Viking Berserk Barleywine

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

I picked this up not expecting a lot so I shouldn't be too disappointed but it still stinks to waste money on crappy beer. Pours a dark amber with almost no head and very little carbonation. Ends up a sweet, boozy, mostly flat mess.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 7

Ok, back to the US. Had this on draught the other day at the OF. Viking has been inconsistent in taste. Over the last few years I've been suprised by and dissapointed. This was sort of the in the middle. They produce many different styles each yeah, but I feel that they need to focus on quality more then quantity. The Bwine was nice, but not very complex. Alcohol was concealed suprisingly. Can't imagine its 12%. Caramel and fresh hops, just my thing, but they seemed too weak. Needs to be jacked up a bit. It came across like Imp IPA yet not as dank and not as sweet.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Aged for quite some time, but don't know how long
A very slight hiss is heard as I pop the cap on this. A careful pour produces a light dusting of a head, the sparse bubbles appear to be a dark tan color. The beer is a brilliantly clear, concentrated amber color that shows a cherry red color when held up to the light. The aroma is very rich and meaty; substantial malt contributes lots of umami like notes. Salty aromatics, even a touch of something like peat is noticeable as is some smoky phenolic character. Lots of concentrated caramelized malt aromatics are found here; aromas prunes, toffee, brown sugar and deeply caramelized bread crust. Toasty grain and biscuit-like notes are found in the finish. A touch of muted hop character is perhaps found here and there is also some noticeable rum like notes.

Chewy and fairly thick, though not overly sweet, as the malt character is rich enough to offset any residual sweetness. Aged malt character with touches of sherry adds a lot of complexity to this brew. The hop character, while missing in the aroma, is still quite present in the flavor, though it is a secondary note; the hops contribute a touch of citrus, light pine and a persistent bitterness that adds some balance to offset the malt character. This hides the alcohol pretty well for a beer of this strength; a touch of woody aged malt notes contribute to a touch of bourbon like notes when coupled with the alcohol. The flavor also has a touch of fruit character, made up of berries, a hint of cherry, prune notes and some raisin flavors.

This is a very nicely aged Barleywine. Quite good and it even seems to be peaking right now. The aged malt notes really add a ton of complexity here, on top of the already nice malt character; flavors of peat, smoke, fruit, oak and bourbon are all found here.