Winters Bourbon Cask Ale

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

Bought a 6 of this on sale. Had no idea it was an AB product. I didn;t care for it, but I like my beer to taste like----beer. My wife didn;t mid it, and she hates beer, so it may be a beer for the ladies. Give me a good lager over this any day. Not bad for AB, though.

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.

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.

Draught. I had no idea this was an AB beer, and although I am glad they are finally dabbling in styles other than bland, fizzy, yellow lagers, I am quite surprised at how amateurish this beer tastes. At first whiff, dry aroma with some hints of roasted malt. But, when I breath more deeply, has some sweetness somewhat reminiscent of bourbon. However, the bourbon aspect is very faint, and not detectable at all on the palate, nor are any cask-like qualities. Reddish amber, clear body with no visible carbonation. Small, off-white head and no lace. Has some off flavors. Tastes like some kind of cookie or biscuit; a McGriddles breakfast sandwich comes to mind. Blueberry muffin? Very strange.

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

A christmas gift from the little lady,so the rating has a built in bump because of the thought behind it. Over all this beer has a really different smell and after taste. I would recommend this only for the rating if you are fishing for ratings.

Date: 02/09/2006
Mode: Draft
Source: Wild Wing Cafe, Marietta

dark amber, whispy beige head, sweet carmel malt aroma, big sweet vanilla flavor, lots of sweet carmel, light bitterness, good for a $2 pint

Aroma: 4/10; Appearance: 5/10; Flavor: 5/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 7/20
Rating: 2.2/5.0
Drinkability: 5/10
Score: 4

Meh. a sample from tap. A nice amber hue with a thin tan head which had nice lacing. Aroma was mainly of corn and some bourbon, flavor was similar. Nothing too exciting, but not terrible either. Very lacking though.