Viking Brewing Hot Chocolate

Brewed by Viking Brewing Company
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Dallas, Wisconsin USA

(12oz bottle) Opaque brown-black body with tiny brown head. Aroma is moderately sweet, chocolate, roast. Taste is moderately sweet, chocolate, light pepper. Creamy/watery medium body.

12 oz bottle courtesy of The_Enemy. Very interesting beer, due to the addition of coca powder and cayenne pepper. This beer pours to a slightly hazy, deep brown to black color, with a tight, soapy, tan head that fades, and a moderate amount of carbonation. The nose on this beer is excellent with some really good dark chocolate, coffee, cocoa, and roasty aromas. The palate is soft, with some good dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, and light roast flavor. Body is a little thin for the style, but this is a minor flaw in my opinion. Hot Chocolate finishes with more of those good chocolate and coffee flavors up front, then ends with a nice, spicy, peppery burn, that hits the back of the thoat and lingers. The cayenne finish really starts to heat up when this beer warms, and I for one love it! I really enjoyed this beer. Cocoa aroma and flavor are really great in this beer, along with coffee and roast character. The spicy burn the cayenne gives this beer in the finish makes it all the more interesting. Unique and flavorful, I’m sure this beer has it critics, but it has its fans as well. Many thanks to The_Enemy for giving me the chance to try this one.

DL06: Poured a murky dark brown color that left a brown film on the glass. Chocolate aroma with light ash and a dried spice aroma. The flavor was very chocolatey. It really tasted like hot cocoa. The cheap ones made with water not mild. This had a little water taste in it. Hot spicy finish. Unique for sure. It really wasn’t too bad. I would try it again but I don’t know if I could drink a whole bottle of it.

Very interesting novelty beer. opaque black with little to no head. Chocolate aroma with hints of herbal notes. Creamy palate, could have had more fizz. Chocolate and coffee flavors, with spicy pepper aftertaste.

Blue Max Liquors, Burnsville, Mn. - 12 oz bottle. Dark purple pour, very quickly fading brown head. Not much of an aroma, faint vegetable and pepper notes. Flavor has some Hershey chocolate bar essence to it it, not profound - but noticeable. Some burnt marshmallow notes as well. Pepper flavor kicks in in the aftertaste and burns slightly going down, but it adds an interesting touch. Nothing I would drink on a regular basis, but a neat novelty.

Decent sized light brown head of dense and creamy bubbles. Settles slowly. Roasty aroma with a strong smell of chocolate and some smoke. Dry and dusty aroma. Maybe a hint of pepper. Color is a very dark brownish black. Wow big smoke in the flavor. Dry and chalky with a little bit of heat from the peppers. Not over the top like Cave Creek or Rogue Chipolte. Actually the pepper become more prominent as the brew warms. Finish is hot and peppery with more smoke. An interesting gimick brew but not one that I would try again.

12 oz bottle

Picked this one, thinking it might interesting. If nothing else, it will beat the pants off trying a Cave Creek which is a one-trick pony. It pours like flat Coke with a ruby body that sucks up all light. The scent gives away the main ingredients - it is like someone laced Swiss Miss hot chocolate with tabasco sauce, then filtered it through roasted coffee beans. Tastes great for the first two seconds with a pleasant cocoa mixture, but then it heads for the border. When the pepper flavors take over, this thing gets hot fast. For me, it was a little too bitter and hot but the mix is certainly interesting. This is a unique beer that you may want to try if you have the stomach for spicy things.

Bottle. Very deep, murky brown pour with a short cap of mocha head. Nose was of roasty mocha and cocoa powder.. not much else, but enjoyable. Couldn’t figure out why the S/H/V designation until it was about halfway down. First half of the drink found a hefty dose of chocolate, a hint of coffee, and some malty spices. Backend was peppery-hot on top of the dark malts from the front. Finish was roasted coffee and hot pepper. Soft and smooth for the first half of the palate followed by a spicy explosion... t’was a poor and unenjoyable transition. This was certainly interesting... but I have difficulty enjoying heat from my beers.