Winter's Bourbon Cask Ale - AB

I'll admit it. I like this beer very much. A surprisingly flavorful beer from AB.

A - Pours a very deep copper with some hint of ruby. Crystal clear with a very faint cream colored head that dissipates almost immediately. Very little effervescence (a pleasant surprise for and AB product).

S - Caramel. Sweet. Toffee flavor along with healthy dose of vanilla. Some slight wood but not overpowering. Sense a slight alcohol character.

T - Up front sweetness. Nice smooth "texture" to the beer. The malty, vanilla aroma really hits the top, back of the palette. Bitterness is on the low side but enough to balance the beer and not make it cloying. Vanilla taste is very present. No lingering aftertaste but the wood does waft through the sinuses. Taste is very pleasant. Kind of falls into the "Winter Warmer" category. The 6% ABV comes through slightly with some warmth. Overall, this is a very good tasting winter beer. No shortage of flavor. Borders on a desert beer.

M - Smooth and not over carbonated. Rich. Improves as beer warms a bit. Could use a bit more head retention. A malty tasting beer like this deserves a rich, luscious head.

D - I found myself drinking three of these over the course of an hour. Never really filled me up. Each one left me wanting another. Easy drinking beer when it's 5 degrees and snowing outside. Not likely to be consumed in July however. If I were out of homebrew and needed something satisfying, I'd go to this in a heartbeat. I normally pass up the BMC section when picking out beers, but I'll say I was pretty surprised by this beer.

With a review like that I'll have to pick some up and give it a try.

Yes. The big guys are actually making some flavorful beers now but, this one I think is the worst of the bunch. I just don;t think the flavors meld together to be cohesive. You can pinpoint each and every character of this beer right down to the last sip. I dunno if this beer is worth ageing.

I had this beer this holiday break and I really liked it. I preferred it a little warmed up tho. Set it out for a few minutes and then poured into a warm glass. The flavors really opened up then.

I would recommend this beer as well.

I found mine at a high end Krogers in Spring, Tx.

The best part is AB prints the ingredients on the 6pack carrier, so you can try to recreate it. Though, I haven't been able to locate Alsace hops on some HB websites.

Man now I am wanting another one of these.

Thanks for the post BM.

, but why is it that every character that's ever appeared on a bottle of beer produced by AB has sunglasses on?

ohiobrewtus said:

, but why is it that every character that's ever appeared on a bottle of beer produced by AB has sunglasses on?

Click to expand...

The artist is a paranoid schizophrenic and can't do the eyes because then they are watching him.

And why do they get to use the child luring cartoony characters. "Oh look daddy. It's SnowMan juice."

I had a six pack of these - got shoved to the back of my fridge for emergency use only. Much too sweet for my taste, and too much vanilla. It got drunk eventually though, unlike the one bottle of Sam's Cranberry Lambic I still have.

I also like this beer.

The one time i had it, i had gone skiing in South Carolina. I'm used to Vermont snow, so this placed sucked. Anyways, my cousin and i spent the majority of the time in the lodge where they had this on tap.

Before leaving back to ATL, we stayed the night in Greenville where we found another college pub with it on tap as well.

Great taste, refreshing and intersting. Would drink again...if i could find it!

I do like some of the beers the big boys are putting out. Most Michelobe products I enjoy, but this cask ale I had a hard time finishing. This being said from a guy who learned to actually like the cranberry lambic, I guess it grew on me.