Viking Brewing Copperhead

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

Light chestnut brown, with very little apparent carbonation except when vigorously swirled. This is classic Viking, with big butterscotch, a moderately sour edge, and a flatness problem. The comments from many people who have talked to the brewer or visited their premises echo what I’ve learned from drinking over a dozen of their beers--they have some quality control problems that marr the creativity that goes into their product design (recipes + marketing).

Bottle: Courtesy of robertsreality via trade. Aroma of fruit, cinnamon, and light toffee. Pours a very hazy (could maybe even say clougy) amber with almost no head. Very watery in flavor and mouthfeel. Watery fruit and toffee up front. Finishes with a moderate grassy and flowery hop finish.

12oz bottle.
Pleasant rich malty aroma with bread-like yeast as well. Nice ruby-red color with some haziness not appropriate to the style. Formed a medium fluffy head on pour, which is a relief given the prevalence of flat Viking beers lately. Flavor had requisite caramel-like malt sweetness but also a prominent off-fruity flavor that did not seem to belong there, and I don’t recall it being there when I sampled a fresh batch at the brewery. The fact that today’s sample was hazy suggests that it was not lagered at sufficiently cold temperatures, which would go a long way toward explaining the off-character fruitiness. Randy Lee (Viking owner and brewmaster) admits to not having ideal temperature control due to the nature of the building that houses the brewery. In a way that’s kind of cool because it compels the brewery to mostly adhere to an old-school seasonal brewing schedule (lagers in late fall/winter/early spring, ales in late spring/summer). But when I heard this, it struck me as potentially problematic for the year-round products from a quality consistency standpoint; indeed, the better-quality Copperhead sample I tried last May was probably brewed in early spring (read: cold, since this is upper Wisconsin after all) and was more style-appropriate. It seems my concern was justified - I also recently tasted a sample of the Blond Pilsner that had the exact same off-flavor that wasn’t there when I tried a sample in late spring. Moral of the story: stick to Viking’s seasonals, and only try their year-rounders if you are reasonably sure the sample you’re trying was brewed during the "traditional" brewing season for the style.

Translucent yellow / copper in color with a head that looks like forgotten grease fat standing in a skillet. Lovely aroma - bubblegum, apple cider, caramel, vanilla and pancakes. Flavor is dry chocolate, caramel, smooth vanilla, apples, pears and nutmeg. Lingering, ever-present ginger sweetness. Some trait similarities more in line with a blonde bock. Body is solid, simple and passive. Caramel and chocolate malts play a nice supporting role. Finish is bubblegum and cotton candy. Hard to offend. I’m with Blake (1FastSTi) on this one - very enjoyable.

Poured from a bottle. Pours to a thick off white creamy head atop a copper kettle colored body. The head has excellent lacing. The aroma is malty, buttery, light raspberry, and toffee. I totally agree with MilkmanDan in that this is a really great beer. The flavor is tart, buttery, yeasty and good. Slight caramelly sweetness and some nuttyness. Mmmmm. Wow. I really am enjoying this one. The palate is smooth and creamy and has just the right carbonation. I highly recommend this one.

Very nice. Ruby brown with a light tan head. Nice sweet nose, lots of malts, quite buttery. Lovely flavor, really quite sweet but not cloying or overtly sugary. Surprisingly hopped at the end, nice tart citric burst underneath the sweetness. Certainly doesn’t fit my idea of a dunkel, but wonderfully refreshing and enjoyable. A great summer beer.

Bright copper medium tan head. Sweet and butery aroma. The flavor is also sweet and buttery but not, at least IMO, in a bad way. I think that the diaceytl is coming form the yeast strain rather than an infection (see also Legend Brewing). Enjoyable stuff.

Gitchee Gumee Brewfest 2005. A strong fruity aroma. I tend to give a decent aroma rating to any beer that actually presents one. The flavor profile contains peach and honey. Finishes quite dry, but very enjoyable.