Viking Classic
Viking Brewery - Vifilfell Ltd.

 

 

 

Surprisingly dark amber, orange-ish brew. Poor head production and retention. Transparent body.

Very malty nose, blending caramel and pale grains with grassy, herbal hops.

Malt-forward on the palate, with a pleasant enough caramel and brown sugar front end. Second half, however, is a bit of a bittersweet mess.

Fairly smooth on the palate.

While the color of the brew is close to a traditional Vienna lager, the palate is barely more tinged with caramel than a standard AAL or Euro pale lager. It's not undrinkable by American standards, but neither is it enjoyable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last of the mixed 5 pack of cans purchased at the airport when leaving Iceland.

A- Crystal clear filtered medium golden body from the tall can into my chalice. A fizzy white cap forms to about half a cm high before dying fast into almost nothing. No lacing found here.

S- Fairly simple lager aroma clean of any strange funk or corn. Grainy with a real cracked barley aroma, spicy tones and a bit of bread.

T- As with the aroma the grains are mostly come to mind with a mild presence of lager yeast in the backdrop. Comes off as a bit toasty here and freshly cracked grain notes lead into spicy, pale fruit, pils grains and yeast bread hints. Somewhat sweet and buttery.

MF- Medium bodied for the style with a creamy and frothy texture; not fully chewy but plenty of substance here. High end, crisp carbonation.

The standard lager I found all around Iceland. Considering the many terrible American macros that can be found, this really isn't bad for the staple brew in a country. The fully rounded out malts are especially noteworthy.

 

 

 

Bought in a can. Poured a clear amber colour, and smells malty (lager/pilsner malts), not much else. Clean and bitter, grainy and malty. A simple lager but with a bit more flavour; nice. Mild but crisp carbonation lends a smoothness to the body without being too snappy; enjoyable for a summer day but still chug-able if you chose to do so.