Viking Brewing Berserk Barleywine

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

12 oz bottle from Cellars in Minnetonka, MN (Dec 2005). No idea what year...vintage, what vintage? Cellar temperature, Maudite snifter. This pours quite dark, nearly opaque purple-brown with a smallish receding dark tan head....dark sweet cherries and burnt sugars dominate the sweet, lightly spicy and somewhat alcoholic aroma....a bit of licorice and tobacco emerges on further investigation....on the tongue, quite syrupy-sugary at first, but almost immediately a big alcohol burn takes over, and a tarry/leathery character sets in....there is a bit of dried fruit and caramel, but from midpalte to finish this is predominantly thick and somewhat oily, ashy and bitter. Strangely, I rather like it though it finishes too quick and is a bit hard to drink. At any rate, it’s a bit of a challenge and rather different from recent barleywines I’ve had, so props for that.

from Blue Max...really deep cola/chocolatey color, beige head. aroma is really sweet, much caramel maltage dude! flavor is fairly sweet, somewhat sticky..lots of caramel...hops are quite subdued...some chocolate. if this baby really is 12% ABV, then it’s the most well hidden alcohol that i’ve tasted. you really can’t tell it’s there. smells better than it tastes.

A thin tan head capped off a rich dark body that sent off notes of dried fruit, molasses, chocolate malt, wood, and alcohol. Velvety smooth and medium bodied. The flavor was sweet and fruity and vinous with a nice alcohol warmth on the way down. Good stuff.

Thanks to BadgerBen for supplying me with this bad boy. 22 oz bottle. Pours dark brown and hazy with orange highlights and virtually no head. Aroma weighs in heavily of dark roasty malts, molasses, prunes and raisins with hints of floral hops. Flavor is rich, dark fruity malts, brown sugar clove and spice, big alcohol presence and a bit of bitterness that I might attribute to hops. Full body, smooth mouthfeel with no carbonation to speak of.

Pours copper with a thin off-white head. Very smooth and flat tasting barleywine that was very well balanced. Earthy malts show a touch of fruits as it warms, the caramel sweetness fades nicely into a moderate hop finish.

[22 oz. bomber] Murky brown pour with a very thin but creamy looking white head that disappears quickly. Not much carbonation in general. Aroma is very sweet and malty with hints of stewed prunes and possibly some raisins and caramel. Very sweet and malty flavor with strong hints of raisins, caramel, apples at the end and malt. Very smooth and easy to drink. Feels like liquid velvet in your mouth. Couldn’t tell this bad boy was 12%. Thanks to Rob for trading me this one.

Bottle. Dark tea brown color with a laced tan head. Full bodied, sweet and malty with some plums and raisins. The alcohol is well hidden and it has a dry finish. Generally not impressed for such a high abv barley wine.

Color’s as dark as sin, rich, besotted, like a turned prune, caramelly at bottom, near total opacity, with a rich, toffeeish head, good and thick, at the top. Tastiness in the nose, dark fruits abound, profoundly powerful grapes, dates, figs, and more...nicely roundedbeckons a taste... In the mouth, it’s a mo’fo...12% ABV rings loudly and proudly from the onset, and the taste is rich and smooth...full in body, to say the least, full in flavor, to boot...remarkable...not too sweet, not too hoppy...they have a balance, here, fills the mouth and stretches flavor wide and true...I’m actually impressed by a barleywine that’s not too bold or brash in flavor, in hops, in malt, in alcohol, though it is a champ in the last regard...pretty well done, got to hand it to them, especially after sampling one of their lesser offerings. I’m going to be enjoying this for a while longer, through this bomber, and I’ll enjoy every second...nice one, Viking!