Anchor Our Special Ale (2002)

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

Deep ruby-brown colour with a chocolate milk head. Sweet and intoxicating aroma with notes of chocolate, coffee and a multitude of spices including clove, cinnamon and nutmeg. Creamy mouthfeel with roasted malts and spice in the flavour, and a nicely balanced bitterness in the finish.

I love this beer. The best by Anchor I had so far. Coffee and hopperfume aroma. Very dark brown color, brown creamy head, very good lace. Spices and light coffee flavors. Finishes light roasted, bitter with a long lasting coffee flavor. Well balanced use of hops, spices and dark malts.

Nicely spiced. A lot darker than what I imagined. Tasted like gingerbread. As it warms, the ginger seems to disappear a bit. Nice.

Our special aroma, derived from celery! Very herbal, celery-like aroma gave way to a dark, almost stout-like body. Interesting flavor, which I cannot honestly pin down. Spicy, sweet, and with slight smoked notes. Still, this brew reminds me of liquid vegetables, which I cry out to, "begone!"

Rich dark brown color with a thin coating of head. Aroma is heavily spiced with ginger and some smoke. Body is faintly bittersweet and perhaps a little too spiced. Lots of ginger, orange peel and maybe some cinnamon. Thick oily palate starts fizzing in the mouth. Overall this beer just didn't mesh very well with me.

This is good, but it's not 2001. I was a bit dismayed that they put alot more spice in this than last year. If you didnt like this, at least give this beer a chance and try some earlier vintages. Still not a bad beer. I really appreciate the full body and deep, dark color. Needs less anise spicing and certainly less clove. Would benefit from more roasted malt. Though the beer, when put together, is made well and barring the too much spice, a great beer. (TRY THE EARLIER VINTAGES!!!)

Well it's spicy, very spicy, just too damn spicy. Just can't enjoy any subdued characteristics. I simply could not finish the bottle and even gave the beer a second chance, still not my cup of tea (or bottle of beer). Gave the other four away in a holiday sampler I made, so disappointed

(2002)Wow! What the hell is this? Ginger, corriander and all-spice dominate this brew and I'm not a fan. Bland, pungent and watery without any hint of hops. In fact, I "sink drained" the first bottle under the assumption that it was tainted. Perhaps this isn't a style to my liking, but I don't see how this can be considered "enjoyable". It certainly has a peculiar "wang" and the color was dirty brown with little head and even less fiz. I am surprized because I admire Anchor's other brews, but this one is too "over the top" for me. I'm pulling anchor and heading for calmer, more flavorful waters.