather boring aroma, but still fairly pungent. Surprisingly hoppy as well. A very nice initial hop punch, with a very strong bittering hop that punches the back of my mouth. This beer has a subtle off-putting tea flavor, but it is VERY subtle. Hoppy beer with not a lot of malt action going on. Fairly straight forward, but not very interesting.

Deep golden pour with a thin white head that disipates quickly. Some lacing. Dry hopped nose. A hoppy grain flavor.

22oz. Bomber. Beer is a deep clear golden color with a medium white head. Aroma is mildly hoppy with some spicy noble hop character. Flavor shows some light malt sweetness and fairly substantial peppery hop flavor. Body is medium heavy for the style with a nice persistent carbonation and balances the hop presence well. Finish is bitter and coats the tongue nicely with a bit of hop resin. This is a very well built non-bland lager that is perfect for a hot summer afternoon. Wish it came in six packs.

tap at Brother Tuckers. Golden pour wtih a small whitish head. Hops and malts hit the nose and surprisingly enough some big time hops hit the tongue. Better than I expected.

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 from Casa De Oro Liquor. Medium golden in color. Sweet malty aroma with a bit of hops. Bready with a decent hop profile. Slightly bitter grain finish with some hops. Good ESL.

22oz. Bottle: Aroma of light hops, pale malts, biscuit, toasting, and a hint of grains. Poured amber/yellow in color with a small, white head that lasted throughout. Slightly hazy. Slightly sparkling. Flavor is lightly sweet and lightly bitter. Tastes of toasted malts, hops, herbs, vegetables, and grains. Medium body. Average texture. Average carbonation. Herbal, hop, and malt finish.