Anchor Our Special Ale (2001 and earlier)

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

Vintage 1982... Bottle... A&K’s4thAHBT... Hazy, golden ale with tons of small, black floaties. Small, creamy, off-white head. Strange aroma... strange, complex and wonderful enough to soak it in for about 1/2 hour. Tried to figure it out completely, but couldn’t. Fruity, tropical and sweet (should have been served with a miniature umbrella). Notes of butterscotch and sloe gin. The flavor is malty, but well-balanced. Hops are subdued, which makes perfect sense considering the beer’s age. Medium-bodied and creamy with light carbonation. Very enjoyable!

Poured with huge brown head, very creamy, very nice lacing. Beer is dark dark brown, almost like cola color. Nose of spices, mostly clove and something else I can’t put my finger on... Ginger maybe? Very spicy and malty taste with finish that lingers.

2001 picked up at Route 59 Liquor in Sufferin, NY. lots of depth and cola and barley prevalent, and carbonation. Near black, little head. Dry and spicey, good accompanyment to food with acidic bite.

1999 nice mellow flavor, still spicy but maybe the aging made it smoother if thats even possible. Six years later and it still holds up nicely. pours deep brown with a full nose of nutmeg and clove. BUT this years is the best ever

Vinatge 2000

A truly opaque sepia body with mahogany highlights and a creamy but short-lived tan head that laced well. Prunes and floral in aroma and flavor with light soapiness in the finish flavor. Additional aromas of black tea and pine which add some refreshment to an otherwise heavy nose. Slightly dirty palate with a bitter-sour aftertaste that lingers as a big chunk o’ pine tree. I am actually tempted to try this heated and mulled.

<font size=-4>Single 12oz. bottle purchased at<a href= http://www.ratebeer.com/Place/illinois/elmh Sal’s Beverage World, Elmhurst, IL<font size=-1>

had the 2001 magnum with some buds at the bricskeller in dc. big ups to that place by the way. tasted almost too christmassy. lots of pine spiceness. most unique beer i’ve had to date. this was in dec. ’04 so the brew had aged a bit.

Dark funky brown body. Huge spicy nose, barky, gingery, cinnamony and somehow not too sweet, with christmas icicles and thyme-like complexities, quite tanninc in appearance, tea-like. Fruity palate, not very fresh feel. This is supposed to age like a marvel, but is it supposed to becomes this thin? It’s like biting in a huge piece of cake to notice that 3/4 is comprised of air. Bread, figs, rum and spices dominate the palate. Average.

’98 Magnum Extremely to try this hard to comeby vintage. Pours deep dark brown with red hues. Sudsy off white head. Still lively after all this time. Aroma of softly dying fruits, sweet spicey perfume and a little pungent yeast. Alcohol was pronounced even at the low ABV. Peppery and bread with some chocolate, figs, spice and toffee. Citric hops were on there way out. Sweet resiny finish. Ahhh.... I hope I can try again. And here we are again about 4 months later. ’99 bottle. Pours hazy brown/red with a short creamy tan head. Nose of butterscotch, gingerbread., fruit cake, and doughy yeast. More tart and some bittersweet chocolate. Nut oil, more berry tart than the ’04. Melded into one big soft flavour. Not that it is muted. Cherries and spices has mellowed out considerably. Earthy bread malt, tasted cereal. Slightly more viscous, and tart berry finish with some burnt sugar.