Penn St. Nikolaus Bock Bier

Brewed by Pennsylvania Brewing Company
Style: Dunkler Bock
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA

Sample at Buckeye Beer Engine. This beer pours dark mahogany brown color with a thin and creamy light beige head that diminishes slowly. Stringy lacing on the glass. Aroma of chocolate malt, caramel and dark fruits. Medium body with a malty flavor profile that has notes of chocolate and raisin. The finish is roasted malt and dark fruit but does not linger much at all. Above average overall.

I was hyped when I saw this beer (on tap, by the way), because I've read some great reviews about the Penn Brewery and wanted to take a crack. Plus, I love bocks, so my expectations were quite high. Appropriate color for a bock (dark brown) and a sweet body, but not overly so. Very malty and chewy with a slight roastiness that's fantastic. One of the best US bocks I've had. Light alcohol burn in the aftertaste I could do without.

12 oz bottle 2005. Cloudy dark amber color beer with decent tan head. Rich malt aroma with some noble hop spiciness. Wow, interesting flavor. There are sweet rich caramel, coffee and toffee malt notes flavors. Some solid yeast notes that combine with the hops to create a medley of spiciness. The finish has the lingering spice with a growing chocolate and toffee maltiness. Certainly a tasty brew worth having again.

05 bottle. Well this one did not hold up to cellaring as well as I had hoped. The beer suffers from the paper, vinegar, and sour tastes that you get from beer getting old. The appearance is dark amber with a two finger head. The aroma has brown sugar, cola, soured fruit and a trace of earthiness. The flavor does have the nice candy sweet element from the aroma along with toasted malt but all the above mentioned bad qualities as well. The palate is OK for the style and the aftertaste is a little like rum. I will rate again when I get a fresh sample.

Off the beaten path. Pruney, somehow rubbery smell -- like pencil erasers or something. Bocky twang to the malty brew, some cocoa some raisins. Tinny, piney aftertaste gets clingy.

Tap at Barcade: Pours a very rusty amber with a tan film for head. Decently toasted aroma, with some mildly sweet cocoa hints. Smooth, frothy carbonation. The flavor is a simple malt profile. A bit earthy and peat-like upfront, which leads to a cereal flake sweetness, which I did not enjoy. An unmemorable Dunkler Bock.

Bottle:   Heavy amber, dark and deep, moderate foamy sand colored head, a few rings of lacing.   Bready nose, faint dark pitted fruit.   Rather bready on the tongue, a little fig/date and soy.   Fairly tasty.   Mild sweetness.   Decent body.   Bready finish, but not overly done.   Soft dark pitted fruit.   Stand up good example of a Bock in my book.

Light caramel molasses malty aroma, bit of smoke and chocolate. Light hoppiness. Medium dark brown clear, with thin lacing head. Medium-light body with medium carbonation. Starts with mild chocolate caramel maltiness and mild hoppy acidity. Maltiness throughout, though not overly sweet. Hops are fruity though dull. Mild bitterness in the finish, still some sweetness of caramel or molasses. After has some carbonic acidity and light sweetness. Decent bock, but kinda weak.