Coney Island FREAKTOBERFEST

Red! Ack!

Tonight I'm drinking a very strange "oktoberfest" beer- FREAKTOBERFEST from the Coney Island Craft Lagers line of Shmaltz Brewing Company (the guys who make the "He'Brew"). It appears that the Coney Island line is for specialty weirdo beers. Let me tell you what, they hit the nail on the head with this beer. The bottle warns you that "this is not an oktoberfest..this is freaktoberfest!" Apparently I should've read the fine print better. For example: 6 malts, 6 hops, 6.66% ABV. Oh, by the way, the beverage is RED. Blood red. That was something I was not expecting, so needless to say, when I poured the freak, it freaked me out a bit! Even the head, which poured rather thick, was a light red color.
Smell wise, this is a strange beer. It is definitely not an oktoberfest, as there are no spices coming from this beer. In fact, it's more of a fruity/hoppy beer. The first sip was a complex ferris wheel of malt, hops, and fruit. Again, not what I expected from a beer with the name "-toberfest" in it. Given the spin, there isn't much lacing with this brew. The backend is a weird combination of sugar hoppiness. It kind of makes me wish I had an IPA handy to compare the two, because that's what this beer reminds me of; albeit, a poor IPA.
This was a strange beer. I think the color gimmick hurts its chances at being maybe a little better of a beer. I think I'd recommend it to someone if they want to try something different and get a laugh, but as far as trying to find a good beer, this isn't it.