Anchor Our Special Ale (2001 and earlier)

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

2000 vintage. I feel like a heretic but I found this ale unbalanced and disappointing. The nose is fabulous: treacle, cinammon and allspice. The first sip was promising enough - sweetish, spicy - but it gives way to a fierce, tart finish. Cloves and licorice. Over the course of the bottle I found the spices overwhelming and increasingly cloying - like downing a solution of allspice. I love the concept and would love to try other vintages to see if this is an aberation.

98 bottle pours a cloudy brown with a tan head. aroma of nutmeg and ginger, i love this nose. taste is malt and spice with notes of nutmeg and cinnamon. nice laid back flavor with a good cinnamon finish.very mellow and good. AP-3, AR-5, TAS-6, Pal-5, OV-14 00 bottle bottle pours a dark brown bordering on black with a fat tan head. has a spruce or some similar wood aroma with smoked bacon ginger and the usual nutmeg rolled into the aroma. sweet spice taste with a lingering caramel spicey flavor. this is the best OSA yet AP-4, AR-9, Tas-8, Pal-5, Ov-18

98: Pour brown with thin brown head...smell completely of bacon fat, with very little spice at all...taste was very very sweet with a sticky finish

1989 Version - Amber in color, with a flat 0 head and a sap taste to it. I think I am still in ahh of the fact that I am able to drink such good old beer thanks to my boyfriend. I shall try many more years.

1997 Vintage:
Dark brown coloured body, fairly waterly looking with a superb off-white head that lasts for a long time (seeing that this beer is 7 years old). Aroma of light spices, roasted malt, sugars and a few other odds-and-ends. Medium to Light-bodied; A bit watery in the mouth with some mild spices and pit fruit tastes running throughout. Aftertaste shows some bitter malt, but very mild compared to a new version of this beer. Overall, a very great find...and very happy to try! I sampled this beer with Phil (haddon90), we purchased this 1.5 Litre Magnum bottle on 10-December-2004 for $30 from the Brickskeller in Washington, D.C.

1996 Vintage: This came across like this year’s Corsendonk Christmas Ale, perhaps because of the aging. It pours a dark brown with a respectable tan head. The aroma is mainly pine, allspice, nutmeg... Medium-bodied, it tasted more of the spicing than malts, more of the pine, nutmeg, etc. Complex in aroma & flavor with a dry finish.

1997 Vintage: Having this in 2008 (gotta clean the fridge) and found that it’s lasted pretty well. The malts seem more robust and more roasted. The spices have muted somewhat, and that’s not really a bad thing. I found a second 1997 bottle that I’ll probably save another eleven years.

1998 Vintage: This vintage, drunk in June of 2006, seems to have more of an underlying roasted malt taste to it, as well as a nutty bitterness in the finish. Beyond that, it’s very nicely spiced without going overboard. Nice change of pace, as a good seasonal should be.

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Popped open a magnum of the 2001. Dark brown with reddish highlights, nice tan head. Good, robust nose. Smells of Christmas cookies baking. Gingerbread men. Lots of spices. Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Nice feel in the mouth. The flavor was very spicy and complex but also very rewarding. Emphasis on the ginger and sweetness but not cloying. Not bad at all.

Here in Nor. Calif. you have to look hard to find these special offerings. Safeway no less, had it @ $8/ 6 pk as well as Pyramid Snow Cap and the Oktoberfest beers. I splurged and have never experienced anything this spicy. It reminds me alot of the Spaten Hefeweisen (monk on the label). The gingerbread definately came through as well as other "peppery" flavors. I will hold on to the rest just to see how it develops. Thanks Anchor for taking a risk!!!