Viking Brewing Juleøl

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

Sampled at the brewery.
Christmastime kitchen in a bottle. Alas, a Christmas/winter beer that isn’t completely overwhelmed with spices like a woman wearing too much perfume. Light lager base allows for a more nuanced application of spicing agents. Aroma of citrus, cinnamon and ginger. Clear orange amber with thin head. Citrus, ginger, cinnamon, clove, a touch of molassas in the flavor. I never suspected that liquid gingerbread could taste this good. Light, thin palate. A fascinating Christmas beer. Agreed with others -- should be classified as an herb/spice beer.

This is a very well done, misclassified herb/spice/vegetable beer (in total agreement with DocLock in this regard). Color is deep amber with plenty of floaties. There is little head or lacing to spead of, maybe that’s how this style is. Aroma has a malt base with a pumpkin & spice backup. The flavor is stupendous -- pumpkin is the first flavor but its mellowness is backed up by a wheaty, citrus tang. Malt is strongly present as well, along with traditional spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg. Somewhat flat, uncarbonated mouthfeel as is typical of this brewery; but this isn’t too unlike mead, which was the trademark alcoholic beverage in the days of the Vikings, so I no longer slight the brewery for this. Interesting thing about Viking -- it seems like a family-run outfit, and their products seem to be either really lousy, or like this one, positive!

Citrusy, lemony aroma with a slight toasted malt component. Color is a hazy, pale gold. Medium carbonation, thin, wispy white head. Body is light, mouthfeel is slightly slick. Taste is of light toasted malt, with prominant notes of nutmeg, ginger and clove. The spice notes are noticeable, but not too over the top. Seems like this would be better if the base beer were something a bit darker and bolder, like a dunkel. Finish is short and slightly spicy, a bit medicinal. Some hops appear in the back and finish, but are not very aggressive at all. Interesting beer. Not horrible, but once is enough for me.

Big thanks to RobertsReality for this. Gold pour with medium head. Aroma of malt, big spices, corn bread, fruit, blueberry muffins. Tastes very pumpkiny, with some nutmeg, cinnamon, fruit, and spices. Medium palate with awesome pumpkin and spice aroma and taste. I don’t see this as a Vienna. I see it as the finest pumpkin ale I have ever had, and a top notch spice/herb/vegetable offering as well.

Bottle. Ligh slighly hazy golden color with a white head. Huge spiced aroma with pumpkin, ginger, and brown sugar. I was quite impressed with the aroma on an otherwise thin light beer.

Orange, coriander, nutmeg, and crispy spicy goodness make this a great pre-dinner snack beer. Carbonated like 7-up, and the yellow-orange kidney-stone color is off-putting, but serve cold with some dry cheese, and let the flavors play. I would drink this again.

Light bronzey yellow color, a bit stained or muted body, light bubbly frothed white top, good carbonation bubbles zip along. Minimal lacing in spots. Aroma is a nice little spicy display of nutmeg, orange zest, yellow raisins, and cinnamon. Zippy, fresh, clean, borderline fruity soda-like but keeps a light lager edge of malts and hops. Flavors are nice, orangy-lemon-like candy with a soothing layer underneath of spices bringing warm cookie coverings like cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. It starts out likeable, but gets tiresome after about half a glass, a whole bomber takes awhile. Its a sipper for sure, once the taste has been acquired it soon becomes boring. One to share for an after dinner drink or something. The feel is light and somewhat zippy, clean and darty, smooth and refreshing, spiced just right with a light essence. An OK treat by Viking, delightfully boring and pleasing. Almost a keeper here. Will have again but not a fav.

Light gold color with no head. Ginger and nutmeg aroma. More gingerbread in the taste with some different fruit and/or citrus notes. A little watery. A different take on the North American holiday brew.