Winter’s Bourbon Cask Ale

Anheuser-Busch Takes on Craft Brews

Apr 14, 2007

It may seem strange for a beer geek to be checking one of the biggest of the mass market brewers, but it never hurts to keep an open mind - you might be surprised.

Style: Winter Warmer

Anheuser-Busch definitely qualifies as one of the 900-pound gorillas of the beer world. They lay claim to roughly 48% of U.S. beer sales, and sell over a hundred million barrels of beer around the world each year. They also have a reputation in the beer community for producing mediocre, adjunct-laden beers – inoffensive, but nothing to write home about.

In the past few years, though, there has been a steady rise in popularity of micro-brews and craft beers – the only segment of the beer market to see steady growth. Anheuser-Busch has taken notice of the trend, and has recently experimented with seasonal releases of specialty beers.

Winter’s Bourbon Cask Ale is one of those limited editions. It was first released in 2005 as a draft beer, and in 2006 also appeared in bottles. According to the brewer, it’s brewed with dark roasted caramel malts and all-imported hops, and is aged on bourbon oak casks and whole Madagascar vanilla beans. Setting aside a moment of cynicism (what, pray tell, is aging ON an oak cask?), the beer seemed to be worth a try. Besides, the beer-drinking snowman on the label is cute.

The beer pours a ruddy, reddish-brown, almost like strong tea, with a thick amber head that disappeared quickly, leaving just a tiny bit of lacing on the glass. It has a very sweet, very vanilla aroma that initially reminded me more of root beer or cream soda than beer. Once you get past the vanilla, there’s a hint of sweet fruit, and an even more subtle hint of the woody/bourbony smell.

The flavor is definitely vanilla. In fact, if you drink this beer too fast or too cold, you won’t taste much other than the vanilla. There’s just a suggestion of cherry, along with a very tiny hint of whiskey flavor. If you’re a big bourbon fan and expecting a bourbon taste, you may be disappointed.

Winter’s Bourbon Cask Ale is not nearly as carbonated as most Anheuser-Busch beers seem to be. It has a very light-weight mouthfeel, surprising for a winter warmer, and could benefit from a little more weight to it, but overall it’s a nicely drinkable beer. It’s not a spectacular beer, but it’s a nice change from the usual Anheuser-Busch offerings, and it’s worth a try. It’s best served at 45-50 degrees in a traditional pint glass.

The copyright of the article Winter’s Bourbon Cask Ale in Beers is owned by Angie Rayfield. Permission to republish Winter’s Bourbon Cask Ale in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.