Anchor Our Special Ale (2004)

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

Yes Merry Xmas! What a beer to celebrate xmas eve with. Glad I kept this beer for at least for a couple of weeks, just to get into the spirit of things. Appearance is a deep dark body with red tinges and a well lasting, light tan head. Mint is what I first noticed on the aroma, my other half could only pick up wood, but lets stick with the mint as that is what is hanging around for me. Full-bodied smooth taste, cinnamon, clove, a touch of ginger, liquorice, rich fruit and lots more. Enjoyed this beer very much, probably couldn’t drink lots in one sitting as it is a bit too full on but nonetheless still enjoyable.

What better way to celebrate Christmas than to drink this before going to work! Hmmm... perhaps I shouldn’t be typing this on a work computer. Anyway, this was a pretty crazy beer. Upon opening the bottle I thought it might’ve been oxidised (it is a year old and has travelled San Fran->Holland->Perth->Melb) but it didn’t last. Quite dark, with a great foamy, sand dune head - looks real good. It was probably the most genuinely chocolatey beer I’ve ever tasted. No hint of artificial flavouring or cocoa or any of that, plain old milk chocolate with the silky mouthfeel to match. Lots of creamy, buttery malt, with really good, but subtle enough, spicing giving some ginger, (fresh) mint, Juicy Fruit and even pine needle notes. However, the thing that disturbed me is that it reminded me of the dentist. Firstly, the minty stuff that they must use on the thing that sucks up your saliva when they’re doing work, but most distinctly the pink molding that they use to shape mouthgards (and I’ve only ever had that done once, probably close to fifteen years ago, so it’s a pretty vivid memory!) Mouthfeel is great - carb is a little high, and it’s quite light but it still feels great and silky anyway. Hmmm... this beer really does everything right, but for some reason I just didn’t really go for it.

12/23/05 16 oz. dfart @ golden rail. I was extrmely lucky to get this beer after I’ll let it get away from me last holiday season. I had this at the Golden Rail in Newburgh NY which I would assume is one of the last kegs of it around. Pours a deep red color with a thin brown head and very spicy/hoppy nose. Pineish fruit flavors and scent. Rosemary to me seems to be one of the dominating scents and flavors. Lasting flavor from start to finish. Great lacing. Spices are balanced nicely with the hops. I love Anchor Brewing!

Bottled: Red brown coloured. Unclear. Light brown dense head. Liqourice, sweetnes, spice, malt and marcipanny notes in the aroma. Flavour of liqourice, plums, prunes, sweetness. Some hops is notable, at least in the end, when a subtle bitterness overtakes the quite fruity notes. Nice one.

Big malt aroma, hops and spices too, mahogany, small tan head, pretty lace. Flavour starts with lots of hops, good malt backbone, nuts and a lovely mixture of spices. Medium bodied, sweet and bitter at the same time. Terrific! Thank You Very much tupalev!

bottle shared by illini08. pours a deep reddish mahogany in color with a decent sized off-white head. has a wonderful spicey aroma of clove and cinnamon. plenty of caramel sweetness upon tasting with the previously mentioned spices. everything up front and in the middle was great, but had a bit of a harsh aftertaste.

Dark ruby red pour. Spicy aroma and spicy flavor. It was just a little bit harsh as others have said. If they wanted to put that much into it, there needed to be something else there to counterbalance all of the different spices. Not a bad beer though, and certainly a very good looking one

On tap at the Drafting Room in Springhouse (they also have the 05 on tap this night). Poured a dark brown with some red coming through. Small lacing tan head. Aroma is a bit light but still spicier than the 05. Lots of various spices and licorice. Flavor of licorice, cinnamon and various other holiday spices.