Coney Island Freaktoberfest

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

Ok, first off, this is candy apple red with a light red head. Bizarre. The aroma was rich hard cherry candy and bubblegum. The taste was muted malt and fall leaves. There was a little bit of toffee and iced tea finish. Drinkable, but far from special.

I was taken by surprise when this poured a blood red with pink tinged head from the 22 oz bottle. No lacing to speak of appeared. The nose was malty with some light floral hops. Medium mouthfeel. Flavor is somewhat sweet with some acidness. The finish was odd, with some medicinal flavors. I was turned off by the color, and found the beer barely drinkable.

Bottle from BevMo: Poured a pinkish red hue with a thick foamy head that took minutes to settle down. As for the nose, there isn’t any aroma to really discuss, but I do notice a minor olfaction of faint malt. The flavor is empty too with no real beer like qualities but instead of taste of dye or food coloring just like St Patrick’s green beer. Leaves behind a weird aftertaste that isn’t pleasant but I like the fact it didn’t stain my teeth or turn my tongue red or pink.

22 oz. bottle from Whole Foods on Ponce De Leon. Oh shit, someone died in the fermenter! I don’t know why anyone would replace beer with blood, but that is a bit sadistic. Seriously, as others have said it looks like carbonated fruit juice. I think it is nice twist on the appearance, but it really doesn’t add anything to the beer. Has a very faint malt aroma. Not much of an aroma on this one. Oh look, the ABV is 6.66! What a very crafty beer! Blah, what the hell is up with this thing. Has a hop flavor, but beyond that there is just carbonated nothing. I am not a fan of pouring out beer no matter what the circumstance(s), but they shouldn’t test me on this one. Other than the slight malt flavor as well, this beer is what I call crap. Please don’t try and make a marzen lager interesting if it is going to suck badly.

[Bottle] Pours...red? Weird. Has a small pink head as well. Aroma is sugary sweet with a lot of malt. Taste is very malt dominant as well with not very much going on, aside from quite a bit of bitterness in the finish. Pretty good mouthfeel with a slightly dry finish. Really not very good...pretty much a novelty beer that didn’t work out.

poured froma 22oz bottle at first I was like what the hell is this This beer definitely wins on appearance for the name, pours a blood red with a thin white head. Starts to go downhill after that. Aroma is almost non existent, just some bread dough and hint of fruit. Taste is malty and fruit tart. Didn’t really wime over.

Crazy color. Hazy red with a pink head. Carmelly, and slight berry flavor. Just a wacky beer. For $4.99 per bomber, you could do worse, but I’m not necessarily recommending it, either.

I’ve pretty much been a fan of the beers under the Coney Island name, but this is a TRAINWRECK! Pours blood red with a soapy dark pink head. I loathe artificial coloring (or anything artificial) in beer. The aroma has toasted malt, sweet marzen caramel and just a bit of hops. Medium body with some weird slickness and underlying carbonation. The flavor starts somewhat medicinal, muddy malt, spicy hops and some plastic. The finish has lingering plastic, spicy hops and semi-sweet malt. On the positive side it is unique, on the negative side it’s impossible for me to enjoy. This sucks, but I’m looking forward to seeing their next new beer redeeming them.