FREAKS OF NATURE (Coney Island Brewing Company)

My search for the best beer in New York continues….

This brewery is currently closed, but will re-open with a new concept soon.

Call me a freak (you wouldn’t be the first), but I’m attracted to really strange and unusual things. Especially when it comes to food. The odder the combinations, the better. How many times have we had pasta with garlic, white wine, and olive oil? I want you to throw in some really unexpected ingredients to shock, dazzle, and awe. Of course, the bizarre combinations don’t always work (the turkey ice cream I made one Thanksgiving was just plain wrong), but I’m excited to try them and find out.

And you don’t get any more strange, bizarre, and, well freakish than the Coney Island Side Show. I’ve been to Coney Island a handful of times and was more interested in the hot dogs and the overpriced rides than the freak show. So I’ve never actually been inside the museum. But recently I did venture to the corner of Surf Avenue and 12th Street to a strange site to behold indeed. Attached to where the sideshow performers work is the “World’s Smallest Brewery” – Coney Island Brewing Company.

Coney Island’s craft lagers have been produced by the Schmaltz Brewing Company (of the He’Brew fame) since 2007. Most of their production had been in San Francisco, with the inspiration coming from that previously mentioned freak museum on Surf Avenue. But in 2003, they moved all their production to Saratoga Springs, NY. That’s still quite a few hours from New York, so I won’t be making a trip up there to explore the brewery. But, this past summer, they opened that smallest brewery in the world right in Coney Island proper.

The major beers, all lagers, are produced upstate, but just about every day this brewery is brewing a gallon worth of beer. A gallon. That’s nothing. But the exciting thing is they’re bottling it and selling a few bottles of each concoction right there, alongside their flagship beers and a ton of merchandise. The day I arrived they were in the process of brewing a Coffee Stout, which wouldn’t be ready for some time still. But in their refrigerator (along with plenty of the usual Coney Island beers), they had a few fun and funky beers for me to taste.

The beers were just $5 each and I took one of everything they had. These beers are creations of a rotating roster of guest homebrewers or the staff themselves. The fact that they’re brewing a different beer each day gives them the freedom to get as creative as possible. And like I hinted at above, some will work and some of course won’t.

The first one they told me about made me think I was still on my bagel search. It was a bagel beer. How serendipitous! It was officially a Rye Pumpernickel Bagel Porter. The girl there told me they did in fact put two pumpernickel bagels in the mash to fully infuse the flavor. This is my kind of brewery!

The beer was much lighter than most porters, which I quite enjoyed. It was very dark, almost black. The bagel flavor was a little tough to detect, but it had a nice dry, smooth mouthfeel. I got some rye notes, but pumpernickel is not an overwhelming flavor and nothing about this really reminded me of my days spent at bagelries.

I also snagged a bottle of their Little Mermaid, which was produced for the annual Mermaid Parade. It’s an apple coconut saison ale. This one I brought home with me and decided to drink with some spicy scallops I had made.

I actually was expecting it to be slightly sweeter, so in that sense it didn’t pair perfectly with the scallops. But I really enjoyed how unique and light this beer was, despite its dark, cola hue.

It had lots of red foamy head and tropical fruits on the nose. I think it needed some time to open up (or maybe my tastebuds did) because I didn’t get much apple or coconut flavor at first. There were some sweet tinges of vanilla and caramel at the end, but the initial sips were more yeasty than anything else. Very little hops. But as I continued sipping, I got into the subtle apple flavors which I found very pleasant and refreshing.

The last concoction I tried was a Cardamom Porter. This was also something I got to enjoy at home.

The head was slightly overwhelming on this one. It may have been the way I poured it – I’m not a bartender, leave me alone! The foam was brown and the beer was pretty close to black. On the nose the predominant aromas were baking spices – cinnamon, clove, and most definitely cardamom. It had a powdery scent, if that makes any sense and a hint of cleaning solution.

But the flavors were awesome. Immediately, there were some strong dark roast coffee flavors and then a subtle hint of smoky cardamom on the finish. I didn’t get any hops, but a sweet cherry cola flavor that rounded out the cardamom.

I missed out on their Corn Dog Kolsch, which sounds incredibly fascinating and potentially disgusting. But if these guys will attempt it, I’ll be one of the freaks that will try it. I just wish I didn’t have to commute all the way out to Coney Island to sample these oddities. Maybe the Side Show is looking for new residents.

The bad news is this is their final weekend for the season. A perfect Halloween excursion. The good news is they’ll be back next spring with new beer odd-ities.

Does Coney Island Brewing Company make the best beer in NY? It’s a constantly changing selection with a rotating roster of brewers, so I don’t think it’s fully fair to judge these beers. But I will say these are definitely the most interesting and unique beers you can get in the city.