Michelob Celebrate Vanilla Oak

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

7oz Bottle. Pours a clear amber/ copper color. Sweet aroma with tons of vanilla and some alcohol. Sticky sweet with an abundance of vanilla and bourbon as well as some toasted caramel notes. Out of balance. Gets pretty hot as it warms.

Clear amber with a red hue. No head. Very fruity aroma with apple, pear, caramel, some spicy hops, alcohol. Very sweet with vanilla and bourbon, oak and a bit of astringency. Actually pretty smooth but overall weak in the flavor dept.

Really not too bad in spite of our prejudice. This is the 2005 version. Called on the label a "dark" beer and I guess it’s darker than a pilsner, buttttt... Aroma is vanilla and a hint of spice and malt. Flavor is a little too sweet and too vanilla, but there’s a real nice bourbon characteristic that comes thru in the finish. Can’t sense the booze at all. Not a session beer.

As the other raters have said..." a twist off 40 cap"???? A bourbon redish-copper pour with minimal head. Oak, whiskey notes, canalization hits you in the face, vanilla is strong in the scent yet not overpowering. Taste is big vanilla notes, nicely caramelized maltiness, yellow cake, and faint hints of espresso. Palate is somewhat sticky medium bodied with an alcohol burn. Heck the best I’ve seen for A-B in quite a while. Next year nix the 40 oz cap and either cap it or cork it.. Cheers all!

Bottle sampled with beerded_one. Pours deep orange\copper with a decent off-white head. Aroma of vanilla extract, alcohol, molasses, bourbon. Flavor is sweet, alcohol very present not masked well at all, vanilla extract, good body, drinkable.

Not a bad beer. Not a great beer. Tastes like spiced whisky mixed with a Bass Pale Ale ! OK for the Holidays.

750ml bottle.
I must confess I was motivated in part to find out whether this is actually a good beer that got low ratings here because it’s an A-B product or if the beer really is mediocre. Turns out it’s the latter. Pours a thick clear dark ruby red with little carbonation or head. Pleasant but one-dimensional aroma of extract-like vanilla and alcohol; maybe some cherry if you really concentrate. Vanilla, sweet caramel malt, faint fruit (apple, cherry), and unfortunately medicinal flavor is at the same time complex and weak. Leave it to A-B to perfectly walk that line. (This theme is foreshadowed by the shimmering, glossy gift box holding an elegently labeled bottle topped with a freakin’ screwcap. WTF is this, a limited-edition barrel-aged malt liquor?? This forehead-slappingly awkward packaging contradiction pretty much typifies the whole experience that is this beer.) For all the emphasis placed on the bourbon barrel aging, I can’t detect the faintest hint of bourbon. Thin mouthfeel and a flat, half-dead oily palate. This is the brewing equivalent of Ford trying to make Mercedes-Benz-type luxury cars and ending up with Lincolns. I’ll give A-B credit for trying, as this appears to be an honest effort and not just a cynical attempt to market obvious junk as treasure.

Drinking this one to celebrate my graduation from Duke Grad School. Pours clear amber with a very thin white head and no lacing. Has an aroma very similar to an Oktoberfest or Marzen. There is a very distinct vanilla aroma along with malts of caramel and brown sugar. The yeast isn’t as prevalent as in Oktoberfest beers, but there is still a bread aroma. The taste pretty good, but it’s definitely lacking in some areas. There is a sweet malty flavor with a burst of fake tasting vanilla and the added bourbon and oak complexity from the aging process. The problem is that there is hardly any hops bitterness to balance out this very sweet malty taste. Also, with 10 percent alchohol, I want my beer to be full-bodied, but this is far from it. It’s very weak and watery - soft on the palate with low carbonation and a poor mouthfeel. Michelob needs to grow some balls and brew a real beer, not these wimpy imitations.