Re: Anheuser-Busch Holiday brews

Two other special products folks may be interested in for holiday gifts are: Sam Adams Imperial Pilsener just hit the shelves last week. It comes in a 750ml bottle. Scaldis Prestige which is the regular Scaldis (Bush) beer aged in oak casks. It comes in a champagne type bottle and is around $40. Sam's Wines & Spirits is supposed to have a case and DiCarlo's Armanettis is also supposed to be getting a case. -----Original Message----- From: Aleconner(a)AOL.COM Sent: Nov 29, 2005 3:45 PM To: CBS-HB(a)LISTSERV.UIC.EDU Subject: Anheuser-Busch Holiday brews If you're like me, you're probably skeptical of any product Anheuser-Busch belches out, dresses up in fancy packaging and throws onto retailers' shelves just for the Holiday season. This year, A-B has produced two distinctive seasonal products- Michelob Celebrate and Brewmaster's Private Reserve. I would normally have written these off as "Budweiser in a Big Bottle" but that was before I read the package labels. Michelob Celebrate is an oak-aged brew infused with vanilla bean...with an a.b.v. of 10%! It comes in a 1 pint, 8 oz. bottle packaged with a pair of fancy Belgian-style etched snifters (those of you who attended the FoBAB, may have already tasted this). Brewmaster's Private Reserve, which comes in a 1 quart, 14.5 oz. bottle with a Grolsch-type closure, boasts an a.b.v. of 8.5%. According to the back label, this beer is essentially made from the first-runnings of a regular batch of beer. How do they taste? I dunno -haven't gotten that far yet. I just wanted to let folks know that these products are in short supply. I bought one of four of the Celebrate packages and one of six Private Reserve packages allotted to Binny's in Orland Park. They set me back $11.99 and $8.99, respectively. These product labels are "vintage-dated" (2005); maybe A-B intends to produce these on an annual basis if they move quick enough. Happy Holidays! -Marty Nachel - Christopher Paluch