Brew Masters Private Reserve - Anheuser-Busch

weylinfidler

Nebraska

4.45/5  rDev +26.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

This is a great Beer. I have bought at least 1 every year for the last 3 years.

A - Pop lock top is a nice touch, don't see it allot on American beers. Pours a Medium dark Amber color.

S - I have brewed some home beer and this smells allot like the wort which I love. Also it smells like I just walked in to a brewery and got all the great smells.

T - Very smooth despite it's %8.5 Alc. This is what Lager should taste like. Just enough carbonation

M - A little tingle from Carbonation but not like drinking soda. Smooth and clean.

D - I could drink this all night...and have! the %8.5 will catch up with you sooner or later but over a very great beer. Wish it was brewed all year long

Serving type: bottle

01-24-2008 11:02:53 | More by weylinfidler

Jason

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +14%

01-12-2013 04:33:22 | More by Jason

ehammond1

California

3.48/5  rDev -0.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Bottle (2006)

Thanks for opening this with me, UCLABrewN84!

(Aged for 6 years)

Clear light amber with some carbonation and a small white head that leaves dots of lace down the glass.

Sweet, fruity aroma of apple juice and bready malt.

The sweet flavors are similar to the aroma, with an earthy and sweet apple juice flavor playing the largest role along with bread and simple grain. Low bitterness.

Medium bodied with low carbonation.

Good enough, and far better than I anticipated.

Serving type: bottle

06-13-2012 21:24:19 | More by ehammond1

UCLABrewN84

California

3.58/5  rDev +2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Bottle I brought to share at DarthKostrizer's tasting.

2006 vintage.

Pours a clear brown with a khaki head that settles to a thin cap on top of the beer. Foamy rings of lace line the glass on the drink down. Smell is of malt, apple juice/cider, and some slight vegetal aromas. Taste is the same along with some slight brown sugar flavors. This beer has a good level of carbonation with a crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is actually a pretty good beer that has held up for 6 or so years. If I was given this blind, I would never guess it was an AB product.

Serving type: bottle

06-03-2012 22:11:46 | More by UCLABrewN84

MrVonzipper

California

3.25/5  rDev -7.4%

06-03-2012 18:55:49 | More by MrVonzipper

imperialking

Illinois

4.25/5  rDev +21.1%

05-31-2012 04:41:34 | More by imperialking

alalvarez75

New York

3.5/5  rDev -0.3%

03-04-2012 19:41:09 | More by alalvarez75

bonbini26

New Jersey

4.5/5  rDev +28.2%

01-10-2012 17:50:18 | More by bonbini26

rab53

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +14%

11-22-2011 03:10:14 | More by rab53

ZenAgnostic

Texas

5/5  rDev +42.5%

11-18-2011 08:27:11 | More by ZenAgnostic

GWaters

New Hampshire

3.05/5  rDev -13.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5

Bottle is from 2006.

This is not the Dopplebock

I am not a beer snob. This means I wil try all kinds of beer, and last winter I saw this odd Budweiser bottle for sale. It said "Brewmaster" and "Private Reserve" so I had to try it. For the money, I wouldn't buy it again. I could stick to 12 oz Bud, and not miss this at all. It was worth the try though, and the bottle is being used for my own Homebrew now.

Pour: Lager clear medium golden in color, with a moderate white head, abundant lace. Fair carbonation

Smell: Very sweet, malty smell. No real hop scent to speak of.

Taste: Moderate alcohol presence, caramel, honey, and malt. Not incredibly complex, but it is a clean taste.

Mouth feel: Very wet, easy to palate. Pleasant.

Drinkability: Slightly better than the typical Budweiser lager. I could drink a few of these on a hot day.

Serving type: 1 Quart 14.5 oz black champagne type flip top bottle

Serving type: bottle

02-16-2009 05:29:38 | More by GWaters

hopdog

Pennsylvania

2.5/5  rDev -28.8%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Huge flip top bottle.

Poured a medium amber color with a small sized white head. Aromas and tastes of corn and graininess. Generic tasting, malt liquorish (is that a word?).

I wrote down; it takes some balls to label this as your premier, Brew Master Private Reserve beer.

Serving type: bottle

01-07-2009 22:55:05 | More by hopdog

BeerAdvocate

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +14%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Review from Inaugural Issue of Beeradvocate Magazine.

This is A-B's take on the brewmaster's holiday tradition, where they take the fi rst runnings of sweet wort and ferment a big, bold beer out of it. Speaking of big, the bottle is enormous!

Beer pours a shimmering, clear, golden color, a good white head from the start, and a semi-stick lace for the rest. Suggestions of honey, whole-grain bread, grainy animal feed and a clean perfume-like alcohol and hop collaboration make up the aroma. Very smooth mouth feel, a touch creamy in the fluffy body. Flavors of Portuguese sweetbread and a barleymalt syrup, not condensed wort, hone in on the taste buds. Alcohol warms a bit more after each sip, lending a strawberry-like flavor. The hop bitterness is enough to balance, but the herbal flavor is more interesting. Aftertaste lands semi-sweet, with a rough grain, herbal hop and the complexities from the alcohol.

So with 46.5 ounces of high-alcohol brew on our hands, what else is there to do but drink it? Actually several brats were steamed in this brew--a good pairing, no doubt. It's not a malt liquor, not an over-hopped Double Pilsner, and certainly not the bigger brother of Budweiser. It's a tasty, big-ass American All-Malt Lager in a big-ass bottle. Enough said.

Serving type: bottle

07-23-2008 16:58:03 | More by BeerAdvocate

Portertime

Florida

3.85/5  rDev +9.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

I thought a good Anheuser-Busch beer was an oximoron but I was proved wrong! I was lucky to get the last one of these in the liquor store I used to work at. Enjoyed it chlled in a pint glass. Poured a rich golden color with a decent head. Smell of cereal grains and some light hops. Taste was chewy with a bread dough quality but soft enough on the tongue to mask the 8.5% ABV. I was impressed and raise my mug to Bud. Nice swing topped bottle also.

Serving type: bottle

04-26-2008 19:01:10 | More by Portertime

rowew

Colorado

4.15/5  rDev +18.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Presentation: Large 1.5 L champagne style bottle, fliptop. Nice looking label. Born on date of Oct 11, 05. This one is obviously old, but its been kept in a stable fridge.

Appearance: Pours slightly hazy yellowish orange color, nice solid head. A bit of lacing on the glass and top of the beer.

Smell: Tons of malt - smells a bit like a bock. A bit of caramel there too, and some alcohol, especially as it warms up a bit.

Taste: Interesting - medium bodied, smooth carbonation level. Nice malty flavors - there is a bit of hops in the background but the malt flavors dominate.

Overall impression: This is a surprisingly interesting beer. I didn't try it fresh, but the age doesn't seem to have harmed it. Very smooth and drinkable, a bit dangerous considering the ABV!

Serving type: bottle

12-15-2007 19:18:44 | More by rowew

brantadid

New Jersey

4/5  rDev +14%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Poured a dark amber color. Very thin white head. No real lacing to speak of. Very clear beer.

Smelled of raisins and figs. Some honey. Some brandy and sherry notes in the nose.

Really complex flavors. Figs, raisins, dark fruit, and some honey on the front palate. Some burnt malt flavors on the back palate. Really long finish.

Moderate carbonation with a rich full mouthfeel. Flavor totally coats your mouth. Insanely drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

12-05-2007 04:25:00 | More by brantadid

plaid75

New York

3.53/5  rDev +0.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured a deep straw hue with a one finger foamy white head. There was good retention and lacing.

The smell featured a sweet malt, honey and a smattering of noble hops.

The taste was upfront sweet honey with a background of cereal grain and a mild hop spice.

The mouthfeel was toward the fuller side for the style with a slight warming alcohol.

Overall a tasty lager. I only wish I had sampled this one a bit earlier. In any event a nice brawny brew from A-B.

Serving type: bottle

10-31-2007 00:44:45 | More by plaid75

blackie

Virginia

3.68/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

a: In a standard pint, gives a low off white head of which a stubborn layer persists for a minute or so...light ring after. The beer is a clear, rich apricot-golden in color.

s: Nice blend of pale, sweet malts and papery hops. Various fruits including melon and apricot. Leans towards the sweet side.

m: Medium carbonation and a body on the lighter side of medium.

t: Richer than Bud for sure, but not a whole lot more complex. Clean light barleys and maybe some corn give a moderate sweetness somewhat unchecked by the light, nondescript hops. More hops would make this much better.

d: ok, ABV hidden but a little too sweet for an easy drinking lager

Closely resembles what one would expect from an Imperial Bud. Huge bottle to the face gets blackie a bit disoriented. Review entered from notes taken a couple months ago in the forest. Had been "cellared" awhile since Christmastime.

Serving type: bottle

09-24-2007 03:43:48 | More by blackie

brewdlyhooked13

Ohio

2.8/5  rDev -20.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 2

Appearance - a slghtly hazed pour with a honey/straw color. A brief build-up of head reduces to a stray swirl of bubbles within a minute.

Aroma - strong grain with a cereal bend, heavy aroma of something tropical but not hops. Coconut? Has a malt liquor nose.

Taste - sweet, grainy, Budweiser cereal flavor, basically a Bud on 'roids. The alcohol is kinda out there on its own without much to enhance. Hmm, an Imperial American Macro Lager. Not very pleasant to me, about as much as any malt liquor. The swallow has the briefest bit of bite, then this aftertaste that is wet, grainy, bleh.

Mouthfeel - moderate to slightly thin body, decent carbonation even after popping and resealing a few times.

Drinkability - to each their own, I didn't like this one. Props to A-B for hitting the bigger beer scene, but this just tastes like amplified rice to me.

Serving type: bottle

09-06-2007 02:23:06 | More by brewdlyhooked13

Pegasus

Texas

3.5/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Appearance: Clear medium golden in color, with a moderate white head, abundant broken lace, and mild carbonation.

Aroma: Sweet alcohol, honey, and light caramel, very sweet, with little hop presence.

Taste: Mild hops at the open, with a moderate alcohol presence, and caramel and honey malt, midway through the taste, there are some restrained fruity esters. Finishes clean and dry.

Mouth feel: Smooth, quite soft on the palate, quite pleasant.

Drinkability/notes: Not bad, really, like a refined example of a malt liquor. At $15 for a rather large, decorative bottle, it seems overpriced for what it offers.

Serving type: bottle

07-21-2007 16:34:04 | More by Pegasus

jasrbrd

Florida

4.83/5  rDev +37.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Absolutely enjoyed this beer and not at all like Bud. I still have a few left over from Christmas that I saved to last as long as possible this year... that's how much I liked it. Look for it after Thanksgiving this year and try it, it won't dissapoint!

Serving type: bottle

06-02-2007 23:04:08 | More by jasrbrd

Shaw

Florida

3.55/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A-B gets a lot of bashing, but I've been eying these fancy packages for a while.

It's a nice honey color with a foamy white head that quickly vanishes.

It smells lightly sweet of malts and biscuits.

This beer tastes miles away from Budweiser, and in a good way. Like its aroma, this is a sweeter beer. The sweetness is balanced by a light bitterness. The higher ABV is totally masked, I can't detect it at all.

The body is smooth and slick.

Overall this is a fine lager, nothing extraordinary, though.

Serving type: bottle

05-14-2007 01:12:08 | More by Shaw

JoeyBeerBelly

New York

3.83/5  rDev +9.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5

As the story goes, Budweiser has a tradition of tapping the richest part of the brew to toast the winter season.
Now we can all try a batch.
Pop the stopper (some smoke escapes), give it a pour and you'll see an amber beer with fine white lacing.
It does not look or taste anything like the usual light watery lager associated with Anheuser-Busch.
Every element is upped a notch: It is darker, thicker, maltier -- sweet and yeasty -- and finishes with a lingering bitterness.
At 8.5% alcohol by volume, it is also strong for a beer, though it doesn't taste especially potent.
Who knew Bud could have such complexity?

Serving type: bottle

04-10-2007 22:34:25 | More by JoeyBeerBelly

jasonjlewis

Texas

4/5  rDev +14%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A decent beer all around. Clean pale malts with a light bitterness balanced with an alcohol taste. Decent initial head that fades a little faster than I would like. Decent, clean smell on the nose of pale malts and alcohol. Decent mouthfeel and drinkability considering this is an 8.5% beer. Tastes like an 8.5% abv, but is not hard to drink. It's worth a try, but a little overpriced.

Serving type: bottle

04-05-2007 07:38:51 | More by jasonjlewis

mattd017

Florida

2.35/5  rDev -33%
look: 4 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Poured golden, slightly hazy, with a thick pretty permanent head that left thick sticky rings of lacing. Smelled sweet and musty, very little citrus or pine or any other signature smells of hops. Tasted even sweeter. No hops. Left a sticky, musty taste in my mouth. Worth trying, not worth trying again.

Serving type: bottle

03-09-2007 17:41:33 | More by mattd017