Anchor Our Special Ale (2003)

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

Bottle shared at a tasting that I hosted. Pour is red. Aroma is fruit and spices, namely nutmeg, cinnamon, and some hints of caramel in the background. Flavor is slightly bitter and even a bit vegetal. This is decent, I’m just not crazy about the finish.

Thanks Curt for letting us sample this from your cellar.

Small sample from 12 oz. bottle consumed at tennisjoel’s tasting on 1-26-08. This was the first of ten beers that we tried. Nice, musty, spicy aroma with nutmeg, pear, and plum scents. Pours an effervescent, maroon / dark brown with an amber hue and a small amount of beige head. Dry and lemon-sour taste. Vanilla and apple juice flavors. Spicy, bitter finish. Light to medium body. Frothy in the palate. The 2003 Anchor Our Special Ale is not a bad beer, but I was hoping for more.

12 oz. bottle. Has a beautiful garnet hue with a tan colored head which fades quickly to a sheen. Reeks of cloves, ginger. Has a very smooth, full bodied texture. Taste is first of roasted malts followed by a spicy sweet mix of cinnamon, cloves, and bitter ginger to finish. This bottling doesn’t seem as spiced as previous years. Going to cellar a few and see what happens.Nov 2004

Had this beer on 12/5/2003. Aroma mild with tones of roasted malt. Color is a deep dark brown. Taste is roasted and mild. starting with medium body it goes down smooth with a hint of malt coming on. Finish is a mild roasted malt flavor backed by a citrusy spicy end. Overall its a great winter beer.

Dark brown pour with a small light brown head. Big pumpkin aroma with a lot of spice. Acidic pumpkin with some funky spices that have a light to medium body. Dry finish with live carbonation.

Keg (Kaunis Kampela, Helsinki) As "Christmas Ale" Rich red, small tight head. Aromatic and spicy aroma, sweet rich malts, citrusy hops, and spicy too. Taste has it all as well. Full christmas pudding of spices. but not a characature.

Name: Our Special Ale
Date: 11/27/2003
Mode: Bottle
Source: Beverage Resort
Vintage: 2003

Dark ruby red, whispy tan head, fresh spruce aroma with lots of spices, rich dark malt flavor, lots of chocolate, balanced by tons of spices, incredable rich malt character, should age very well
-------- /> Name: Our Special Ale
Date: 11/29/2003
Mode: draft
Source: summits
Vintage: 2003

spices tend to be stronger on draft and overpower malt character, cinamon comes through stronger, mmlt starts to show up again at the end
-------- /> Name: Our Special Ale
Date: 02/15/2004
Mode: bottle
Vintage: 2003

lots of spices and spruce, rich malt flavor, lots of spices, hint of alcohol,
-------- /> Name: Our Special Ale
Date: 11/23/2005
Vintage: 2003

slightly sweet chocolate malt aroma, still a very nice spice character well blended with rich chocolate malt, the best mix of mellowed spices with the malt of a 98-05 lineup

Aroma: 9/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 17/20
Rating: 4.1/5.0
Score: ***4
-------- /> The score was calculated based upon the notes and an old scoring system.

Bottle courtesy of Yourdarklord. Thanks a million Edward. Pours a black with a nice brown frothy retentive head. Aroma of cookie, ginger, nutmeg, and subtle dark roast. Medium bodied with a soft texture. Initial flavor of molasses cookie, ginger snaps, and clove. The middle has more chocolate and mild coffee bitterness. Moderate spruce makes an appearance on the finish. This is well balanced and held up rather well.