Viking Brewing Big Swede

Brewed by Viking Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Dallas, Wisconsin USA

#248 rating for this beer, 12oz bottle from myself, picked up at Warren G’s in Barron, WI. No light penetration, very black with a tan head. Aroma is alot of roasted coffee, like walking into a coffee shop grinding beans, not what I expected, had a bit of chocolate hidden underneath. Dark roasted bitterness, not overpowering though, slightly sweet, more coffee, but a bit more subdued. The dark bitterness stays on the palate for awhile, pretty good. (968)

Bottle shared by alexsdad06. Poured reddish brown color with an average creamy brown head that mostly lasted with excellent lacing. Moderate to heavy roasted coffee and chocolate aroma. Medium to full body with a smooth texture and flat carbonation. Medium to heavy smooth sweet flavor with a medium to heavy sweet finish of moderate duration. My expectations where met with a solid beer.

12oz bottle from Woodmans in Madison. Pours very dark brown with one finger tan head. Aroma is roasted malt and chocolate with some caramel notes. Flavor is mostly roasted malt with chocolate, cocoa and light coffee. Mouthfeel is a tad thin but has nice carbonation. Finishes with a sort tartness which is not bad. Decent stout and pretty easy drinker.

12-oz, capped and foiled. Thanks, BVC! Pours jet black. Enormous, comical, towering, rocky burnt tan head. Mild milk chocolate/carob nose. Creamy medium body. Milk chocolate, a little roasted cherry in there. Very mild understated stout, super drinkable.

12oz bottle. Pours black with a huge tan head. Nose was metallic with some chocolate notes. Very carbonated mouth feel. Simply, no bueno, looks like I got a bum bottle.

Ugh, I can only assume that "Swedish style" means "sweet", as my initial sniff was of some sweet liquor. Mild roasted malt aroma with an alcohol burn. Taste is dependent on if you put sugar in your coffee, I don’t so this does not appeal to me. A roasted, bitter taste with too much sweetness around the edges. Very thin and watery, poor lacing but it is opaque, whatever. I don’t like the balance between the sweet and bitterness.

12 oz. bottle thrown in as an extra by Beerlando from our first trade (Which seems like forever ago) that has stood the test of time. Pours a very near pitch black, opaque, with some very faint ruby notes around the edges. Largely black with moderate tannish head that cakes at a decent amount and laces. Aromas are chocolate and cocoa up front, light coffee and creamy sweetness, espresso-esque, with muted roasted malt notes hidden by the sweetness. A touch of alcohol. Initial is smooth, a little under-bodied, with nice roasty notes, light coffee, and decent chocolate flavors. A bit of roast comes through in the finish and aftertaste with some bitterness, and the body has some fruity bits packed in to the roasted and darker body. A little thin, but good enough flavor. A good beer, but a brew that falls to the back of the middle of the pack among Imperial Stouts.

Bottle from Woodman’s in Kenosha. First of all, you know it’s a small operation when the bottle is sticky with glue and beer. Pours a blackish brown with a ring of a head and oil slick on top. Nose is sweet. Cocoa, caramel, vinous character and ethanol in the nose. Sticks to the side of the glass as well. On taste, it’s mostly roasty and sweet with a clean alcohol burn. Burly mouthfeel at first that dissipates into a slightly watery feeling. Has a tang to it as well. I’d almost place this as a foreign moreso than an imperial stout. Pretty decent, nonetheless.