Anchor Our Special Ale (2005 and later)

Brewed by Anchor Brewing Company
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
San Francisco, California USA

Holiday beer 2008 year. Dark reddish brown pour, small head. Spices-cinnamon, pepper. Malty with some thin hops, earthy. A holiday Ale that was a good sampler but nothing really outstanding with this one.

2008 botte. Pours a syrupy dark brown with little to no head. Really interesting aroma, it smells like a christmas trade show. Hot apple cider (cinnamon, apples), popouri, britch bark, some cedar, coffee. Palate is weird, at first taste. I guess weird is a bad word interesting would be a better word. Herbs, spices, a little apple, coffee and a little dark chocolate, that popouri comes through on the palate as well. Maybe a little tight and needs some age. Still really interesting.

2008 bottle. Pours a very dark amber, somewhat porter-like. Aroma is cloves, spruce, a little cinnamon - Christmas spices, who would’ve guessed? The flavor of spice and some citrus is much lighter than I expected from the aroma. Nothing really sticks out that much - it’s balanced, but not terribly exciting. Smooth palate with a clean dry finish. Not bad. <br\> <br\> Updated: July 15 2009.
2008 vintage bottle. So what if it’s the complete wrong time of year? A nice dark ruby color with a full tan head. Smells like potpourri - cinnamon, cloves, gingerbread, maybe a little chocolate in there as well, and something else I can’t quite place. Flavor is subdued maltiness complemented by lots of spice, largely the same as the aroma: cinnamon, nutmeg, gingerbread, potpourri in general. Finishes dry to a pleasant spicy citrusy bitterness. Smooth, balanced, tasty. The spices take some getting used to, though - this isn’t your everyday beer.

Vintage 2007. Dark ruby, near black w/ thin fading head. Rye bready aroma with peach, hint of liquorice and spices. Flavor is ash and dry Käck-liquorice, some peach and bitter orange. Gets a tad yeasty when warmer. Almost medium bodied, pretty average palate, a bit thin. Not very soothing, but different alright

2008 vintage. Pours almost black with decent brown head. Aroma is originally very off-putting. My brain simultaneously thought chocolate and fecal...not good. Oddly enough, as it warmed it morphed into a much nicer pine/mint aroma. Taste is also originally quite off-putting, being over-spiced and tasting like burned chocolate. Again, as it warms, it improves and becomes more balanced. Overall a very dry beer. Lesson: don’t drink this at a cold or cool temperature, it’s disgusting.

Bottle 2007. Poured a dark reddish brown. Aroma is quite spicy. Flavor is pretty thin and lightly spiced.and somewhat bitter. A bit watery with a solid bitter acidic finish. I expected better.

This beer has been rated everything from exceptional to adequate, so it might be that one beer I find putrid that many find exceptionally gratifying, however I tried this beer and after the first one my stomach felt queasy with the overwhelming spice, simply overdone

Always a nice anchor beer for its time of year..spice,malt.. some smoke in the beer..