Viking Brewing Rauch

On tap at the Great Lakes Brewfest 2009. Hazy yellow with a thin off-white head. Aroma of mild smoke, malt and grains. Taste of smoked grains, smoked meats and mild earthy hops. Finishes up smoky and mildly tangy.

Pours yellow with light white head. Sweet metallic and lager aroma. Floral and fruity flavor. Unbalanced.

Bottle poured into a glass. Smokey flavor with a light almost fruity (grapefruit) floral hop aroma. A very complex beer that needs better balancing.

Bottle shared with HogTownHarry, blankboy & mds - courtesy of HogTownHarry. Golden-yellow with a wispy head. Generic sweet lager aroma with a moderate smokiness. Thin body. Flavour is pretty much in the line with the aroma - a mid-range lager with not much character, but decent smoke notes. An odd one, to be sure.

Bottle (12oz) shared with HogTownHarry, GregClow & mds -- courtesy of HogTownHarry. Pours a hazy yellow with a spare diminishing white head. Aroma of malt, some sweetness and yeah, a good amount of smoke too. Watery flavour of malt and only a hint of smoke, maybe a light bitter finish, hard to tell as it’s so watery. Light bodied. Disappointing.

Bottle (12oz). Shared with blankboy, GregClow and mds my bottle via trade with Oakbluff Viper666. Pale light orange, not much head - pretty wan-looking. Bandaid and iodine aroma, light roast sweet malt backing. Taste - dry, malty, harsh iodine and herbal linger. Light body, weak carbonation, pretty dry harsh bandaids aftertaste. Ehh...

12 oz bottle. Poured a clear light orange color. Head was thin, off white, and reduced over a minute or two to a thin bubbly film. Some lace was left behind at the end. Attractive aroma of mingled cereal grain and smoked malt. Kind of smelled like a sweatshirt the day after it was worn around a campfire. There was also a whiff of grassy hops. Smooth on the tongue with carbonation on the low end of the spectrum. Earthy and delicately sweet. The smoke flavor was was not strong, but not weak either. There were also some grassy hops and biscuity malt. The only detractor in my mind was a distinct metallic note.

Slightly hazy yellow colored (cider appearance), poured with almost no head at all. Strange, since the Viking pilsner I poured ten minutes ago began overflowing with foam as soon as I opened the bottle. Seems that most of the Viking beers have either too much or too little carbonation. Aroma of bacon, smoked cheese, earthy smoky smells. First taste reveals dry smoky malt. Smokiness isn’t overwhelming, just where it should be. The body is medium with flat carbonation. Not a lot of depth to this one, but an easy drinking soft rauch beer.