Anchor Our Special Ale (2002)

Formerly brewed at Anchor Brewing Company
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
San Francisco, California USA

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker, Tumbler

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Dark mahogany colored ale with a long lasting white head. Very nice aroma showcases notes of fruit cake, vanilla, nutmeg and mint. Flavor is very nice and brilliantly balanced. Notes of cinnamon, pine, juniper and fruit cake. Very nice body to it and well as a nice finish.

Part of a verticle tasting (97-00, 02-06) Deep ruby hued. Spicy nutmeg aromas. Strong and zesty. Nutty with a good cocoa flavor. Lively with a good hop profile. Piney sticiness. Slight port nuance. Long and lingering. Relatively, this was the old of the newer. Still retained alot of its original components, but was on the brink of evolution. In my opinion, I caught this brew at its zenith!

Had this beer on 12/3/2002. Color is a deep rich solid brown, no light comes though. Good carbonation and thin head. Taste is rich and very spicy. WOW. Starting with a medium body that goes down with a strong spicy feel. Finish is almost too much to explain, full of coriander and spicy with a nice roasted taste. This is far more flavor than they or anyone else has put into a charismas brew.

11/23/02 Pours very dark red with a huge, huge, cream/light tan head. Aroma is nutmeg, cloves, allspice, some anise, maybe a bit of coffee. I love it personally. Flavor a bit of a letdown; it ain’t spicy enough! Low carbonation and even lower hoppiness makes it feel rather syrupy, also. Interesting flavors, to be sure, but right now its not working. I love Anchor generally and have loved this beer for over a decade, so I will certainly be trying at least one more in the hopes that this initial impression is off. 12/16/02 Second bottle much better; either I had an off bottle or off night before. Even stronger and spicier on the nose, and a lovely spiced-chocolate-coffee flavor, reminiscent in some ways of Turkish coffee. Big improvement over last sample, I’m pleased to say. Anchor rocks!

Dark ruby colour. Nice, light brown head. Spicy aroma. The flavour is spicy, very spicy. Lots of nutmeg and cardamom. Gets Porter-like in the finish.

Deep ruby-brown colour with a chocolate milk head. Sweet and intoxicating aroma with notes of chocolate, coffee and a multitude of spices including clove, cinnamon and nutmeg. Creamy mouthfeel with roasted malts and spice in the flavour, and a nicely balanced bitterness in the finish.

Its a shame that they change the recipe for this Special X-mas Ale, cuz this was just a super awesome surprising delight. Color is almost black with a very deep, dark ruby hue coming through the edges. No head transpired from pouring and what bubbles did appear faded into oblivion. Has a faint aroma of plum, kinda sweet. Also notes of cinnamon, fig, and nutmeg. Its very soft on the nose. It reminded me of the smell of sweet potatos(yams). Taste is all over the place, mostly subtle flavors, nothing sticks out. Ahh, but whats there is so very interesting, its lightly, silky smooth with what I believe to be mostly tart cherry with hints of clove, vanilla, and sweet spices. I raised my eyebrows more then once while drinkin it. The feel is light to medium bodied with a great, quite strong little tart hold on the tongue that is super nice. The finish quietly gets dry and intices you into another swig. I only wish this had a heavier body feel, but thats beside the point of this beer. Its all about being subtle and suprising. I sure hope they hold onto this recipe and use it again, but I also can't wait to see whats in the next batch.

UPDATED: DEC 28, 2003 Bottle: pours an opaque brown with a brown head. Sweet malt with dark roastiness that isn't overpowering. mouthfeel was surprisingly thin but I enjoyed that. Spruce?? me thinks yes. I brewed my own winter warmer recently and this is inspiring to be sure. NOTE: I had this beer after it was over a year old, so it may be much more subdued than the same beer in the previous ratings.

Beautiful! Dark brown with reddish tint. Bubbly, frothy light brown head. Looks like cane sugar when first poured. Rich caramel maltiness under an interesting spice aroma that I’m still trying to put a finger on (mild sassafras???). Cola sweetness in aroma but any sweetness in flavor is offset by a hop bite and a mellow sour quality. The smell reminds of crisp, sprucy fresh winter air. Not quite like a York’s Peppermint Patty but I’m feeling the sensation. Woodsy, resin notes.

Mauld wine was the first thing that came to mind when I smelled this beer. It had a big nutmeg and wood characters on the nose and mouth. The pour was a deep brown w/ orangy finish and decent head and lacing. The mouthfeel was wet and medium bodied.