Anchor Our Special Ale (2003)

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

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker, Tumbler

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Bottle, 150cl. Dark, reddish colour with a light brown head. Spicy, sourish aroma. Nutty, spicy flavour.

A little out of balance, but an enjoyable occasional ale. It was a heavier and darker than I remember last year's being. The spice was masked by the burnt. It could have used more hop and body malt.

Tasted 12/2004
Aroma: maybe some wax, burnt malts, soy sauce
Appearance: little lighter, same otherwise as 2002
Flavor: slight sweet grape flavor, some mossiness, really not a whole lot though
Palate: very smooth, slight malt aftertaste, lots of body

The aroma matches the taste perfectly. Grab one of those gummy coke bottle candies and suck on it; it's a cheaper version of the same thing. Overpoweringly sweet and soda-tasting, with some hints of other spices in there (mainly cinnimon and nutmeg).

A spicy aroma, cream-colored head. It tastes kinda watery until a rather strange finish. I'm not really a fan of this beer at all, but to be honest, I got it for free at the liquor store cuz some guy returned the whole case saying it was skunked. so, maybe it is.

This beer poured a dark red color with a thin off white head. The aroma reminded me of a pine tree … but a little more sweet. The taste reminded me of the same thing … a pine tree. Which is what I should expect from a Christmas ale I guess. There was also some Clove and Cinnamon in the flavor ... possilbly some other spices. Not a bad beer, but the taste was not to my personal liking.

This rating is going to be in sharp opposition to most of the other ratings for this beer. I did not like it at all. I actually sent it back, not because there was something wrong with it, just because I wasn't going to be able to finish it. My gripe is that the sample I had was completely over-powered by a black licorice aroma and flavor (which I don't like, obviously). Vanilla was the next spice/flavor, followed by a blend of other spices, possibly clove, ginger, and/or cinnamon. I had this beer fresh on tap, maybe it needs to age until Christmas to balance out.

Pours dark brown with a tan head. Taste shows definite signs of oxidation with heavy cardboard and celery notes present. If this is how these hold up over time, I’m amazed people are cellaring them.

Bottle shared with and from madvike. Thanks Matt. Very complex and thats the only good thing I can say about it. All spice and something not good! Lots of spice and different flavors in there I am just not digging any of them. I thought a 1998 was bad, bull the 03 is no better.