Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Beer Tasting: Penn St. Nikolaus Bock Bier


The Beer: Penn Brewing St. Nikolaus Bock Bier
Style: Münchener Dunkel Bock Bier
Reviews: Beer Advocate Rate Beer
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Packaging & Date Stamping: 12 oz. brown bottle; no date stamp

From where & How stored: Received via a holiday beer exchange at work and refrigerated at 42F since then

Pricing: $x.xx

Availability: Winter seasonal (holiday)

ABV, IBU, and Other Available Stats: 7.5% ABV
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Bryan's Notes
The Look:
- deep mahogany, very dark near black color
- thin pouring
- 2-finger loose head of medium bubbles, thins quickly

The Aroma:
- difficult to detect an aroma; some basic malt aroma, a bit like an average lager nose

The Taste:
- dry, roasted malt flavor...lingers a bit in the finish
- just a bit of chocolate and tobacco (no, I wasn't smoking a cigar at the time...nor was I at a bar)
- somewhat thin, but crisp and clean
- kind of one-dimensional

The Verdict: Not overly anything. Just plain ol' drinkable. Not my favorite Penn beer, but certainly not bad at all. The old style St. Nick label puts you in the holiday mood.
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Adam's Notes
The Look:
- copper brown
- decent head
- dissipates to persistent thin layer of bubbles

The Aroma:
- not much nose

The Taste:
- roasted malt
- yeasty taste
- chocolate malt finish

The Verdict: A good session dark bock beer. If you like lager and you like dark beer then this is for you. This is one of those holiday beers that will not surprise you with spice. Good safe bet for the average beer drinker who wants to take a risk ;-)

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