Anchor Our Special Ale (2003)

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

better than the 04. Dark and very rich. Hard to beat. Flying Suacer in San Antonio has the 02, 03 and 04 on tap. They keep 3 or so kegs and store them..so i will get this next year also.

Have 2 sixers left over from 2003 which I’ve been ageing. As always a fatastic Holiday brew. Seems to have stood up well over the past year continuing to show lots of pumpkin pie spices, especially ginger. Smooth, silky mouthfeel; especially when enjoyed at about 60F in a snifter.

With in a week I had the 2003 and the 2004 arrive via different carriers! Much spicier than last years, less sweet. Fruity, ginger mix--with head that changed colors as it disappaited--maybe the age does that.

Draught Mugs alehouse brooklyn: Fantastic brew. Very malty and sweet finish, however, refreshing and delicious. Spicey aroma.

2003 Bottle at Delirium Cafe, Brussels. Very dark brown, almost black, frothy almost white head. Odd aroma of malt and light spice. Flavour is sweet, malt and spicy. Not that great.

Bottled- I drank this one side by side with a bottled version of the 2004. Both were similar in color but the 2003 is much more "gingery" (is that a word?). The aromas of the 2004 were stronger than the kegged version I rated earlier. Here’s the 2003 rating; Pours very dark with the slightest hint of an amber tint. Huge aroma of ginger, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spices, chocolate and port. Viscous mouth feel with huge notes of ginger. Tastes like Christmas in a bottle.

I’m going to rate this as a very good beer that I had last year, simply because I didn’t rate it from last year. Yum.

I’m not getting much to work with here. Maybe the beer was not served fresh. It tasted like Grape Juice to me. Maybe I just needed a taste that was stronger. I will probably try it again.