Here's my thoughts. I'm really surprised at how much I actually enjoyed these beer. I didn't really expect to.
Batch 63118 St. Louis Batch. Jim Bicklein/Katie Rippel
Pours crystal clear with a deep golden color and a quickly dissipating head. The aroma is reminiscent of the smell of beer when I was a child in the 70’s. Sort of a rich, fruity and sweet aroma. Mouth feel is neither cloying nor slick, it lingers slightly on the way down, but doesn’t leave that sickening sweet coating on the mouth like Budweiser’s more familiar products; it is not watery in the least, you know you’re drinking a fuller bodied beer. The taste is spicy; the Hallertau and Tetnang hops are fully present in this beer. You know this beer really has hops, there is a peppery crispness to this beer, that balances out the sweetness. There’s a lot going on with this beer. It’s not one dimensional in the least- the hops are present while at the same time there is a noticeable graininess as well.
Of all the offerings in this special edition I was the most interested in trying this beer. I am interested in 19th century beers, always looking to taste or brew the beers closest to what was consumed during the golden age of brewing. And this doesn’t disappoint. It also brings me back to those days when I was a small child and my father would run the bar at the local Moose Lodge where he was an officer, and I would help him clear the tables and rinse the beer glasses, and I remember the bready aroma of the beer that lingered in the glasses, bready and yeasty. It’s a smell that I think has been lost in most modern macro-lagers.
If this was the face of Budweiser today, the forefront of modern Pilsners; this is what I would be drinking. This is what this style of beer should be. Rich in flavor, and body, and with a snappy hit of peppery hops balanced by thirst quenching sweetness. If this were a regular in the product line, I would seek it out when I desired a classic American Pilsner.
Batch 23185 Williamsburg VA. Daniel Westmoreland/Mike Anderson/Dan Kahn.
This is the highly anticipated Oak/Vanilla beer, although I was most excited about tasting the “19th Century” batch, I was most curious about this one. Poured a medium amber, with a thin, snow white head of tight bubbles that quickly dissipated, leaving a small layer on the surface. A small amount of lacing as the glass is emptied. Aroma if that of grain and corn, with a woody note to it, behind that is a slight aroma of hops, and a hint of vanilla sweetness. This beer has a surprising amount of mouthfeel, it is a full bodied beer that envelops the mouth but doesn’t coat it. The flavor is sweet with a woody smoothness to it. There is a hint of sugary bourbon to it, but it’s in the background as is any vanilla presence. Overall it’s a very drinkable beer with a subtle complexity.
Batch 91406 Los Angeles, Ca. Bryan Sullivan/Scott Ungerman/Dave Cohen
This poured reddish hued amber with almost no head. Almost appeared flat with very little lacing. Mouthfeel is fairly thin and crisp in a thirst quenching way. Almost no aroma whatsoever is evident in this beer, which is disappointing, especially in comparison with the previous two submissions. Although there is a lack of any discernible aroma this surprisingly has the most flavor of all the very flavorful beers. Caramel malts are the highlight of this beer, lending it a rich full flavor which are cut nicely with the spiciness of the hops. This one would be closest to a craft beer I would normally drink. Of all three of these interesting beers, this one took me by surprise and is my favorite. I only wish the hop aroma matched the flavor profile.