Anchor Our Special Ale (2004)

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

Bottle
Quite chocolatey, and more mellow and balanced than previous years. Pine character somewhat subdued in this issue. A good dessert beer. Sweet caramel in aftertaste.

[12 oz. bottle] Dark reddish pour with a thick tan head. Sweet and light aroma of caramel, malts, brown sugar and some spices. Nice spice beginning to the flavor with a malty backbone and a slightly bitter hoppy and spice ending. The aftertaste is the slightest hint of spicy malts and cookie dough.

bottle. pours a deep mahogany colour with a very small off-white head. aroma is sweet - caramel, brown sugar, licorice, and lots of malt. flavour is malty, spicy. fairly heavy body. Finish is dry and roasty. I thoroughly enjoyed this "special" ale.

Bottled. For what it’s worth, this was the 30th Anniversary Christmas Special, 2004. Strong aniseed flavour that is really hard going. Sticky, cloying texture that coats every corner of your mouth. Powerful flavour that grows on you but one is enough. Lots of everything but just not for me.

Dark, chocolate, with some nutmeg. A little hops, good appearance. Malty, with a sweet aftertaste. Interesting, but not exceptional.

12oz bottle. 47.5°. NB Worthy glass. Pours dark brown with a red tint and a small 1/8" khaki head the quickly departs leaving only a ring around the glass. Smell is light roasted malts, animal crackers, and spice. Huge mouthfeel, really "full" in the mouth. Taste is malt, cookie dough, animal crackers, citrus rinds, and buttermilk? After taste is prolonged spice, with a touch of sour.

Re-rate Tasted in 2006? Side by side with the 2005. Thanks to Indra for the beers! Deep dark red wih a persistant, khaki head. Active carbonation. Aroma is roasty with cappicino, some caramel, and spice, smells like a stout! Inititial taste is roasted malt, black patent malt, earthy, spices linger in the background. This is followed by a baltiic porterish, roasty, mildly sour flavor and some mild earthiness/spiciness at the end. This is more mild than the 2005 recipe or maybe it is the age? The additional carbonation increases the apparent mouthfeel. Score went up from 3.9 to 4.0.

Pours that beautiful deep opaque brown with hints of deep ruby at the edge. Nice head that fades a bit too quickly. Aroma is licorice and piney hops, there is also something kind of sharp in there. Rich roasty slight sourness from the dark malts. Nice beer, as usual.

Strong molasses aroma. Roasted malt notes evident as well. Dark ruby amber in color. Beautiful lace. Good spice and bittersweet chocolate. Good but not as good as the 2002 vintage.