Viking Brewing Weathertop Wheat

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.