Penn St. Nikolaus Bock Bier

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

2005 edition. Pours brown with an off white head. Smells of biscuits with some vegetal notes. Tastes spicy with some nice tarte elements.

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.

One of my favorites as i grew up on this fine beer.Beautiful dark beer color and rich taste.Very smooth with a nice carmel taste. This late 2006 version of this beer is the very best they have made.Try it and i bet you love it.They rate the alcohol as 6.8 but seems much higher than that.

This is a beer for the cold weather. I love a good Bock and this one hit the spot. Maybe I am biased (being from Pittsburgh) but this was a great suprise from what I was expecting. The aroma was strong and almost smelled like a red wine. The dark brown pour looked like Pepsi (except for the thin white head). I was expecting something sweeter, but the roasted malt flavor and the bitter but not too bitter aftertaste had me thanking Santa after each sip.

Oh yeah, nothing like an X-mas seasonal on the longest day of the year at least the temps haven’t hit the 90’s yet! Abundant aroma of sugary bready malt with some spices and red wine. Dark amber pour, little tan head, and no lacing. Creamy and filling, velvety and smooth as well. Flavor is exceptional especially for the style. Fermented plums and raisins combined with sweet malts and cherries. A sprinkling of roasted malt as well with a dry honey aftertaste. This seasonal was treated nice and is well blended, too bad it was merely a lone single on the bottom shelf because this is really good.

amber brown with a lacing minor grey head. woody nose, a bit of caramel and a nice light nutty flavor. a quenching good example of a bock. 4 7 7 5 14

Courtesy of Afterexile. <P> 12 oz bottle. Nice aroma. Lots of raisin and malt..some spiciness and cola notes. Deep reddish brown color with a pretty two ginger thick tan head. Sweet raisin and black licorice fore. Cramel malts. Molasses and brown sugar. I wouldn’t mind a little more flavor intensity, but this is still very nice.

Thanks to my friend Karl for this beer, its his favorite winter brew. Pours a deep brown/black with minimal tan head. Aroma of roasted malts, toffee and cocoa. Flavor is full of more roasted malts, coffee, cocoa and finishes with a nice hop bite. Medium bodied beer. Solid winter beer.