Winters Bourbon Cask Ale

12 oz bottle someone left behind at the New Years Eve party. Pour is clear golden auburn with a one inch off white head. Nice settling on the pour, faint patchy lacing. Aroma of dusty, nutty maltiness. Some tinny metallic notes as well. Upon initial smell, I really did not pick up on any of the vanilla or Bourbon listed on the label. Taste is sour maltiness, transitioning to sweet caramel nutty, then some of the vanilla and finally something akin to boozy cherry. Its not booze or cherry, necessarily, almost like a simulated taste of the two. Towards the end of the glass, this tasted almost exactly like vanilla coke. To their credit, these flavors do meld together well. As it warms, the vanilla is really the dominant flavor. It tastes a little artificial, like sweetener used in soda pop. Palate is medium, smooth, medium carbonation with an artificial sweetener and slight iced tea finish. Kinda weird, but not really poorly made.

Brown bottle, 341 ml, blind tasted, gift from Mario D’Eer received on savoured on January 19, savoured on January 21 2009; eye: bronze, extra clear, good effervescence, champagne-style beige head that falls and turns into a tiny ring, no lacing; nose: caramel malt, light fruity, light hops, vanilla extract, slight perfume; mouth: light malt, layer of caramel, light hops, finale in caramel malt with a hint of hops, vanilla extract appears after the finale, vanilla becomes more and more present as the beer warms, a bit thin, medium body, rather carbonated, foamy texture, rather sweet, lightly bitter; overall: ordinary but it is always “stressful” to rate a beer in blind tasting FRANÇAIS Bouteille brune, 341 ml, dégustée à l’aveugle, cadeau de Mario D’Eer reçu le 19 janvier 2009, savourée le 21 janvier 2009; œil : bronze, extra claire, bonne effervescence, mousse beige style champagne qui tombe plutôt rapidement et se transforme en un petit anneau, pas de dentelle; nez : malt caramel, léger fruité, léger houblon, extrait de vanille, très léger parfum; bouche : léger malt, filet de caramel, houblon, finale en malt caramel avec une petite pointe de houblon, apparition d’extrait de vanille après la finale, vanille devient de plus en plus présente à mesure que la bière se réchauffe, un peu mince, corps moyen, plutôt carbonatée, texture mousseuse, plutôt sucrée, légèrement amère; en résumé : ordinaire mais c’est toujours « stressant » de noter une bière à l’aveugle!

Pours clear ruby-orange into a shaker. Head quickly dissipates to nothing. Vanilla aromas. Crisp and dry with vanilla; very little bourbon or oak.

Golden-amber colour. Vanilla nose. Flavor is mostly vanilla as well. Sweet and light with hints of caramel. Actually, it’s got enough balance to be fairly drinkable, much better than other vanilla-oriented macro fare like GI Lion’s Winter Ale.

Michelob’s attempt at using the ever growing trend of Bourbon barrel aged beers. Hit or miss? I’d lean toward the miss, although I appreciate their attempt. Pours copper with tan head. Aroma is filled with vanilla and really faint touch of bourbon. Taste. I was expecting something innovative, and instead the beer kept the signature Michelob. Nonetheless, the beer did have some wood characteristics with a very faint touch of the bourbon. Additional malts and just a load of vanilla. They did manage to capture the thick mouthfeel of the cask. Not a bad beer, just poorly crafted. Seems the bourbon flavor was flooded by the vanilla.

Pours with a foamy, largish off-white head that flattens over a clear reddish amber body. Head leaves some lacing. Aroma of bourbon essence and oak with a bit of caramel and some banana esters. Taste is completely graham cracker with cinnamon. Slight banana, bread, vanilla and cardboard behind. Fizzy and watery thin mouthfeel.