Penn St. Nikolaus Bock Bier

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

I wish this was available year round, it's so darn good . It's ideal with hearty Autumn/Winter foods . One too many of these and you'll have a red nose like Rudolph the red nosed reindeer !

This a very good beer. Very smooth and a nice sweetness. I like Penn brewing A LOT!!!!!!! I must go to Pittsburgh sometime because just because they dont make all kinds of crazy ales people truly should realize they are top percentile brewers!!!!!

Appearance: a bright plummy color, with a short, slight head above. Aroma: Super-fat malt at the forefront, thick, rich, sweet, wow!, loaded with character, slightly spicy, quite a treat. Taste: considerable heft on the palate, again, rich, malty, spicy, chock full of dark fruits, cherries, berries,raisins, etc., plus a yeasty bready quality. Quite a kicky ginger cookie we’ve got here, just the thing to make the jolly old man pleased as holiday punch. Medium to full body, with a long, lingering finish, sits happily on the palate, gets comfortable, provides a spicy, fruity blend of pleasure with every sip.

from the bottle. poured a dark brown, with a tan head. aroma, caramel, malt, some chocolate, hints of molasses. brown sugar.enjoyable all around

From a 12 oz. bottle with a blurb on the back label, no freshness date, but I know this is the winter ’06 release. Poured a ruby hued light coffee brown with a frothy, foamy off-white head that settled into a thin sudsy lacing, minimal amount of laced sticking. Aromas of roasted malts with a touch of nutty chocolate, a berry fruitiness and earthy hops. Good, even, moderate carbonation and a malty crisp, velvety smooth medium bodied mouthfeel. Just a pleasant bock taste, roasted grains and coffee with chocolate drizzled in, caramelized sugar, a bit nutty, a soft berry fruitiness, earthy, herbal hops that complement the malts, the alcohol is very subtle, but you can taste it towards the end, and a sweet roasted malty finish. Amazingly easy drinkability, highly quaffable, a good seasonal bock, one of the better ones I’ve had.

Clear, dark copper appearance with an average size head and slight lacing. Earthy, briar patch aroma with sweet malts in the background. Toasty, moderately sweet taste with dried fruit, spices, toffee and caramel. Medium bodied, well carbonated mouthfeel, leading to a pleasant, lingering, mildly spiced finish.

750ml special bottling: Pours a transparent dark copper with a stringy-lacing ring of light tan head. Doughy aroma of sweet dark caramely malts and a touch of earthy peat and chocolate. Body starts a little thinner with some nice, authentic dark caramely German malt and doughy yeast toward a semi-sweet finish. A true to style beer and quite drinkable.

There is so much talk here about over- and under-rated breweries. Oftentimes, folk say that Stone is underated. Well, they are not. They are great. It is just a matter of how great they are. Not so with Penn. These fellows were pioneers and nobody gives them their proper due. UNTIL NOW. In any event, St. Nikolaus is real Bock. If you like this, you like Bock. If you like Bock, you like this. This is not Maibock. It is not Doppelbock. It is straight Bock and it is excellent. Perfect level of richness, perfect level of sweetness. The only fault I can find is as follows: with Penn’s Dark, its Oktoberfest, and its Maerzen, each present a strange and special flavor that sort of sets it apart. This beer is sort of right down the line. And what’s more, it held up nicely, for I am sure it was brewed several months ago.