Anchor Our Special Ale (2005 and later)

	Percentile
	91
	overall

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

bottled
common

on tap
common

Broad Distribution
Find this beer

send corrections | shelftag

Ratings	Average	Score	Seasonal	ABV	Style Pctl	Serve in
1036	3.56/5.0	3.56/5.0	Winter	5.5%	94.9	Lager glass, Tumbler

Commercial Description:
This is our special ale from the brewers at Anchor. It is sold only from early November to mid-January. The Ale’s recipe is different every year, but the intent with which we offer it remains the same: joy and celebration of the newness of life. Since ancient times, trees have symbolized the winter solstice when the earth, with its seasons appears born anew. <br /><br /> Editor’s Note: due to the significant similarity in style and strength from year to year (despite potential differences in the exact spice blend), this beer is no longer separated by vintage.

Please Enable Javascript

This site requires javascript enabled and/or approval of googlesyndication.com.

Most Recent

Top Raters

Highest Ratings

Who's Rated This?

lumpsowers (235), Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA

3.2	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.2	7/10	3/5	6/10	2/5	14/20

Apr 12, 2009

(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.

jvmiller (532), Bel Air, Maryland, USA

2.7	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
2.7	5/10	3/5	4/10	3/5	12/20

Apr 10, 2009

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

gunnar (523), Sandnes, Norway

3.5	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.5	7/10	4/5	7/10	3/5	14/20

Apr 9, 2009

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.

curly (575), Nashville, Tennessee, USA

3.8	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.8	7/10	4/5	8/10	4/5	15/20

Apr 7, 2009

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.

Butters (1637), Virginia, USA

3.8	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.8	9/10	4/5	7/10	3/5	15/20

Apr 5, 2009

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.

Barrios (852), Nashville, Tennessee, USA

3	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3	6/10	3/5	7/10	3/5	11/20

Apr 5, 2009

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.

shawnm213 (913), South Bend, Indiana, USA

3.4	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.4	6/10	4/5	7/10	3/5	14/20

Mar 31, 2009

6 pack bottles. pours dark. spices, malt, there are vegetables in here? is that true? what vegetables?

Duhast500 (176), , Massachusetts, USA

4.1	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
4.1	8/10	4/5	8/10	4/5	17/20

Mar 26, 2009

Poured from a 12oz. bottle into a pint glass. The color is a deep black with a tint of a dark red when held to the light. The head is a foamy reddish brown with so nice lacing leaving a film on the glass. The smell is somewhat spicy with a little cinnamon. (I have a head cold) The taste is malty and is bit bitter with some nice flavor of bread, some yeast feel, and a floral hops. This beer is a bit of a mix of spicy hops and heavy bitterness. It has a nice mouth feel to it and it not too heavy and also pretty refreshing.

CONSIDER FREE RATEBEER MEMBERSHIP

Join us! RateBeer is made by beer enthusiasts for the craft beer community. Your basic membership is free and allows you to read all beer ratings. Click here to create your account... and give your opinion!

SIGN UP NOW »

View Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104

More Spice/Herb/Vegetables By Style
Kern River Pumpkin Ale 71
Huvila Nuuttipukki 62
Stewarts Mischief Night Pumpkin Ale 70
Ordrup Sort Sol 66
Baladin Erika 66
Struise Besty 91
Malthus Baluba 66
Cottonwood Pumpkin Spiced Ale 79
5 Seasons North The Great Pumpkin Ale 74
Jaipur Jalapeño Ale 96
La Rulles Maitresse 74
Tyranena Painted Ladies Pumpkin Spice Ale 92
Beltaine Cervogia Doppio Malto 70
Wasatch Pumpkin Ale 85
Bøgedal Nr. 0032 89

this page requires javascript