Viking Brewing Berserk Barleywine

Brewed by Viking Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Dallas, Wisconsin USA

7/31/2007: Viking Berserk Barleywine is deep chesnut in color and appears nearly opaque in the glass. This beer looks thick as it’s being poured. The aroma is great: Deep and rich malt, lots of dried fruit, . Ugh! The flavor is sour and really strange. The maltiness and aged fruit flavors are completely overshadowed by sourness and a funky, earthy bitterness. In addition, the body is thin and the mouthfeel is lacking texture. As far as the alcohol content is concerned, it is either super well hidden or not really anywhere close to 12%. I’m not sure on that, but what I can say is that I’m fairly unimpressed with this beer (especially considering my homebrew is better than this!)... Update: The sour quality in the flavor softens slightly as the beer warms up. The finish has some nice caramel tones as well, but it is still overly earthy.

12 oz bottle from buckybeer. Thanks again Mark! Rating #60 for this beer...

Strong aroma of dried fruits. Color is dark brownish black with minimal to no head. Flavor is sweetish figs, dates, some dark malt, caramel. Somewhat thin mouth-feel with little to no carbonation. Ok overall. Has it’s strong points.

Thanks to buckybeer for the bottle. Cloudy copper/brown with a thin wisp of a head. Aroma of toffee, butterscotch and earth. Very sweet taste, like dark fruits and toffee. A bit warm. Chewy and sticky texture.

Bottle drunk on 4/20. Dark, murky burgundy color. Minimal carbonation. The aroma was of caramel,toffee,dark fruits, and sour funk. The taste was the same with some choclate notes. Rich and thick body. The finish was bitter sweet. Reminded me of an old ale.

Picked up a single bottle from Blue Max in Burnsville, MN. Pours a reddish amber brew with a small off white head that dissolves quickly. The lacing is very good. Aroma has toffee, molasses, pitted fruits, and lost of alcohol. Taste is sweet with hints of raisin, toffee and smooth caramel. Palate is soft, with a watery caramel aftertaste. One thing for sure, the high alcohol will warm you up any day of the week.

Pours dark brown with some sparse carbonation. Smells of chewy caramel, raisins and cognac. Tastes sweet and very English with lots of sugar, syrup and molasses. Decent for an English style barleywine.

Pours a very hazy dark brown with a faint off white head. Aroma is sort of a creamy, boozy, ripened fruit mix. Flavor has hints of molasses, fruits, malts, booze. Gets even better as it warms a little. This one was a nice suprise. I’m going to go buy more of this stuff.

12 oz bottle. Pours pretty thick. So thick, in fact, that not much head forms. Color is a brownish-red. Smells meaty and malty, like beef braised in molasses and soy sauce. Full bodied, soft mouth feel. Malt dominates the flavor. Lots of caramel, molasses, even some toffee. There is also a hint of fruity grape. If you like a big malty barley wine this is your beer.