Anchor Our Special Ale (2005 and later)

Brewed by Anchor Brewing Company
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
San Francisco, California USA

2008 vintage. Poured much darker than expected with about an inch of head. Tasted spices with a balanced flavor. Didnt quite hit the nail on the head for me, but an overall nice Christmas Ale.

2008 Bottle: Poured a dark black brown with a lacing light brown head. Aroma is spice almost ginger bread like along with some berry. Taste is fruity with suttle spice off set, there also a coffee bean/ porter like hint. Finish is more of that spice.

12 oz bottle from a trade with hogtownharry. 2007 vintage. pours deep brown with a mid sized tan head. spice aroma with some caramel malts underneath. overly spicy nose. the spice is integrated into the flavour profile much better. very nice porter styled malt with the addition of the winter spice mix. a nice brew but it lacks a little in body to make it a stand out winter warmer. thanks for the bottle harry!

unclear dark brown w nice head. Strong malty aroma w spices, dark fruit, dark flowers and some wood develops in mouth.Flavour is sweet w bitterness in finish. Gotta get some more of this!

Pours surprisingly dark, with large tan head. Aroma of nutmeg, cinnamon sticks, clove and dark fruit. Flavor is spicy, accenting cinnamon and powdered chocolate. Finish is a little sweet, but without losing nice balancing spice. Overall, this was well balanced and interesting. Just doesn’t quite come together entirely.

2008 bottle- Beer poors dark with a light tan head. Aroma is of roasted grains and a bit of spice comes through in the aroma. The Flavor is similar to the aroma with a roasted grains coming through and a hint of spices. Molases flavor also comes through at the beginning but fades through the beer. Bitterness is tame and roasted grain bitterness seems to come through more than anything else. Beer finishes extremely dry Overall beer is good.

2008 on tap at papago...

pours a clear dr. pepper color with a spongy khaki head. smells like gingerbread... powdered ginger, molasses, nutmeg, pine of some sort (but not resinous) and loads of unknown herbs. it even has a little bit of burn on the thinner edges. strange flavor... it*s quite grainy but dry. it tastes like a slightly tart gingerbread with notes of molasses (without the sweet), juniper berries, spruce, black pepper, nutmeg and faint chocolate. dry mildly tart finish. odd... but not necessarily in a good way? light bodied with a sharp prickly mouth feel.

i wish this tasted the way it smelled... 8/4/6/2/13/3.3

2007 - Very dark chestnut, tall beige head, smooth with a lot of lacing. Big bitter dry nutmeg flavor, clove, softer cinnamon. Lots of black licorice. Dark bitter bakers chocolate, overload of spice. Thin palate, moderate bitter finish. 3.3 2006 - Slightly darker in color with a taller beige head. Nose is similar to the 2007, dry and spicy, big nutmeg, clove. This year has a soft burnt chocolate and mild smokey quality to it that I didnt get out of the 2007. Softer and a bit smoother, it seems to have mellowed and the spices are less sharp. Much more drinkable then the 2007. Slight rootbeer note at times. This was actually really nice, and the best OSA I have had, more malt dominated then spice run. 3.7