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

Pours a transparent deep golden bronze with a thin, spotty-lacing white head. Aroma of lightly sweet pale malts and a nice, fresh assertive Saaz hop character. Starts with a nice light sweetness and good noble bittering and flavor hop balance before a crisp, smooth finish. A nicely-flavored, quite drinkable high-gravity lager.

Pours golden/amber with nary a head and just a faint suggestion of carbonation. Sweetbread aroma with honey. The ’8 hops’ which are mentioned must have been added early in the boil since there are few which reach the nose. A steady bitterness awaits in the flavor, however, and interacts pleasantly with lightly sweetened grains. Mostly pine and pepper over a lingering grapefruit and honeyed toast. And the bitterness lingers long with mild astringence. I would not have guessed the style as an European Strong excepting that there are few other lager categories which could corral this brew.

Rating #1800. No reason. Just another beer to enjoy while I’m waiting for a MMORPG to populate on the other computer.

<font size=-4>22 oz. bomber purchased at <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Place/indiana/south-b Beverage, South Bend, IN 46637</font>

Bomber. Poured clear orange-tinted golden with a short cap of white head. The aroma picked up orange, grapefruit, and perfumey hoppage over honey and pale malty sweetness.. there was a rather assertive spicy warmth that gave a barley-wine lite impression that I dug. The flavor opened with that same spicy character that paired with citrus and floral bitterness.. sticky-sweet pale malts at the core supported well.. finished bitter and warm. Medium-bodied with low-to-moderate carbonation on the palate.. kept me interested.

22oz bottle-pours an off white head and gold color. Aroma is mild west coast I.P. lager (Amarillo and Simcoe), secondary medium malt-caramel. Taste is balanced hops and malt with initial spice/lemon/resin, then a solid light/medium malt backbone follows. Thanks jwc215 for sharing this.

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.

Bomber courtesy of Tony at the Oldsmar Tap House. Pours crystal clear deep gold with white head. Nice fresh noble hoppy aroma with some sweet maltiness in the background. The taste is spice hops, a bit of lemon tartness and then some sweet malts come in to even things out a bit. Midway the malts and flavor hops peak to a pleasing level. It ends with a bit of sweetness and spicy bitter hops.

Bottle; poured a very clear gold color with a small, but compact head. Aroma was smooth and clean; slightly toasted malt, herbs, grass wint some citrus notes in the end. Flavor reminded me of an extra strong pils. Sweet malt gives way to a hoppy finish; hops were on the herbal side/dry hopping. Palate had a hint of creaminess; nice and smooth. Solid and enjoyable beer.

Pours a deep amber into the glass with white head. Aroma is very hoppy from the dry hop additions. Flavor is hoppy but with very little bitterness to it. Mostly floral tastes. Mouthfeel is exceptionally smooth