Michelob Celebrate Vanilla Oak

Brewed by Anheuser-Busch InBev
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
St. Louis, Missouri USA

Clear amber with a medium, dense off-white head. The aroma is sweet caramel, alcohol, and vanilla bean. The flavor is quite sweet and dominated by vanilla. Vanilla is an easy flavor to over do. Full creamy body. Almost like a glass of vanilla ice cream topped by caramel sauce. The real trouble starts as it gets warmer. This is when the choking cloying sweetness of this becomes obvious.

Lightly hazed copper hue, decent head formation. Intensely sugarry, vanilla nose. Overpowering vanilla flavor (why not let the beer pick it up itself instead of adding it), burnt caramel underneath, fairly sweet and cloying. Still much more character than I was expecting, so not a disappointment in that regard but just a little off balance. A screw cap and no cork, however. They seemed to put a lot of effort into the packaging that it’s a shame.

Well, I tried to have an open mind on this beer, but it simply is not very good. Mahogany color with a thin white head. Licorice, vanilla and cotton candy dominate the aroma. Very sweet flavor, almost cloying. One dimensional vanilla flavor that lacks balance of any sort. I am glad that a friend got a bottle of this for free, because it is certainly not worth it’s price.

Had this at Vail Beer Fest. 2-oz. sample from a snifter. The beer poured a clear, medium-gold color with a small, frothy, mostly diminshing off-white head. The aroma is hot without much character. I can only detect miscellaneous light aromas of banana, vanilla and a corny note of DMS. Sort of like vanilla extract drizzled into an MGD. The flavor was moderately sweet and lightly bitter with an average-length, moderately bitter finish with an unclean taste. The body was light, the texture was watery and the carbonation was fizzy with a heavily alcoholic ending.

I’ll give AB credit for at least trying but there is no way in hell that this beer is similar to fine cognac. It does however have the body and carbonation of cheap brandy. I know the picture shows a head on the beer but I’m pretty sure they had to draw it in because the beer I poured had more of a thin layer of lacing across the surface of the barely effervescent brew. I got this in a gift set with two snifters and though I am very pleased with the glasses I have to say that they don’t do this beer any favors. I poured the rest of the beer into a lager glass and was pleasantly surprised by what I found. The aroma is filled with notes of vanilla, malt, spices, and alcohol. It’s not the rich aromatic character I was hoping for but it would make a nice Glade candle scent. Flavor was mostly vanilla with a lot of alcohol and some watered down malt followed by more vanilla in the finish. Overall, I think there is one word that perfectly describes this beer: impotent. Sorry, but it just had to be said.

The bottle, attractive thought it is, reads rather oddly. "Celebrate Michelob?"...not something I often do, but I’ll give it a whirl. Clear caramelly crimson color, slim, soon gone head. Big vanilla nose, ripe and rich, highly aromatic, accompanied by notes of cherries and raw bourbon. Alcoholic content is also very evident, just from the smell. Smooth on the palate, with massive vanilla flavor. Tasty, but we have a problem. There’s not enough malt, hardly any hops, and a real thinness that does not match up with this 10% abv. Who thought that was a good idea? You rarely find doppelbocks that strong, heck, we’re almost talking Samischlaus here, and there’s just a paucity of body and character. You get the vanilla and the bourbon and the booze, but it’s too much for a beer so light. Feels very raw, one get ripped so easily....vanilla malt liquor, anyone? I had an open mind going in, and applaud A-B for trying, but they goofed up on this one. Glad it was a gift.

Bottle, Vail Beer Fest. Head is mostly diminishing. Body is medium amber. Aroma is moderately malty (caramel), with notes vanilla, candy sugar, and DMS. Flavor is moderately sweet. Finish is lightly sweet, lightly bitter, unclean. Medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation, lightly alcoholic. If you’re even slightly meticulous, you will find the macro-swill smell underneath the sugary and vanilla notes. That’s a shame, really...why use a shitty base beer to make a special brew? Oh, right, this is A-B we’re talking about. God forbid they would actually avoid shortcuts and adjuncts for a fancy packaged celebratory beer. That would cost money.

Malty, strong lager aroma witih cake. Y’know, they could have sprung for a crimp-cap bottle, or a corked bottle, for the ridiculous price that they wanted for a bomber. Very sweet, pretty nicely balanced. Vanilla is a Russian roulette ingredient from what I’ve seen -- it can either be soft and add a great dark, fermented compliment to the brew, OR it can come off as artificial and cloying. AB does a good job of the former. Nice bittering - in part hops, in part good old hydroxyethane. Does well as it warms, a fair sipping brew. Overall, it’s cakey. I just wish AB wouldn’t use Michelob as the point of departure for all it’s macro ’craft’ specials. Medium body, finish is fadeaway vanilla. Glad I waited for the after-Christmas markdown. Wish I’d waited for the after-Valentine’s Day markdown.