St. Nikolaus Bock Bier - Brewer's Reserve
Pennsylvania Brewing Company

St. Nikolaus Bock Bier - Brewer's ReserveSt. Nikolaus Bock Bier - Brewer's Reserve
Beer Geek Stats | Print Shelf Talker
From:
Pennsylvania Brewing Company
 
Pennsylvania, United States
Style:
Doppelbock
Ranked #7
ABV:
8.5%
Score:
93
Ranked #3,775
Avg:
4.18 | pDev: 9.09%
Reviews:
112
Ratings:
192
Status:
Active
Rated:
Dec 31, 2022
Added:
Nov 22, 2007
Wants:
  71
Gots:
  34
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by nickd717:
Photo of nickd717
Reviewed by nickd717 from California

4.13/5  rDev -1.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
750ml bottle sent as an awesome extra in a trade with Davolebomb. Thanks, Dave! Shared with family at Christmas dinner. The incorrigible neophytes that they are, they were saying things like, "Is that a beer? It looks like a wine bottle! I've never seen something like that!" Pfft! Ignoramuses.

Pours a dark, clear reddish-brown color with a nice lasting tan head.

Aroma is malty and sweet with toffee, roast, and dark fruits.

Flavor is very good, malty and roasty, fairly complex, with toffee, caramel, spices, and black cherry.

Smooth on the mouthfeel with medium body.

Drinkability is very good for the style. Overall this is a really nice beer.
Dec 29, 2009
More User Ratings:
Photo of JohnnyHopps
Reviewed by JohnnyHopps from Indiana

4.5/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Appearance - The beer poured a brownish black color with a slight head.

Smell - The rich malts were noted, but there was nothing overly sweet.

Taste - The taste began with rich, roasted malts. Notes of chocolate, raisin, toast, and molasses were present. The profile was rich, but not unnecessarily sweet. The malts leaned a little dry in the finish.

Mouthfeel - The body had some viscosity, allowing the profile to cling.

Overall - This is a top of the line doppelbock.
Dec 31, 2022
 
Rated: 4.5 by Gil-Fleming from Pennsylvania

Dec 16, 2022
Photo of bigdeuce
Reviewed by bigdeuce from Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Pours a dark ruby color with a 2 finger craggy head. Scents are a bit lackin but in my opinion, it’s the least problematic part of a brew. Light chocolate and caramel shine through on the palate. Smoking malts are balanced out with Hallertau hops. No alcohol detected which makes this a dangerous beer. Nice lacing down the mug. A nice offering by Penn, but what else can be expected?
Apr 15, 2022
Photo of spectru
Reviewed by spectru from Florida

3.8/5  rDev -9.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
12/29/2021 - dark translucent, nice tan persistent head, lacy; rich mild flavor; smooth mouthfeel, not as quite as carbonated as the head would suggest; not bad, a good beer.
Dec 30, 2021
 
Rated: 3.94 by TheCakePounder from Pennsylvania

Jan 24, 2021
Photo of Fordcoyote15
Reviewed by Fordcoyote15 from Pennsylvania

4.58/5  rDev +9.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
Wow. I've lived 45 minutes outside of pitt ky whole life and rated over a 1,000 beer and never tries this. Im absolutely blown away. So nutty, malty, clean, and damn near perfect.
Dec 22, 2020
Photo of adrock314
Reviewed by adrock314 from Pennsylvania

3.45/5  rDev -17.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
2020 Edition. 22oz bottle into tulip.

L: Dark mahogany with ruby highlight. A few fingers of head from a vigorous pour that shrinks to a small ring and sticks around a while. Attractive pour.

S: Not much going on at fridge temp. As it warms there is some malt & grain - very muted. A little alcohol on the nose as well. Maybe just a hint of black tea?

T: Sweet, but not cloying, malt flavors. Overall it's not terribly flavorful. There's some cocoa, a little dark fruit, and a touch of tobacco. I would expect bolder flavors from a 9ish % Doppelbock.

F: Creamy mouthfeel. Carbonation is soft and appropriate for the style.

O: Solid overall, but nothing spectacular. I wanted to like this more than I actually did.
Dec 19, 2020
 
Rated: 4.09 by DrewTheBrew from Ohio

Dec 24, 2018
Photo of Bluerabbitbell
Reviewed by Bluerabbitbell from Pennsylvania

3.9/5  rDev -6.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Dollar bin from dry tavern. Drinking this a year after release..... Nicely malted, and good color. Slightly over carbonated, but a good one for the evening.
Dec 24, 2018
 
Rated: 4.3 by Richie_C_Johnson from Minnesota

Apr 12, 2018
 
Rated: 4.34 by reitzbrewing from Pennsylvania

Feb 18, 2018
Photo of ajm5108
Reviewed by ajm5108 from Pennsylvania

4.37/5  rDev +4.5%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Pours a deep caramel brown, moderate tan head, good carbonation. Aroma is classic - rich copper malt, dark fruit, fig, rum raisin, phenol. Taste has lots of malt - obviously - pretty dark, a little sweet, more rum raisin, mild treacle, a little phenol booze at the end. Traditional, and well done
Dec 25, 2017
 
Rated: 4.18 by Segelstrom from Pennsylvania

Dec 18, 2017
 
Rated: 4.25 by MrJuengling from Pennsylvania

Nov 17, 2017
 
Rated: 4.24 by Justdoit1234 from Minnesota

Oct 20, 2017
 
Rated: 4.66 by TomVHoupt from Pennsylvania

Jun 07, 2017
Photo of drtth
Reviewed by drtth from Pennsylvania

4.02/5  rDev -3.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
This beer, the 2016 brewing, comes in a bomber size bottle inside a red velvet bag with a draw string tie and the brewery logon printed on it. Hopefully the beer inside the bottle will justify the “Reserve” and the special presentation.

The first pour into a Duvel glass is a dark mahogany color with some reddish highlights and 1” light tan head that slowly recedes to a thin layer on the surface of the liquid and leaves some patches and rings of leggy lacing on the sides of the glass. Sipping leaves some arches and smaller patches of leggy lacing. Even midway through the pour there is lacing on the sides and an irregular island of foam on the surface.

The aromas are nutty, bready and have some dark fruit in the background. There's also a bit of caramel with a hint of alcohol and some earthy spiciness from the hops

The flavors are much as expected from the nose with some nutty, dark bread character and some dark fruit. There's also some maple syrup/dark chocolate sweetness and some caramel, all balanced by an earthy, dark roast and slightly spicy bitterness.

The mouthfeel is on the full side of medium bodied and smooth with the moderate gentle carbonation. The medium length finish begins as the well balanced mix of flavors and sweetness begin fade and allow some dry earthy, dark roast and spicy bitterness that closes out the show as it too slowly disappears on the back of the palate.

Very drinkable beer with a nice combination of flavors and aromas. It's nice to have a beer brewed for the holidays without the addition of spices. I'll certainly be willing to have another. For me the only fault I find with the beer is that the earthiness is a bit too prominent in the ending. Currently I have a second bottle tucked away in the basement to wait for next winter. If my luck holds I'll find a bottle of the 2017 brewing and be able to do a side by side.
Mar 06, 2017
Photo of 57md
Reviewed by 57md from Pennsylvania

4.15/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Pours a dark brown with copper edges and well over a finger of head. The nose has that classic deep bready essence. The flavor is malty and the body is hearty. There is a really nice touch of sweetness on the finish that makes this offering complete.

This is a real holiday gem. Even though it was not boozy at all, I am guessing that it would still age rather well.
Jan 16, 2017
 
Rated: 3.49 by ConnorSimpson41 from Pennsylvania

Dec 30, 2016
St. Nikolaus Bock Bier - Brewer's Reserve from Pennsylvania Brewing Company
Beer rating: 93 out of 100 with 192 ratings