Viking Brewing Weathertop Wheat

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

Hazy oxidized copper and chestnut color with a modest light tan head. Very heavy aromas with wheat, and sorghum, dark corn syrup - has a profile of burning malt-o-meal on the stove top. A hint of bourbon vanilla sneaks in late. Smooth, but quite thick on the palate. Cocoa and wheat flavors mingle. Fairly simple, an odd concoction of creme de cocoa and wheat beer. I don’t find it objectionable, but it doesn’t ring many bells either. More chocolate in the finish. A long malty linger helps this one out. I really need to get to New Zealand and slug a few down.

Picked up a single bottle from Blue Max in Burnsville, MN. Pours a reddish caramel brew with a thin white head that leaves a nice lacing. Aroma is interesting with hints of tropical fruits, melon, butterscotch, and caramel. Taste is a bit watery with some caramel and grassy hops. Palate is light and watery with a slight butterscotch aftertaste. It’s a little challenging to pick up the wheat and yeast flavor in this one.

Bottled. Poured a very nice shade of dark caramel with a minute’s worth of toffee head. The aroma is faint, with sour fruit, caramel, and coffee if you really strain the nose. Pleasant sweet caramel gives the first impression in the flavor department, but unpleasant sour fruit, cardboard, and tacky artificial sweetness come on strong.. and quickly. Dry chocolate showed up toward the finish, but couldn’t save it. Not very pleasant on the palate either.

Murky brown color with no head. Sweet chocolate malt flavor. Well, it has the good banana and malt start of a dunkelweizen, but there’s a nasty chalk-like presence that is so very not right. It ruins it.

Good aroma. Honey, maple syrup, caramel. Brown with a small head. Very dark orange. Flavor of malt. Somewhat sweet; not as sweet as I like and expect for the style. Thin. Finish is somewhat sweet also, but light, bitter hops coming through as the beer warms. Also gets sweeter and richer.

A "New-Zealand-style" wheat beer? I’ve never heard that one. Hmm... interesting. This has all the makeup of a yeast experiment--heck, you might even call this one a cherry lambic. I think if they did that it might get wider applause. Indeed, there are some nice qualities--big lacing off-white head, rich deep red body. The aroma is candy with a hint of cocoa powder, but the flavor is cherry with a cough syrup richness, though not too sweet for my tastes. The sour/tart dimension is strong and the carbonation keeps it alive in the mouth, though the flavor is a bit thin: it is more the sensibility of tart rather than the direct sensation of flavor that drives this. Still, it’s drinkable and if given a different style it might be moderately appreciated.

Sampled at the 3rd Annual "Between the Bluffs" Beer and Cheese Festival in La Crosse, WI. Appearance: Finally, a Viking brew with a semi-lasting head! Tan head. Bubbly. So-so lacing. Opaque brown/red color. Aroma: Roasted malt, wheat, a little weak. Flavor is roasted malt, dark fruits, whole kernel wheat, some sort of milk-like sugars. Grassyness. This sucker’s tasty. Palate is lactose sweetness, smooth moderate mouthfeel. Overall, this one’s off the beaten path of wheat beers (kinda artistic like New Glarus’ Black Wheat). Very original. A MUST try. So far, I’m wondering if I got a better part of the batch or a different batch than other people got. I thought this one is worthy...

Dark Brown with Creamy White Skin. Sweet Malt Aroma...Tastes like Wheat and Bad Malt..Something Isn’t Right in This One. Better Luck Next Brew.