Brew Details: This is a bottle of Sword Swallower from Shmaltz Brewing Company's Coney Island Craft Lager series. This is my first experience with a beer from this brewer.
Serving Conditions: I chilled the bottle to a cool 44 degrees and poured it into a standard pint glass.
Appearance: The color is a fairly clear amber. That surprised me as I'm used to lagers being some variation of yellow. The brew poured with a medium head that subsided to about a quarter of an inch, where it lingered for quite some time.
Scent: I can smell some light malt and the presence of hops is obvious. The hop aroma is actually pretty complex with strong notes of citrus and just a little floral.
Taste: The initial taste is very smooth and somewhat complex. As with the aroma, I taste a little bit of malt and a lot of hops. The hop taste is citrus and bitter, with no floral hops noted. The finish nears my threshold for bitterness, but the bitterness doesn't last long.
Mouthfeel: This brew has a medium amount of carbonation and is light bodied, being a little thicker than water.
Drinkability: When this brew was at its coldest, I found myself drinking it quickly, but as it warmed I was less and less drawn to it.
Notes: With warmth came a stronger malt scent and taste, but the bitter finish remained constant. This is a very interesting brew and definitely worth trying. I have a feeling that this beer would be a big winner for IPA lovers. Mike, I regret not opening this one with you. For my own taste, I would have liked a little less hops with maybe a tad more malt.
While it pains me to give this interesting brew such a low rating, I have to be honest and give it a 4 out of 10. I would definitely be willing to give it another try, but I probably wouldn't be willing to spring for the bottle.
It looks like Budweiser is hanging on to its crown... for now anyway. Shmaltz Brewing Company has my attention, so I'll be seeking out a less hoppy lager from their Coney Island series. After that? Maybe it'll be time to try my first PBR...
I may have to try the Sword Swallower. My dad swears that Coors is the best American Adjunct Lager around, and he almost had me convinced to try it again. Then I noticed that Sam Adams Light is listed as an American Light Lager... this is probably what I will try next.
ReplyDeleteMike