Anchor Our Special Ale (2001 and earlier)

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

YUM!!! Fishbone had an album out called Fishbone 101: Nuttasaurusmeg Fossil Fuelin, it must have alluded to this beer. Lots of nutmeg and spice, incredibly tasty. I pictured stockings hung by the fire with care... Christmas songs flew through my head and visions of sugarplums danced in my head. WOW!

12/5/2003 (3.6): This was a nice little find at City Beverage in Winston-Salem. 1998 Bottle: The downside is I think this beer is starting to get a little long in the tooth. Pours a nice dark brown color with a ruby halo and a thin light tan head. Aroma of malt, spice and a little soy sauce. Medium-bodied and smooth with an interesting mixture of caramel, roasted malt and a hint of chocolate. The finish is where I felt this beer came up a little short, and where I think the age might be showing. There was a slightly sour character toward the end of the glass that contradicted the initial flavor but it wasn't too distracting. Either way I'm happy I had a chance to try it this holiday season. 1/20/2003 (3.8): Another good find at the Hollingshead Deli in Orange, CA. 2001 Bottle: Dark brown/ruby color with a medium thick light beige head and decent lacing. Nicely spiced aroma of cinnamon and ginger, and a little sour apple too. Flavor is super smooth and lightly carbonated. Dark fruit, plum, anise, cinnamon, etc are all present. I even tasted a tiny hint of chocolate in the finish. Very good, and I am looking forward to trying the 2002 edition.

2001 vintage bottle: Pours with a pretty thick, brownish head. Color is dark/ruby red, very nice. Aroma is very malty, with a touch of sweetness and spice. Flavor is malty, with just enough sweetness to balance, and a smokey essence. Palate was a little thin, though. Quite a good brew overall.

Deep, dark body, some hints of walnut and cherry wood. NIcely colored head too! Wonderful cinnamon and spice. Smells alot like a cinnamon dusted gingerbread man dipped in milk, with a nutmeg twist. It kind of tastes like one as well! I really like this. A well drawn out lightly roasted barley finish. Great balance, long finish, good looking beer, solid all around.

Rating based on a 2 year aging of Anchor Our Special Ale 2000. The aroma is of heavy spices...ginger and nutmeg to be precise...some hints of malt and fruit, and a coffee roastiness. The pour is a dark brown when held up to the light with dark reds just barely poking through...good carbonation can be seen on the side of the glass and the head iis nice and foamy...not quite as creamy as i would have liked, but left a nice layer of lacing on the glass and provided for a better tasting. The taste is heavily filled with ginger. Some malts come through in the middle and aftertaste along with a very thinly spread roasted coffee flavor that weakens sickeningly as you get through the drink, and grows super thin toward the end. I’m noticing something to the effect of a grapefruit to grapefruit like acidity here with a continuing dryness that grows with every sip...large cottonmouthed feeling. It tries to be a spiced up Porter in my opinion. Its a mix between a Belgian/Saison meeting a Porter..this is what you’d get. The alcohol is hidden very well, but its those darn drying spices that get to you in the end. It was a nice blend of spices and bitterness along with a beginning roast that thinned quickly...i liked it however...a nice treat.

It has a very dark brown colour, opaque with a nice foam. Very complex aroma of peat, chocolate and banana. The flavour is bitter and coffeeish, not very pleasant. Long lasting coffee aftertaste. Good beer but too much bitterness for me.

very spicy christmas ale, very dark,brooding textures with a nice head,hint’s of nutmeg.

Blend of spices in the aroma. The 2002 version seems to have a lighter spice flavor than I remember from previous versions. Typically, I’m not a huge fan of spiced beers. This one’s not too bad though.