Anchor Our Special Ale (2005 and later)

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

2007 bottle thanks to HogtownHarry- Pours deep brown with a half finger of mocha froth. Lots of spotty lace. Nose is minty,juniper, with cinnamon, cardamon, some brown sugar. Tastes fairly hoppy, some molasses, pine and mint, earthy malts, some gingerbread. Quite smooth on the palate, dry as well, with only a touch of sweetness. An interesting beer for sure. Thanks for the bottle Harry.

Holiday beer 2008 year. Dark reddish brown pour, small head. Spices-cinnamon, pepper. Malty with some thin hops, earthy. A holiday Ale that was a good sampler but nothing really outstanding with this one.

2008 botte. Pours a syrupy dark brown with little to no head. Really interesting aroma, it smells like a christmas trade show. Hot apple cider (cinnamon, apples), popouri, britch bark, some cedar, coffee. Palate is weird, at first taste. I guess weird is a bad word interesting would be a better word. Herbs, spices, a little apple, coffee and a little dark chocolate, that popouri comes through on the palate as well. Maybe a little tight and needs some age. Still really interesting.

2008 bottle. Pours a very dark amber, somewhat porter-like. Aroma is cloves, spruce, a little cinnamon - Christmas spices, who would’ve guessed? The flavor of spice and some citrus is much lighter than I expected from the aroma. Nothing really sticks out that much - it’s balanced, but not terribly exciting. Smooth palate with a clean dry finish. Not bad. <br\> <br\> Updated: July 15 2009.
2008 vintage bottle. So what if it’s the complete wrong time of year? A nice dark ruby color with a full tan head. Smells like potpourri - cinnamon, cloves, gingerbread, maybe a little chocolate in there as well, and something else I can’t quite place. Flavor is subdued maltiness complemented by lots of spice, largely the same as the aroma: cinnamon, nutmeg, gingerbread, potpourri in general. Finishes dry to a pleasant spicy citrusy bitterness. Smooth, balanced, tasty. The spices take some getting used to, though - this isn’t your everyday beer.

Vintage 2007. Dark ruby, near black w/ thin fading head. Rye bready aroma with peach, hint of liquorice and spices. Flavor is ash and dry Käck-liquorice, some peach and bitter orange. Gets a tad yeasty when warmer. Almost medium bodied, pretty average palate, a bit thin. Not very soothing, but different alright

2008 vintage. Pours almost black with decent brown head. Aroma is originally very off-putting. My brain simultaneously thought chocolate and fecal...not good. Oddly enough, as it warmed it morphed into a much nicer pine/mint aroma. Taste is also originally quite off-putting, being over-spiced and tasting like burned chocolate. Again, as it warms, it improves and becomes more balanced. Overall a very dry beer. Lesson: don’t drink this at a cold or cool temperature, it’s disgusting.

Bottle 2007. Poured a dark reddish brown. Aroma is quite spicy. Flavor is pretty thin and lightly spiced.and somewhat bitter. A bit watery with a solid bitter acidic finish. I expected better.

This beer has been rated everything from exceptional to adequate, so it might be that one beer I find putrid that many find exceptionally gratifying, however I tried this beer and after the first one my stomach felt queasy with the overwhelming spice, simply overdone