With its screw-top cap and gold lettering, Michelob Celebrate's dark 750-ml bottle looks more like a prosecco than something containing an Anheuser-Busch beer. That's likely part of the macro-brewer's strategy: To let beer drinkers know this isn't your average Michelob.
I poured Celebrate for a couple friends. They could clearly see the bottle was labeled Michelob but didn't have any background on the beer. They didn't know that the limited-edition beer is brewed with vanilla beans or that it's aged on bourbon barrel oak.
"It's got a hint of bubble gum," said one friend after sipping the cherry-red brew. "Maybe a little like mulled wine."
"There's some honey in there somewhere," said another friend.
They were both right; I could taste what they tasted. And, yet, despite what they referenced, the beer wasn't particularly sweet, we all agreed. It was very smooth, a little malty and you could really taste the alcohol. (It's 10 percent.) I could still taste a hint of Michelob too, though it wasn't particularly overpowering.
It was when we were discussing the alcohol level, one friend piped up, "This really has a whiskey aftertaste." Bingo. Turns out those bourbon barrels did impart some taste on the beer.
Unlike most Anheuser-Busch beers, Celebrate is something that you're more likey to sip, probably from a brandy snifer, than guzzle directly from the bottle at a backyard barbecue. It's thinner than a port and less syrupy than something like J.W. Lee's Harvest Ale, slightly more carbonated too.
