Winters Bourbon Cask Ale

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

Sweet vanilla yuck. I was expecting a dark beer, but this is Pale Ale color. Cream Soda.

Bottle from Pat’s. Light coppery color with some vanilla, oak, and malt aromas and flavors, but the body is rather bland, and the complexity and balance are way off. The vanilla seemed to show more as it warmed, but overall this one doesn’t work for me. Still, credit must be given for trying, but no cigar, Augie.

Draft: Clear copperish color with a smaller off-white head. Virtually no aroma other than a malty sweetness and some hints of vanilla. Taste is more sweeter with vanilla and malt, hints of bitter. Thin body and not much character.

Smells like a Micro.. Pours and tastes like a macro.. Plain and simple.. This is only slightly thicker than their budweiser brand, though..

Not a bad attempt at a craft beer by a macro brewer. Vanilla and oak in the nose, no real trace of bourbon. Flavor hits you with the vanilla followed by malts and caramel. Creamy and mellow, easy drinking. Worth a try, but I wouldn’t buy a whole case.

It reflects more on me than A-B, I think, that I rather like this. It is thin, yes, it doesn’t have a fulfilling aroma, it’s pretty narrow in taste range, it has no hoppy taste, and the aftertaste is similar to that after sucking on a sugar cube. But the vanilla taste is really VERY nice, not synthetic (to me, at least, and I am good at noting such things), very mellow, and pleasant. It’s not an "ale" taste, more of a vanilla taste, but it’s so mellow as to be unoffensive. If you want a sweet ale that will remind you (far too much) of an alcoholic cream soda, this is for you. I wasn’t expecting that, and I happen to LOVE cream soda, so it was a pleasant surprise. I just wouldn’t expect much malt or hops taste is all. It’s a candy ale--which, by the way, gives almost no hint of its "bourbon" origins. For that, stick with J.W. Lee. I’d say this is a great ale for Christmas Eve.

Clear amber pour with a 2 finger off white head that fades very quickly and a small amount of lacing. Very mild aroma of vanilla, bourbon and corn. Flavor is primarily vanilla with a hint of bourbon and finishing with typical BMC corn flavor and a slight hint of cinnamon as it warms. Very watery and thin body.

Tap: Tastes like vanilla with a little bit of malt. There is some metallic flavor and the alcohol is not hidden well and this is only 6%.