25oz uncorked green bottle, batch #1. Attractively thick brown-amber color. The aroma is deep and malty in the bock style. Deep, rich flavor with a very moderate carbonation level. Sweet tastes of chocolate and pungent fruit. This is an excellent beer, worth seeking out if you are into big German beers.

Courtesy of Quake1028. Pours brown with a slight haze and has a mildly frothy tan head. The aroma has deep dark fruitiness, roasted malts, mild earthiness mixed with molasses and pepper. The taste is sweet to roasted malts that run into dark fruitiness like plums, cherries and sweet dark grapes. The body is a little thin carrying faint spiciness into the finish. Nice sweet malty experience.

Bottle. Batch #001. Pours a dark caramel brown color. Aroma is a sweet malt. Flavor is a slightly sweet, full flavored roasted malt. The aftertaste is a bit sweet, and has a slight hop kick to it. Slight oak flavor as well. I haven’t had the regular Nikolaus Bock, so I don’t know how different this one may be from it.

Wow, what a package! Sweetish candy aroma. Darker clear iced tea colors with very little head. Barely any carbonation, could use a bit more. Taste is similar to the other St. Nick and makes me try to compare the two from my memory. Perhaps this one is a little less bitter than I remember. This is a little more soda like on the palate. Hides the 8% very well. Overall, not bad, I’d say it’s a slight improvement over the regular but I am very curious as to what exactly makes this different except for the packaging. Finish is a tad bitter and lingers for just a few moments at the end of the session.