Anchor Our Special Ale (2001 and earlier)

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

Very nice holiday offering from Anchor! Pours dark brown with a thin white head and a little lacing. Very nice complex aroma and palate. Lots of bread, but with a nice hoppy bite on the finish.

boy howdy. this is a holiday beer done right. lovely and complex, and not one of those syrupy concotions with overblown nutmeg and cinnamon messes that most holiday beers usually are. i taste the clove and ginger, but some pear and apples and even coffee and breadiness with some dark carmelization overtones. it has a hoppier bite than most holiday beers, but it doesnt drown out the other flavors. its been beautifully balanced. the mouth is left with a buttery finish and bit of the hops, but some warm banana and vanilla and a mild spiceness. i bought just one bottle on a lark, but i will need to go back and buy some more as this one is a keeper to stow away for later tastings. seriously quite impressive.

2008 Pours dark brown with a thin disappearing tan head. Sweet and spicy aroma of gingerbread, cloves and wort flavoured dark bread. Spicy roasted flavor of wort bread and ginger with a coffe-bitter finish. Well carbonated with a rich mouthfeel leaving a thick stickyness. Truly a beer that catches the spirit of christmas, really well done.

Getting notebook online. Bottle, 1999 (had 8/11/07 at Lucky Baldwin’s). Chocolatel and burnt sugars on the nose surprising expectations (Sometimes surprises are good). Wonderfully complex flavors: chocolate, caramel, and coffee. Creamy and drinkable!! Had a 2007 a few days later it it seemed a lot hoppier I guess they make it different every year. I wonder why ratebeer doesn’t break out the year by year of beers like this?

Sampled the 1994 Bottle at Mugs Ale House: Pours a deep brown with a ruby hue in the light topped by a thin tan ring of head. The nose has evident ginger character, English tea leaf, dark cocoa and subtle papery notes. Nice and creamy on the palate. The flavor has spice notes of mid ginger, hints of mint, tea leaf, subdued dark cocoa with a papery note into the mildly roasted finish. Slight notes of oxidation, yet it has held up remarkably. Also sampled a 1999 Bottle at Mugs Ale House: 7 - 3 - 8 - 4 - 15 / 3.7 Deep brown pour with a fading tan head. The aroma is surprisingly less spicy than the 1994 bottle, with more emphasis on the malt/chocolate character with only subtle clove, ginger and graham cracker. Again, the texture is nice and creamy. The flavor has a nice roasted character with more dark cocoa and subtle vanilla notes, graham cracker, light cinnamon and ginger, with a smooth roast into the finish as well as a licorice/anise note. Very nice, and held up very well. A bit less emphasis on the gingery spiciness than the 1994, with better malt subtly. 1999 Bottle receives a 3.7

2000 bottle at Mugs (for only $7!). Piney, tobacco, charcoal aroma, old and very mellow. Flavor is old and oxidized but not thinned or cardboardy. Some sherry, coal, tobacco notes, light cocoa in the flavor. Well aged and interesting. 7/4/7/4/3.8

1999 bottle at Mugs: Aroma has some milk chocolate, light sherry, mint, tobacco. Mild but very complex. Sherry and port in the flavor work well, but are minor and balanced. Has a full winter spiciness and roast. Very drinkable and hardly old tasting. 8/4/8/4/3.8

1994 bottle at Mugs: Old, eggy, spruce and sherry nose. Mild flavor, spruce and prune, cocoa. Hardly oxidized. Some cherry and cranberry notes. Quite fruity. Very mellow, as a beer this old should be. This worked extremely well. 7/3/8/5/3.9

1996 Vintage Bottle, shared with and courtesy of Hogtown Harry - thank you very much for sharing this Harry! Nice murky dark brown, small tan head. Spruce, fig, cola, vanilla in nice aroma. First sip is a bit watery but then the flavours kick in as if on delay: lots of cinnamon, more fig. Great creamy mouthfeel. Less in your face spices than a fresh bottle, this one is just starting to show its age but has held up remarkably well, especially considering the alcohol percentage. Very good - a really nice rare treat.

1996 Vintage Bottle (12oz). Shared with tupalev, my bottle via incredible trade with irishboy. Rating #2900. Murky brid-red pour, small creamy light yellowish-brown creamy head, plenty of white floaties. Okay, yes, it smells "mature" - dry, oily dark roast malt, dry cinnamon and oil-based paint - appealing though. The taste follows; initially mild, but the flavours opened up after a bit - dry, oily, deep chocolate roast, somewhat herbal and a wee bit of alcohol and plenty of cinnamon. Slick, creamy, somewhat still mouthfeel, nice soft astringency from the spice - 4+ because it felt awesome on the tongue. Thanks for sharing this, Richard - the flavours were somewhat muted by time, but it’s nicely blended and smooth.