Coney Island Sword Swallower Steel Hop Lager

Shmaltz Brewing Company
Brewed at Olde Saratoga Brewing (Mendocino Brewing Co.)
Style: Strong Pale Lager/Imperial Pils
Brooklyn, New York USA

Serve in Lager glass

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The Coney Island Sword Swallower claims to be an "IPA Style" lager but if I were drinking this blind I might confuse it for a rye IPA. Unlike other beers in this line, this brew doesn’t taste, feel or drink like the lager it actually is. It’s very hoppy and extremely bitter all around with a sweet caramel flavor and rye spice.

I poured a 12oz bottle into a lager glass.

Appearance: Dark gold color with plenty of carbonation visible, although the body is quite hazy. Forms a good size white, frothy head which laces and retains rather well.

Smell: Light rye spice with equally light floral notes. No generic lager smell detectable.

Taste: Immediate strong bitterness engulfs the mouth with a dry, almost "sandy" texture and prickly sensation. Through the middle comes a slightly earthy, rustic combination of rye spice and pine needles. It’s the ending that’s so impressive as the palate transitions to something much sweeter with prominent notes of caramel and yellow lollipop. The aftertaste comes full circle to the initial dry bitterness with a pronounced rye flavor and bite.

Coney Island Sword Swallower is made with eight different hops and four malts, yet it doesn’t seem to be that complex of a beer as it’s pretty much only two genuine flavors (rye and caramel) with strong bitterness throughout. And while it may be a repetitive palate, it’s consistently enjoyable, mostly due to the strong bitterness that wakes your mouth up.

Drinkability: While indeed bitter and full of energy from the first to last drop, Coney Island Sword Swallower is remarkably drinkable. Though technically an imperial pilsner, it drinks more like an average ale (an average IPA at least). Crisp in the mouth, but never fizzy and it goes down smooth. Definitely too dry and bitter to be refreshing, though, and the hops definitely linger on the tongue. One of the few beers that can be so overtly bitter without any cloying quality. At 7.2% ABV it’s hefty for a lager, but about average for an IPA wannabe. Drink one with a spicy meal and another afterwards as a palate cleanser.

22 oz. bottle, pours a hazy golden with a small white head. Aroma of grassy hops, orange, citrus, and toasted malt. Flavour is quite hoppy, with loads of grassy hops, citrus peel, oranges, slight caramel malts and toasted bread - finishes on a pleasant grassy hop astringency. Quite good.

Pours light cloudy golden (similar to a pale ale) with a fast fading head and anice tropical fruit aroma. Has a grassy/piney/hop resin flavour backed with decent malt. My bottle has the same label as the picture with minor differences.. 1. Mine says "IPA style (where as the picture says "steel hop lager" 2. Mine is 7.2% not 6.8 like in the picture. This is a very interesting idea (a lager IPA) and i enjoyed this beer.

12oz bottle from Pick’s poured into a shaker. Pours a hazy dark gold with about 2 fingers of white head. Aroma is mostly pine bitterness with a little dry Cheerio grain scent. Taste is light bitter and light sweet. Pine, caramel and cereal grains. Light bodied with a thin texture. Soft carbonation and an average finish. Overall, nothing really special here. Decent enough to drink but not something to seek out.

lightly hazy golden amber with as minimal white head, ok lacing, no real retention... Quite hoppy in a piney creamy hoppy way... lightly spiced, the aroma and the flavor are very similar... medium body, fairly crisp dry finish that does leave a light bitter taste lingering... more piney than i like, but a decent India Pale Lager...

Bottle at Palace of Wonders. I can see how this one fits in with the theme of the bar, but the aste was disappointing. Pure bitterness without subtlety, complexity or character. Decent pine aroma,but that’s about it.

Good IPA. I wasn’t too impressed at first, but the taste grew on me. It’s a pale amber colour, not too fizzy.

Not a bad ipa. Smooth pour malty color. Light head. Decent ipa.

75cl bottle (ish, American size) Decent white head. Clear golden pour. Nice citrus bitterness

22oz bottle. Pours a hazy, tarnished golden-orange color; thin off-white head with light retention and solid lacing. A rather bland aroma of wet cereal, light candied sweetness, and some earthy and herbal hop character. Medium body; medium-high carbonation (slightly overcarbonated, in my opinion); much like the Coney Island Lager, this has a very coarse approach: sharp bitterness, too-high CO2 for the amount of body, and a crackly pale ale malt character that isn’t helping; cereal, candied fruits, and a zesty citrus / mineral / earthy bitterness with restrained fruitiness from the yeast; feels like a lager, but it’s a shame it’s so sharp upfront (I’m guessing there’s a sword swallower joke in there somewhere). Lasting finish: mineral bitterness, toasty malts, and quite dry and even a touch chalky at the far end.