Winters Bourbon Cask Ale

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

12 oz bottle someone left behind at the New Years Eve party. Pour is clear golden auburn with a one inch off white head. Nice settling on the pour, faint patchy lacing. Aroma of dusty, nutty maltiness. Some tinny metallic notes as well. Upon initial smell, I really did not pick up on any of the vanilla or Bourbon listed on the label. Taste is sour maltiness, transitioning to sweet caramel nutty, then some of the vanilla and finally something akin to boozy cherry. Its not booze or cherry, necessarily, almost like a simulated taste of the two. Towards the end of the glass, this tasted almost exactly like vanilla coke. To their credit, these flavors do meld together well. As it warms, the vanilla is really the dominant flavor. It tastes a little artificial, like sweetener used in soda pop. Palate is medium, smooth, medium carbonation with an artificial sweetener and slight iced tea finish. Kinda weird, but not really poorly made.

How is this a spice/herb/veggie brew??? Only thing good about this beer is the pour which is clear ruby gold with a minimal off white head. Aroma is s’mores like of chocolate and marshmellow with some wheat but its not like the awesome goodness that s’mores deliver. Flavor is bleh...has some bitterness. Palate is weak, boring and metallic. Sloppy brew.

WOw picked this up by mistake. and it was a MISTAKE. Aroma was tons of vanilla the fake kind. Flavor NOT GOOD. Fake vanilla with a nasty aftertaste to it. Mouthfeel was watered down thin just chemically all bad was a big mistake.

On tap. Pours an amber color with a quickly disappearing head. Sweet aroma, vanilla and caramel are present. Malty body, sweet but not overpowering, lots of vanilla and spices. Smooth finish. Great for A-B, average otherwise.

(12oz bottle, courtesy mar) Pours a clear amber body with a small off-white head. Aroma of wood, mustiness, caramel, vanilla, and light smoke. Flavor of vanilla extract, hops (floral), nuts, and some oak.

Pours a deep ruby red with a large head that quicly recedes to a lasting lacing. Aroma is of spice, cinnamon caramel malts, a little brown sugar and weakly of hops. Flavor is initially bitter followed by honey and burnt malt. Mouthfeel is decent, medium viscosity. This stuff really isn’t too bad. Not memorable, but pretty decent coming from Anheuser-Busch. Overall, good.

This is by far the best"production beer" made by Anheuser Busch. Too bad they don’t brew this year round. The only real pitfall here is that every bottle tastes different.

The very concept of a bourbon cask aged beer from Anheuser-Busch is possibly the most entertaining beer related concept ever. That being said, it’s not godawful, the vanilla flavor is okay and there’s a slight hoppiness to it. Can’t really taste any bourbon though.