Bottle. Aroma was of yeasty bread, sweet malt and alcohol. Brown/red body with a horseradish mustard head. Flavor was alcohol up front. Near the middle this beer was creamy rich malted chocolate with some sweetness. Ended smooth on the palate. A real good beer brought back from Wisconsin.

12 oz bottle courtesy of The_Enemy. Pours to a hazy, deep caramel color, with a slight tan head that fades to nothing, and a soft carbonation. The nose on this beer is very malty, with aromas of sweet malt, caramel, toffee, hints of cocoa, and some peppery alcohol. The palate is slighly slick and oily on the tongue, with good flavors of caramel, toffee, sweet malt, light flavors of cocoa, and estery flavors of prune. This beer finishes with more good sweet malt and caramel up front, then ends with a waming, peppery, alcohol bite that lingers. At 12% abv, this is a stong beer, to sip and savor, and makes for a fantastic after dinner drink, or night cap. Another impressive beer from Viking Brewing, a brewery that I have quickly become a big fan of.

Color’s as dark as sin, rich, besotted, like a turned prune, caramelly at bottom, near total opacity, with a rich, toffeeish head, good and thick, at the top. Tastiness in the nose, dark fruits abound, profoundly powerful grapes, dates, figs, and more...nicely roundedbeckons a taste... In the mouth, it’s a mo’fo...12% ABV rings loudly and proudly from the onset, and the taste is rich and smooth...full in body, to say the least, full in flavor, to boot...remarkable...not too sweet, not too hoppy...they have a balance, here, fills the mouth and stretches flavor wide and true...I’m actually impressed by a barleywine that’s not too bold or brash in flavor, in hops, in malt, in alcohol, though it is a champ in the last regard...pretty well done, got to hand it to them, especially after sampling one of their lesser offerings. I’m going to be enjoying this for a while longer, through this bomber, and I’ll enjoy every second...nice one, Viking!

Bought a 4-pack of 12 oz. bottles of this on a whim. Sometimes whims turn out great, as was the case this time. A pour into a tulip glass showed an opaque deep coffee brown with a medium tan head. Nice lacing. Nutty, fruity aroma with a helping of breadiness. Quite sweet initial taste with a full palate of toffee, vanilla and plums. Residual "earthy" taste as it finishes; surprisiingly clean for a big beer such as this. Alky is well hidden. I pronounce it "superb"!

Initially I questioned the brewer’s classification of this beer as it poured like a porter; dark with a ruby hue and an initial big chocolate-like head but its distinctive barley wine aroma of raisins and the hint of alcohol gave it away. This beer had a great mouthfeel and the finish contains a slight chalky taste with a light smoky-peat flavor that ended up dry on the tongue; unique but I actually enjoyed it. Usually I don't like to be duped by my beer but somehow this "what you see is not what you get" fact about this beer is why I'll probably pick up a few more on my next trip to Wisconsin.