Winters Bourbon Cask Ale

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

Better than a lot of "big" brewery attempts at craft brewing. Carbonation was very low and head was almost non-existant. As a result, the taste was a little flat (due to lack of carbonic acid and no bubbles to tease the tongue). Vanilla bean & bourbon flavors are balanced nicely with the hops and malts. Hope they get the carbonation problem fixed soon. ($6.73 per 6-pack here)

This spiced ale pours a light red amber color from a 12oz bottle. Small to little head. Aroma is mild, some corn sweetness, some oak, some vanilla and some cherries. A light to medium bodied spiced ale. Malts are caramel and sweet with a touch of oak. Some vanilla. A touch sweet. A little thin a watery. There is a bit of oak/wood bite at the finish. The vanilla and the bourbon flavors are very subdued. There is little to no carbonation, which really doesn’t help any. Drinkable, but a little weird. Mouthfeel is thin. Finish is clean and crisp. Aftertaste is slightly sweet with some oak.

Bottle. Head is initially small, fizzy/frothy, light brown, mostly diminishing. Body is clear medium to dark amber. Aroma is lightly malty (caramel, cookie), with notes of vanilla, whisky, corn syrup, wood. Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly to moderately bitter. Medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation. There are some peculiar things about this one. Not about the beer itself, which is unremarkable, but the bottle. First, the artwork is horrible and the name of the beer is very awkward...this is A-B, so there should be about 1000 times the cost of the beer put into marketing, right? Apparently not. Secondly, the description clearly says (in two places on the label) that it was aged "on" (not "in") oak. I suppose this is an acceptable phrasing, admittedly, but it does amusingly conjure up metal vats of the beer sitting somewhat above a bunch of empty barrels (for what, a few days?). Anyways, besides the funnies, the beer is what you might expect from these micro-like A-B attempts; akin to a crayon-drawn version of an oil painting. Simple, somewhat artificial/fake, soda-like, and clumsy.

Pours a five finger cream head that fades quickly to a thin layer leaving some lace. Clear amber color. Slight vanilla nose. Light-medium carbonation and light-medium bodied. Flavor is sweet, smooth vanilla and some hops, kind of like a vanilla coke without the fizz but with hops. Not like any cask ale I have tasted, no hints of bourbon. $1.75 for a 12oz from Barb’s Beer Emporium Concord, NH.

Surprisingly good brew from AB. A tad on the sweet side but with a moderately complex palate of vanilla and smoke. The syrupy aftertaste reminds me more of a soda than a brew, but a hell of a lot better than most macrobrewed shlock.

Sampled at Broudy’s Holiday Beerfest 12/2/2006, Jacksonville FL. AB almost got it right with this one. Decent flavors but a bit artificial tasting, and a little cheap tasting. Still, its drinkable and OK, and a damn sight better than I expected from AB.

This was drinkable, very comfortable, and warming. It comes off rather cheaply--the net effect of the large-form carbonation and the flavors is to suggest a Cherry Vanilla soda. Not bad, certainly not bad. It’s just not very subtle.

Darkish amber color with a nice head that dissipated quickly. Aroma is very strong vanilla and a hint of bourbon. Vanilla is again very strong in the taste. A bit too sweet. Light and watery, with an acceptable finish. I am not a fan of AB products, but had to try this one. Not bad for a major brewer trying to emulate a hand crafted brew. The overall effect, however, screams MASS PRODUCED!