Viking Brewing Blonde

Brewed by Viking Brewing Company
Style: Pilsener
Dallas, Wisconsin USA

Bottle. Nose-apple juice, sugar water, grape juice. Taste-adjuncts, ricey, light honey, straw, mildly dusty and acidic.

clear dark golden, foamy white head. i don’t detect the rye in the aroma, only typical maltiness for a pilsner. oxidized cardboard flavors, there is a mild bitterness from the hops, but it almost comes off more as a tart, but more sweet in the finish. not bad

12 oz bottle, from Blue Max in Burnsville, MN (Dec 2005). Pours into my Christoffel stem glass a bit darker than the usual pils, dark amber verging on copper, with a moderate lasting creamy head and thin uneven lacing....nose lightly bready, mostly sweet honey, bit of grassy sharpness...smooth, balanced sweet-dry character on the tongue; that touch of rye is evident for sure, contributing some fruity sourness and adding interest to an otherwise fairly tame example...hops quite muted, medium-bodied, soft carbonation....drinkable and reasonably pleasant try at this style, but forgettable. An intriguing near-champagne tingliness in midpalate shows the beginnings of something really interesting but...doesn’t really go anywhere.

12oz bottle.
Pours a medium straw color that is a little darker than the name would suggest. Virtually no carbonation or head -- gosh, what a surprise from Viking. Aroma contains that sharp, tart metallic quality that, like the carbonation problem, has become an unwelcome feature in the Viking product lineup and typically foretells a similar unwelcome flavor. Yep, take a sip and there it is. Thankfully it’s not as overpowering as I’ve experienced recently in other Viking bottles and actually lends a tolerable slightly fruity character to the flavor. Decent hop flavor and bitterness. Flat, watery palate. Yet another Viking product I used to like gets put on my "stay away" list. <P>[ RE-RATE Dec 9 2005 ]
What a difference a week and a bottle purchased from a different location (and presumably a different batch) makes. This time it was actually a rather positive experience. No Viking trademark off-tartness, and it even had some carbonation though the medium-thin head had to be provoked via a rather aggressive pour. It was crisp, clean, appropriately hoppy, a smidgeon of fruitiness (NOT the standard bad Viking off tartness), left nice lacing, and overall a very pleasant and competent pilsner. I’d rate this bottle at 7/3/7/3/14 for a total score of 3.4. Now this is more like the Viking I fell in love with. However, my original score will remain as a testament to Viking’s inconsistency until I’m certain their quality problems are under control. <P> EDIT Jan 9 2006: This month’s Viking e-mail news update acknowledges that there have been "issues" with the Blonde. So it appears Viking has at least become aware of QC problems, though they don’t acknowledge that the same problems exist elsewhere in their product lineup. But at least now they know something is up and that they need to fix it. Hopefully the benefits will be borne throughout the Viking product line and I can resume my love affair with this once-splendid little brewshop.

12 oz bottle. Poured a partly cloudy light-medium golden with a short-lived white head. Slight skunk/vegetal aroma at first that gave way to caramel, honey, and pilsener malts as it warmed a bit. Grainy pils maltage, honey floral hops and something akin to sap came through in the flavor... which was a little odd, but tasty. A little sticky at the finish, with a decent mouthfeel otherwise. OK pilsener, but nothing special going on.

(22 oz bottle: Obtained in trade with JK, thanks John!) Most definitely a faulty bottling. Popped the cap off, and heard no carbonation release. Poured the beer, and got a dead-looking, headless liquid. Tasted the beer, and it was nearly as flat as bottled water. Didn’t really taste all that interesting, lightly sweet and grainy with mild bitterness and a bit of citrusy tartness, but it’s hard to tell with flat beer. Smells grainy and tart. Medium golden in color and slightly hazy. Whatever, taking notes on this bottle of beer is pointless. I’ll try to rerate if I can get ahold of a new bottle in trade, but I’m really disappointed since I like this brewery a lot.

Very light color, but serves up a crisp flavor. A faint rye taste with also some apple. Small hint of white wine in the end. No strong hop flavor. Smooth overall.

12oz bottle Clear apple juice colored body, a bit darker than I expectefd for a pilsner and a beer called "blonde". White standard head. The aroma is interesting, sweet bread, unmalted grain, and noble hops. Flavor is not too bad, though a bit grainy with a soapy aftertaste that really detracts. Dry palate, medium-light body. An odd chemically/soapy bitterness develops late that is not so good. Now Playing - Califone Heron King Blues.