Beer Review: Michelob's Winter's Bourbon Cask Ale

I know I spent a good deal of time in my review of the documentary Beer Wars talking about how much I like Coors Light, but that doesn't mean I don't like branching out and trying new things. I find I go in waves, especially liking cheap, light beer in the summer. But, now that it's getting colder out and my parents came in for a visit, it's time to start getting something a little nicer.

I first had Winter's Bourbon Cask Ale last holiday season when my folks came out for a pre-Christmas visit. We went to one of the area beer stores, so it on the shelf and thought it looked pretty festive so we gave it a shot and both liked it. And my dad really liked it, so much that I got some for him for Christmas because he couldn't find it back home in Toledo (I didn't realize it was made by Michelob, but I found out they don't necessarily distribute their specialty beer everywhere, which is a bummer).

I was surprised my dad liked it because he generally likes more bitter beers and this is definitely more sweet. There is a hint of bitterness or thickness-on-the-tongue in the beer, but the vanilla and caramel in there really come out. It's a very heavy beer, so it's not something I'd be able to drink a lot of, but I did enjoy having one while watching TV this week. It reminded me of something you could drink while sitting in front of a fire. I don't really know what that indicates about me, but it's something that just popped into my head.

I should note that I don't really know what I'm talking about when it comes to beer on a technical level. I just like what I like and I'm still exploring whatever I can because I only started drinking beer when I came out to New York for my internship and it become much more cost effective to drink beer as opposed to vodka, rum and whiskey drinks, which I preferred. I have found that I prefer sweeter beers with less hops, which is something I've discovered thanks to Michelob's fairly new policy of putting such information on their boxes as you can see in the pic below.


So, all in all, I recommend Winter's Bourbon Cask Ale as a nice, heavy winter beer with tons of sweet flavor. I actually was trying to figure out ways to make a beer milkshake with it, but that didn't get past the idea stage. Maybe next time.

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