Michelob Oak Aged Dark Vanilla Premium Lager

by Jeff Evans
(Beer Delegate, IL, USA)

Michelob Oak Aged Vanilla porter. OMG, a Michelob beer that Jeff Evans LIKES!

Michelob Oak Aged Dark Vanilla Premium Lager. Wow. That's a mouthful. Expecially for an Anhauser-Busch beer. The question is, does the mouthful end on the label?

When it comes to AB beers I am, like many of you, a skeptic. In fact, when I heard about this beer I thought to myself "No thanks." And then I found myself putting a (discounted) bottle into my cart while stocking up for Sunday Night Football at my local liquor store (Corner Cottage Liquors, Elmhurst IL). It shared a cart with Pauwel Kwak and Reunion Imperial Brown Ale, among others, and although you'd probably rather read about those, I drank them yesterday. Since I'm drinking the Michelob as I write this, I'll discuss that. According to the label, we're loooking at 10% ABV.

I unscrewed the cap (do I have to say it?). No sound of carbonation release whatsoever. Hmm. Not a good sign. As I poured I got my first good look at the color of the beer (the 24oz. bottle is black). A nice carmelly tinted amber. Ok. Things are looking up. I didn't pour particularly aggressively, but there was almost no head. The picture was taken about 60 seconds after the pour, so you can see what I'm talking about. When I poured my second glass, I deliberately went 'messy' with it, and got about a 1/2" head.

Moderate vanilla aroma, no discernable hops to this (admittedly weak) nose.

The taste is all sweet malt, which I'm ok with and there is a good deal of vanilla (just shy of too much on the first half glass, just over too much afterwards). The label describes the beer this way: "A superior lager brewed with real vanilla beans and aged on bourbon barrel oak", which fits with my perception of the beer. It does not have that awesome genuine oak barrel vanilla overtone.

My belief is that the the fact that they used the words "on bourbon barrel oak" rather than "in oak bourbon barrels" was not a mistake. This vanilla is all from the bean. I went to the website to see what else they could tell me, and learned two things: 1) this beer is no longer listed on the site, and 2) the site itself was useless. All marketing and no useful information.

As the beer giants watch the popularity of craft beers increase, it can be expected that more beers like this one will hit the shelves. And while this beer had several opportunities for improvement, the fact that AB made it at all is something of a miracle. If its sole benefit is to help bridge the gap between standard American lagers and craft brew, I'm all for it.

This review seems a little schizophrenic. The bottom line is that Michelob Oak Aged Dark Vanilla Premium Lager is the best Michelob I've ever had.