Winters Bourbon Cask Ale

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

Caramel color with a sweet, yet artificial aroma of vanilla and cheap whiskey. Taste was primarily marshmellows with some vanilla and a hint of "bourbon". I guess this is about the best you can get out of AB.

Bottle courtesy of my mom, thanks mom! Bought at Bavarian Inn, Frenkenmuth, MI. Copper body is capped only briefly by a mocha fizz, with tiny bubbles. No lace or retention, and a lack of proteins. The head fades to a small ring that lasts for about a minute. The aroma is awash with eucalyptus, spearamint, vanilla extract, and some nutty, woody segments. Flavour profile is on the plus side of sweet caramel malts, but is over-turned by a lot of vanilla, sweet miny candy, bubblegum, sugary malts. The body is strange due do the thin aspects, and it is quite watery on the finish. Funnily enough, it’s a sipper, and pretty tough to drink at even a standard pace. Thanks for the bottle mom!

Don’t ask me why, but I poured this at about 55-60 degrees. I know, I know. Stupid mistake. This was absolute shit. An aroma of vanilla extract and soap. Appearance was a crystal clear dark mahogany brown, with a nice head with zero lacing. Mouthfeel was average, nothing bad there. Flavor was like drinking watery vanilla extract WITH the alcohol finish. I will rerate when I try this again nearly ice cold, which is the way ANY AB product should be served. RE-RATE: Well, I let this one nearly get to freezing temps and gave it a go. The finish is much better and the vanilla isn’t so fake in the aroma and taste but of course the cold convers everything up. What it really reminded me of was some sort of amalgamation of a cream soda and a beer.

On tap-Old Chicago. hard to pour off tap with no head, but somehow this beer managed. Nose is loaded with extract vanilla, really sweet caramel/toffee and faint spice. Flavor is nothing but vanilla through and through, hard to get past. Watery thin mouthfeel. What did you expect though.

Sampled the ’07 and ’08 side by side. Pours a clear orange amber with big, settling off-whtie head. The ’08 is a shade darker. Aroma of honey, vanilla, and small hint of oak. Flavor is vanilla, caramel malt, and has a slight warming sensation. The ’07 has a slightly fuller body. Suprisingly, I doesn’t really bother me that it’s an AB product.

Bottle. Never heard of this beer but picked it up in a mixed sixer. Pours a clear amber with a 2 finger fizzy tan head that faded fast. Nose is caramel malt and vanilla. Taste is must the same with a weird fake aftertaste. No bourbon cask qualities at all. Fairly flat mouth feel. Not very good.

12oz bottle- A nice ruby red body with almost no head and an aroma of slight bourbon. Has a taste of vanilla on the front end followed by bourbon in the middle and a huge caramel finish. Not bad.

On-tap, served in a standard bar pint glass. Clear reddish copper appearance, rocky, creamy slightly off-white head that slowly settled into a thin sudsy lacing, nothing in the way of sticking. A light smelling nose of sweet toasted malts and apple juice, hints of vanilla and even barer hints of herbal hops. Absolutely no traces of bourbon, oak or wood, quite disappointing. The active carbonation does give the body some firmness, but at the same time I have to say this is as smooth as heavy water, not much of recommendation. Thin sweet malty tastes of toasted caramel and pale malts, sugar water also comes to mind. Light vanilla flavor, more a dash of extract than bean. Once again, no bourbon, oak or wood tastes. I am having a hard time finding the hops, the best I say is that this has the mildest of spiciness. Finishes dry and sweet, vanilla extract, white sugar and lightly toasted malts. I was hoping this would be much better than what it is, especially since I was trying this from the tap. Nothing to recommend it, I’m glad I’ve never purchased the bottle version of this winter warmer.