Anchor Our Special Ale (2004)

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

Dark brown body, frothy brown head turning into a nice creamy ring. Aroma has spices, toffee, molasses, and coffee. Taste is sweet chocolafied coffee and spices. Finsh has some... pear? Has a decent flavor profile, but also seems comparatively light.

This beer has a nice head and is very dark and full-bodied with a slight aroma of nutmeg. I’m not a lover of nutmeg in beer but I really love this stuff because there are also other complex flavors doing their job in this beer that offsets the nutmeg. At different sittings I have detected a hint of cherry and sometimes a hint of a banana. Could they be using a wheat beer yeast? This beer is really complex and should be tried at least once. After swallowing,the taste lingers in the palate for quite a while but it’s astringent and dry in a good way -- the balance is excellent because it does start off very sweet but ends up refreshing nonetheless. Most of the others seasonal beers except for Winterhook and Sierra’s Celebration that I have tried, come through tasting like Jagermeister -- this one doesn’t.

just picked up a case of this and sampling it right now. very nice dark ruby with huge fluffy tan head. flavor is malty, semi-sweet and spicy. finishes sweet and piney with some hops and/or nutmeg coming through. this beer is more spicy than anything, with a nutmeg aftertaste, but very well crafted and enjoyable. even if you don’t like spiced beer too much (like me) give it a try...I’m glad I did. best spice brew I’ve tasted !!

Poured a dark, reddish brown color with a medium sized tan head and left nice lacing on the glass. Pine, cloves and other spices, sweet chocolate, caramel, and toffee in the aroma. Sweet and malty, lots of spices, more pine, basically mirrored the aroma, with an average mouthfeel. This certainly benefits from age.

Dark brown with a big, thick tan head. Aroma of baking spices, pine and chocolate. Flavor reminded me of fruitcake, lots of nutmeg, licorice and chocolate. Solid, but I’ve like this better in years past.

Deep brownish burgundy. Firm foamy off-white head lasts and sticks to the sides of the glass. Coniferous and sprucey aroma: very christmasty. Appealing spice usage among which obvious nutmeg and cloves stand out. It bears a delicate toasted bread marrying the earthy malts into an admirable tango. Surprisingly tart in mouth, like mild earthy acids. Rather warming feel globally, but that roasty layer kicks into the mild acidity and kills it for me. Like canned jammed roasted fruits trying to become a christmas cake. I can’t get into that. Decent balancing spices bitterness though and on the tongue, it feels velvety. I may be in the minority, but I prefered the 2003 which focused more on spices and less on roastiness. Thanks Barry.

heavy licorice nose, a hint of ginger bread and spice; piney, bready and toasty flavor, definite ginger and nutmeg tinge; rather subdued malt and hop flavor for a winter brew, other than the pleasant spicing, which I’m typically not a huge fan of; this is nice.

A wonderful beer. Deep, deep reddish-black body with a frothy head. At cooler temperatures this brew is a smooth, creamy porter, for all intents and purposes. At warming temperatures, the beer becomes a little more complex but the seasonal spiciness never becomes more than subtle. A rich but totally drinkable brew. Excellent.