Winter's Bourbon Cask Ale

[Mark]

I'm in Virginia Beach right now on a little weekend trip and wile at on of the Navy Base's Class 6 (liquor) stores I saw a brew I had to have... It's amazingly made my Annehuser Busch and called as the title implies Winter's Bourbon Cask Ale - Ale aged on bourbon barrel oak and vanilla beans. It was $6.99 a 6 pack so I picked up 2. I'll post a pic of the bottle next week when I get home and let ya'll know what I thought of it but in the meantime, has anyone else seen or better yet had any of this?

They also had another big quart bottle with a ceramic stopper in it from annheuser-busch that was Budweiser Brewer's Reserve (or some brewer's something). It just said they select the most select ingredients for the smoothest brew. they used to keep batches like this for themselves but now for the holidays are relasing it to the public... We got that one for my fther-in-law since he's a bud guy. Price for this one was $11.99

They also had one more thing from Michelob which was some 2006 signature set. It had 2 bottles in it, rather nicely done. Pint size, 8 oz. each bottles one Michelob bourbon and vanilla brew and one Michelob Chocolate. The bourbon one I think was basically like the winter's bourbon cask ale description, i wonder if its the same product... And the chocolate one said it was aged over cocoa beans... It had 2 gold rimmed crystal glasses included. $16.99 I skipped on that one since I didnt want the glasses and for just 16 oz of brew I wasnt going to pay that.


Anyways, just sharing some new holiday brews I saw that I thought were different. At least a-b is putting some experimental products out there as well with bourbon in the aging process.

[TNbourbon]

Mark, the A-B Bourbon Cask Ale might better have been called the Vanilla Bean ale, because the vanilla almost overwhelms everything else. They chipped up the bourbon casks and added the pieces to the brew during aging rather than aging it actually in bourbon barrels. You can sense a little oak, but not much else that reminds one of bourbon.
That said, I kinda like it. I bought a six-pack right before Thanksgiving, of which half remain in the fridge. Since I'm only a 2-3-beer-a-week newbie, I'm going through it pretty fast.

[Mark]

You hit it right on Tim, agree with you totally. The vanilla really comes out the most, but I love vanilla so it didn't bother me much. I was thinking they did what you said about adding pieces to the brew becuse it didn't have that same taste as a bottle of brew I had once that had been aged right in a barrel. All in all though it is still a good different beer and if one sees it and is into beer grab a sixer, I dont think you'll be much disappointed. Oh, I found it to bave a moderate dark amber/orange color with a slight head, not very 'foamy'.

[JH]

Just tried it today, on tap, at a local brew pub. I agree on the vanilla taste. The first one one tasted fine for something different, but I sampled the Brooklyn Pennant & Magic Hat wheat beers next for a second brew & with the Cask after taste they just didn't "taste right". So I had another Cask, & after about a 1/3rd it was just too "vanilla(y)" tasting.
Conclusion, IMO, one 20 oz. is a good beer, but make it your last beer.