War Hammer
Valkyrie Brewing

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From:
Valkyrie Brewing
 
Wisconsin, United States
Style:
American Porter
ABV:
4.5%
Score:
82
Avg:
3.61 | pDev: 16.62%
Reviews:
89
Ratings:
110
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Jun 26, 2020
Added:
May 21, 2002
Wants:
  2
Gots:
  3
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by BuckeyeNation:
Photo of BuckeyeNation
Reviewed by BuckeyeNation from Iowa

3.57/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Black coffee black topped by a coffee-with-cream colored head that is a scant one finger in height, even after a somewhat vigorous pour. It looks like carbonation (as in 'a lack of') might be an issue. The bubbly foam is already approaching extinction and no lace graces the glass. Good looking beer though.

I like the nose quite a bit. It smells like fudge brownies studded with butterscotch bits and flecks of vanilla bean. Even though the brewery calls this beer 'a coffee, oatmeal and milk porter', I can't say that I appreciate the java. Why don't they just call it a breakfast porter and be done with it? Anyway, the aroma, while different and probably not everyone's cup of joe, is very nice.

So that's where the coffee went. Odd that it isn't more prominent in the nose. The flavor profile consists of roasted coffee grounds with a bitterness that tastes like it was born of citric hops. The reason that I don't love Whole Stein is a quality that I've noticed in other Viking offerings; namely, a close to overbearing lactic sourness.

I don't mind that characteristic in most porters, in fact I think it adds flavor interest in many cases, I just don't like it to be present to quite this degree. It tastes like curdled cream was added to my breakfast coffee (even though I don't drink coffee, never have and never will). Some of the diacetyl butterscotchiness is still present, although it doesn't work quite as well within the somewhat scattershot flavor profile.

The body/mouthfeel isn't bad for a porter, with one exception. Given the look on the pour, I wasn't expecting much carbonation and that is exactly what I got (or didn't get). Even though it isn't completely flat, the beer lacks any sort of life in the mouth and is, obviously, the poorer for it. This isn't the first Viking beer to suffer this fate. I'm wondering if the boys from Dallas might have some quality control issues.

Whole Stein (Holstein. Milk porter. Get it?) is an interesting beer, but not an especially good one. I get the feeling that something might have gone wrong with this particular batch, but the fact that I've had similar problems with this brewery in the past makes me think that they have bigger issues. The next time I make the trek up to Madison, I'll grab another bottle and give Whole Stein another go round.
Nov 06, 2006
More User Ratings:
Photo of scaliasux
Reviewed by scaliasux from Wisconsin

3.24/5  rDev -10.2%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
L - Very dark brown. Light brown, thin head.

S - Dark malts and coffee; a little bread; a little chocolate.

T - Unexpected fruity acidity, dark malts, coffee.

F - Light.

O - This is definitely something different.
Jun 26, 2020
 
Rated: 3.5 by d5001986 from Wisconsin

Jul 29, 2018
Photo of Victory_Sabre1973
Reviewed by Victory_Sabre1973 from Minnesota

3.86/5  rDev +6.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Pours a nice black color. The head was minimal, and brown colored.
The nose has got hints of coffee. Nothing too strong.
Taste - a mellow blend of coffee, and lactose. Fairly well blended, and not too strong.
Decent body.
Decent coffee beer. I am enjoying his.
Oct 12, 2017
 
Rated: 4.51 by Lupigrant from Minnesota

Mar 25, 2016
 
Rated: 3.59 by DissentFatsquirrel from Minnesota

Feb 05, 2016
Photo of Cfred371
Reviewed by Cfred371 from Minnesota

3.85/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75
This bottle was at least a month old, as my dad gave it to me as a gift around Christmas. I let the beer warm for 20 minutes or so.

Look the beer pours a dark brown, with some light coming through on the very edges of the glass. Poured fairly aggressively with minimal head. What head does come up is a khaki color.

Smell: first hint was not what I expected, but seems common in reviews: dark fruit, specifically like a raisin scent. I don't get much else

Taste: raisin, oatmeal, and, possibly a stretch, the finish has some chocolate to it. I was surprised how little coffee I got from War Hammer.

Feel: not terribly carbonated, and about a medium to a little more of a mouthfeel. There is a slight bitterness in the finish that will linger, but it's really not too much.

Overall: A nice beer, but certainly not a world class brew. I'm curious how much coffee they use in their recipe or if the coffee just dies off quickly.
Jan 27, 2016
 
Rated: 3.5 by harpus from Alabama

Aug 25, 2015
Photo of KevChiTown
Reviewed by KevChiTown

3.7/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Super interesting only because I expected "coffee-milk-stout-porter"s kinda aways good generic flavor. This one however, is nothing like that. Straight up dried fruit in the nose and taste that right away, I felt would be followed by a sourness, which never came. Very cool beer, nice surprise, will keep an eye out now for something else from Valkyrie.
Feb 24, 2015
 
Rated: 3.76 by SF_Posse from Wisconsin

Dec 07, 2014
Photo of Stevedore
Reviewed by Stevedore from Oregon

3.13/5  rDev -13.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
12oz bottle, unknown bottling date. Served in a snifter 11/14/2014.

A- Dark brown body, opaque and dark. Minimal mocha head, very little retention time, no lacing. [3.5]

S- Coffee, dark fruit, no roast. Hint of milk chocolate. Earthy. Not particularly impressive, fairly average nose. [3]

F- Initial taste is odd, with the dark fruit flavours giving me a slight cherry flavour without any tartness; switching over fairly quickly to a mildly bitter coffee flavour mixed in with minimal milk chocolate sweetness, finishing off with a bitter, resinous earthiness and coffee bean. There is not very much depth or intensity of any one flavour; it is simultaneously strange and bland. [3.25]

M- On the thinner side; low in carbonation and quite astringent coffee bean and cherry flavours on the finish. It gets a bit more drinkable as it finishes, but for the most part it's not something I'm looking to guzzle, as it is fairly bitter and slightly metallic on the finish overall. [3]

O- Weird beer. I may have gotten an old bottle, but the coffee flavours manifest mostly as a bitterness on the finish and there is minimal lactose character with little to no roast character that porters typically have. Not a beer I would recommend, unfortunately. [3]

Final score: 3.14
Nov 14, 2014
 
Rated: 2.75 by zkoehn from Wisconsin

Oct 27, 2014
 
Rated: 3.25 by 22Blue from Kansas

Oct 18, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by einman from Minnesota

Aug 22, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by BrownAleMale from Wisconsin

Aug 05, 2014
 
Rated: 3.25 by Woodman70 from Wisconsin

Jul 18, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by FFATS from Wisconsin

Jun 04, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by JasonSullivan from Wisconsin

Apr 05, 2014
 
Rated: 3.25 by lazyfrodo from Texas

Mar 28, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by BYOFB from Wisconsin

Feb 08, 2014
War Hammer from Valkyrie Brewing
Beer rating: 82 out of 100 with 110 ratings