Winters Bourbon Cask Ale

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

Sampled February 2007
Pours with a frothy, initially two-finger thick, creamed amber colored head that fairly quickly disappears. The beer is a brilliantly clear, deep ruby color. The aroma is a mix of cherries, vanilla, touches of boozy bourbon. Really it is predominantly a mix of fruit notes and vanilla and I don’t detect much, if any wood character in the nose.

The beer has a medium to light heft to it, with just a touch of palate coating character. It is quite smooth tasting with the notes of vanilla really coming through, though not in an overwhelming way. It has a light sweetness to it, and a finish that is a mix of caramelized malt and toasty grain notes. A light fruitiness (the cherry is most noticeable again) is here as well, though it seems to be at a lower level than in the aroma. This is interesting, not nearly as bad as I was expecting, though it is not exactly something I would ever try again. In the end it is just a bit too lackluster in character for me to get excited about. It is a solid beer though, and I can see this appealing to the macro-beer drinker who is looking for something interesting.

Purchased: <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Liquors, Tucson, AZ

Bottle. Pours flat and uninspired but with a nice amber hue. Aroma is watered down vanilla with a slight oaky bourbon. Flaovr is weak bourbon and sugar-free vanilla. Watery palate. Burn those casks and start over; this could be a good brew if the mediciny taste that arises after the beer warms is eliminated.

Amber with Red Hue. Sandy Skin. Little to No Aroma. Very Sweet Tasting Initially. Candy Sugar.. Well Carbonated...Bittersweet Dry Ending. Some Bourbon Notes, but Extremely Diluted and Unwanted. Extremely Thinned Down Version of a Bourbon Beer. Perhaps a Good ’Gateway’ Beer to Get Domestic Beer Lovers to Cross Over Gently.

Medium amber colored. medium foamy head. Hugh aromas of vanilla, caramel, and artificial bourbon flavors as well. Tastes like vanilla coke-water (you know, when your ice melts in your glass of coke) . AWFUL.

On tap at Ray’s in Kent, 12/21/2005. Kyle asks if I want to try the "new winter bourbon barrel cask budweiser thing" Oh yeah, sure, since when does Ray’s have casks of anything!? Ok, let’s see here, amber/copper body, very clear, no head - the color is very nice. Aroma is sweet sugar with a dash of caramel/vanilla. Taste starts out with an abundance of prickly carbonation - reminded me of that evil Killian’s - then caramel and adjunct sweetness, maybe a hint of Jack Daniel’s flavor. This gets worse as it warms up - drink it quick so that you only taste the coldness.

Sigh. Got this one out of curiosity. I’m ashamed that my place of employ carries it, but I can buy a single cheaply (and this is going to personify cheapness and disappointment, I fear). Before I open the damn bottle, I predict this is going to have a hint of something mediocre, only to be boldly punctuated by something much, much less than that. Pours bronze with a good, foamy head. So far, so good. Aroma? Artificial vanilla. Not much else. I’m about to sip. Will I be blasted across the face with artificial vanilla-ness to be followed with a mere shadow of pisswater? We shall see... The vanilla kinda comes in the middle, not as artificial as I expected, a kinda full bodied experience at the forefront, and then... crap. Guess I called it. Guess I’ll pour this one out, head to Sam Smith and a hot shower for some consolation and wait for the next AB seasonal and go through this entire exercise of self-flagellation once again... sigh...

They had this on clearance at the Athens Mellow Mushroom for $1 a pint. I couldn’t pass up trying it. It pours a clear brown with a nitro head. Weak aroma. Thin body. There’s not much flavor, although there’s a good bit of vanilla, sugar cookie. Really not all that bad. A bit of wood. Really more of a vanilla blonde ale with a hint of whiskey than what you usually expect from a whiskey barrel beer.

On draft at Maloneys in Flag, was a perfect match to the lousy cheating Cowboys as they and the Refs beat the Packers on Thursday Night Football. The pour was brown with amberish hues, weak initial head with no retention. The aroma was vanilla and some herbal notes, an odd combo. The flavor was vanilla extract, even more vanilla extract and artificial nasty vanilla flavoring, like a vanilla snow cone mixed with beer. Caramel sweet malts partly detectable amidst the VANILLA phoniness (I thought I had recalled a few good review and near at-a-boys for AB on this one, but even if it has more flavor than a standard AB product, why in the world would anyone recommend this to anyone? ICK!). Mouthfeel was thin and light, but this was bad sugar water, vanilla snow cone pre-mix. Alas, at least I finished it, despite the waitress offering to get me a different beer after a few sips.