Anchor Our Special Ale (2004)

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

A pitch black beer with a huge brown head. The aroma is sweet with strong notes of herbs and spruce. The flavor is very sweet, but very soon a very strong spicy note hits you, at first with a herbal note, which in time is over ruled by a note of spruce, which leads to a dry bitter end, out of which grows notes of oranges and cloves. I find the body a bit thin.

(Bottle 35,5 cl) Clear, dark mahogany with a reddish glow and a delicate, creamy, brownish, cappuchinoish head. Aroma is very roasted, almost lightly burned and quite spicy. Very soft mouthfeel. The body is rather light with a velvety smoothness, dominated by roasted malt and notes of dark, bitter chocolate. Appears vaguely stoutish, but without the burned, bitter edge. 020106

12 fl oz bottle. Pours dark brown to black with a huge and tan head. Chocolate and roasted malty aroma. Light dark fruity note too. Light wooden ad dark fruity flavoured with a light oxidised note. Lingering fruity and roasted malty finish with a lasting mild spice note.

Bottled. Dark ruby with beautiful rich, dense beige head. Aroma of licorice and fir. Medium bodied, dryish, lightly roasty. The spices are well balanced, and the flavours subtle and complex. The finish has a fair amount of herbal bitterness. What lacks this otherwise wonderful beer is malt depth. It feels a little sharp around the edges and on the thin side.

Bottle. Nice and malty, powerful aroma. Seems a bit more powerful than the 2005 version. Nice dark brown colour, red shine. Leaves lace. The flavour is nice and malty, dusty. Roasted aftertaste. Seems a bit more rounded and nice than 2005, perhaps because of the extra time in the bottle.

Brown colour with a creamy beige head. Nice sweet aroma with notes of oranges and spices. Complex flavour with notes of oranges, english liquorice and spices, well balanced bitterness.

Name: Our Special Ale
Date: 12/23/2004
Mode: Bottle
Source: Sherlocks, GA
Vintage: 2004

black with ruby highlights, big complex spiced aroma with lots of nutmeg, cinamon, clove, and more, rich malt flavor with lots of bittering but not overwhelming spices, a bit spicer than last year but should age very well
-------- /> Name: Our Special Ale
Date: 11/23/2005
Vintage: 2004

big sweet chocolate malt aroma, very mellow chocolate flavor with a great spicy character, touch of bitterness, some fruit tried to show up but disappeared
-------- /> Name: Our Special Ale
Date: 08/27/2006
Vintage: 2004

creamy chocolate, bitter spices, no fruit, the youngest of the lineup but is as aged as older vintages
-------- /> Name: Our Special Ale
Date: 11/23/2006
Mode: bottle
Vintage: 2004
Words: vertical

spices still going strong, very good balance between the chocolate and spices, still plenty of nutmeg and other spices, still some good rich chocolate, long bitter spice finish, body thinning a bit, even a bit of sweetness on the last sip, still shows better balanced flavor than the 05 and 06 in a three year vertical

Aroma: 9/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 3.9/5.0
Score: **4
-------- /> The score was calculated based upon the notes and an old scoring system.

Dark brown color; thin creamy head. Aroma of caramel, spices, molasses, light roasted malt. Too dry taste, with loads of bitter caramel; some phenol, nuts and roasted nuts. Quite weak structure. Strong final. Too raw!