Anchor Our Special Ale (2005 and later)

Dark brownish poor white white head. Aroma is sweet, spicy, bready all at once. Sweet, gingerbread taste with hints of chocolate and roasted malts. Nice finish. I really enjoyed this one. Good holiday beer.

2008 vintage, courtesy of mgermani. Been meaning to try and rate this for years and am finally getting to ’er. Poured dark brown with a hint of orange, medium tan head with little retention. Brown sugar, savoury herbs, citrus rind, and raisins on the nose; flavour is slightly vinous with tree fruit and herbal notes, roasted malt and bittering hops on the finish. Oddly light mouthfeel, quite heavily carbonated, but pleasant overall and worth having again.

(2007)Dark brown pour, fluffy head, lots of lace. Cinnamon, pine aroma. Nutty, chocolatey flavor, some bready cinnamon. Really does taste like Christmas! Think this might be a little old, but still an interesting flavor. (2008)Black pour, big fluffy head, high lace. Spicy pine aroma. Sweet, cinnamon and nutmeg, tastes like an alcoholic Christmas cookie. Slightly grapey, not bad.

Really didn’t like this one, had a pukey finish. Yeasty, malty, slighly hoppy. But otherwise PUKEY.

12 oz bottle. Pours dark brown with a moderate tan head. Spicy aroma, black pepper.Taste is darker, richer, some yeast as well. Moderate watery mouthfeel, nice bitter touch at the end.

Pours dark red brown with a tan head. Aroma reminds me of eggnog with gingery nutmeg. Berry and spice taste with some toffee. Has a nice hop bitterness to finish as well. 2007 bottle thanks to Butters.

Sampled at the Impromptu Butter’s 5th cellar clearance. 2007 vintage. Near clear brown pour with red highlights. Aroma of eggnog! Cinnamin, gingerbread. Very interesting. One of the best spice beers i’ve had. And I’m not even a fan of the style.

2007 bottle. Fading beige head with a slighlty hazy brown body. Smells of ginger, clove, and brown sugar. Tastes the same with some chocolate notes. A bit thin.