Anchor Our Special Ale (2001 and earlier)

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

Not a bad offering... almost a barley-wine complexity to it at times. The alcohol seems higher than it is, and adds to the flavor nicely.

Wow. I had the 2001 vintage on tap at the Buffalo Brew Pub at Christmas 2004, and it was probably the best beer I’ve had on tap, comparable only to the Fuller’s Porter on cask draft. It tasted like Christmas pudding, sweets, cinnamon, plums, and everything great you can imagine. An orgasm in a glass.

2000 vintage that Ron shared with me. Dark brown with reddish tan head that stuck around pretty long. Ginger aroma and taste. Smooth palate and roasted feel. Thanks Ron!

1996. Cornfield and I popped these oldies open together this Christmas...and pretty much agreed that they were pretty decent. Reminded us both of recent Corsendonk Christmas ales. Very enjoyable, in spite of or because of 9 years of bottle conditioning?

Vintage 1998 tasted at RBSG 2005. Dark brown body, with a beige head. Spices still dominate muting the bit of sweet malt, bit thin. Wish I had taken better notes but I thought I had tried this vintage before. Damn! 6/4/6/4/12 <P>2001 Vintage: Rated Jan 18 2005. Pours a hazy dark brown with a small brown head that diminishes fairly fast. Leaves a suprisingly good amount of lacing in the glass. Powerful aroma is noticable from a distance. Dark malt supports Christmasy spice. I think I detect cinnamon, all spice, maybe nutmeg but I don’t know any of them well enough to be certain. Flavour starts sweet with some pleasant spice up front, caramel, maybe some anise but gives way to a less pleasant spice bitterness in the middle, herbal and medicinal parts. Leaves a sweeter interestingly familiar spice in the aftertaste. Flavour improves through the glass, perhaps in part due to an acclimation by the tongue, or warming up slightly. Nutmeg? Some rootbeer like glimpses. Smooth medium bodied brew has held up well over time. Nice beer that is not really for me. I would love it without the bite in the middle. Thanks RadioMGB 7/3/6/3/14

1998: brown in color, red at edges. nose is caramel toasted malt, spruce/pine, vanilla, sherry. flavor is caramel malt, mild sherry, smooth pine and spice, slight hop. 1997: flavors are smoother and milder, cleaner finsish. 1987: deeper malt flavor, alcohol more present.

2001 bottle. Dark reddish/brown color with a small tan head. Aroma of sweet malt, pine, caramel and cinnamon. Flavor starts off slightly sweet, then dries nicely on the finish. Lots of pine, dark fruits and a hint of cinnamon.

Vintages 1987 and 1990 poured a dark amber color and left no head. 1994, 1997, 1998, 2000, and 2001poured a reddish brown color with a light tan head. Piney, spicy (some oak and whiskey in the 1994) and some butterscotch in the aroma. Dark, dried fruits, roastey with light chocolate, and spicy pine. 2002 came out on top in the vertical last night.