Winters Bourbon Cask Ale

Didn’t see the Anheuser-Bush on the label till I got it home. The talk of carmel malts, bourbon barrel aging (it should have tipped me of when it was phrased "Aged ON bourbon barrel oak") and vanilla beans sounded like it was worth trying. A.B. does have a considerable brewing history in this country (wish they would go back to pre-prohabition days) so I figured what the hell. - Poured hard from high into my tall glass the head rose way up then laced slowly down with a nice mahagany color to the brew I actually got my hopes up a little. First few sips I was happy, vanilla was a little strong but with the malty smoothness was kind of nice, pleasureable mouthfeel and somewhat interesting complex of flavours, but the finish just kills it. The vanilla stays too long, too strong. There’s no balance and it’s more like a death than a finish. Not a bad beer, but certainly not a great beer. Glad to see A.B. making a foreay into craftbrewing again but they can certainly do better, a lot better. Maybe this would have been a better brew with a higher ABV to burn off some of the vanilla and warm the finish a bit and age it IN the oak bourbon barrels not in a giant vat with a few shredded barrels worth of oak thrown in. Anyway, it’s drinkable... if your in a low rate saloon that has nothing else give it a try.

Bottle, "Born On 06JAN07." First impression is a nice smell of bourbon and vanilla, but after awhile, it drizzles away to an impression of artificial vanilla flavoring in alcohol. Pours dark brown, little or no head. Taste shows the same artificial vanilla flavor, totally unolike any other vanilla flavored beer I’ve had. Overly carbonated, yet with the watery mouthfeel of root beer flavored Fizzies. Saccharine to boot. A lot of overdone flavors that might have been helped by a higher abv. You’d think a brewer whose biggest sellers were "beechwood aged" might be able to barrel aged beers a little better. Label looks like a Spuds MacKenzie version of last year’s <a href="http://ratebeer.com/beer/samuel-smiths-winter-welcome-ale/95/7062/">Samuel Smith Winter Welcome label.

Bottle. Pours a copper-red body with a small white head. Strong vanilla aroma, some faint dark fruit, toffee, and plum-ish raisins. Artificial candyish vanilla flavour and toasted bread. Falls apart throughout. Hints of alcohol warmth.

The aroma was banana and caramel with an extremely strong vanilla influence. The vanilla presence was sickly sweet in the nasal passaged. Caramel malt was present as was a strong fruity and estery presence. The beer poured crystal clear amber with an off-white head that rose well and fell slowly to lace the glass. The flavor was caramel and toffee with an odd presence of vanilla and perhaps a hint of oak. The flavor had some chocolate and reminded me of Cocoa Puffs in character. The body was medium light and a bit watery. The finish was even with lasting impressions of vanilla and chocolate with caramel. Not a bad beer, but nothing to try to find. 12 ounce bottle.

Draft at Applebee’s. Actually not a bad beer considering the manufactuerer. Sweet and smooth. Very drinkable, but not in large qtys.

Bottle 12 Fl.oz
Ruby red with amber, small creamy ring on top.
Aroma of laboratory vanilla, baking soda mixed with winter spices and pale raw dough.4,5/10
Chewy body, dough like in character with more of that artificial vanilla charcter. Confused formula. It seemed that brew master placed wrong things is wrong places that made poor example of winter holiday ale. Back to drawing table.

Bottle from Greenwood liquors in Bowling Green, KY. The curiosity go tthe best of me. Pours deep translucent cherry brown, with dissapating off white head. Faint aroma of vanilla. Do you like vanilla ice cream? Do you like a cheap macro ale? Then you will like this beer. There is no oak or hop balance.

Bottle: Vanilla is present in aroma, with an alcohol and apple quality that builds as the beer warms. Some maltyness in the aroma as well. When one focuses on the good, one can say that this beer featured a nice sweet maltyness with a slight bourbon like bite to it before the swallow, and a nice combonation of coffee, cream, vanilla, metalic and apple flavors after the swallow. If one wants to focus on the bad, one can note the astringent bite right before the swallow that is a mix of too tart apples and bad tobacco. Also, as the beer warms, the apple quality takes over all other flavors in this beer. This beer showed promise, and was actually better than I expected, but still a miss...