Anchor Christmas

[AXXE]

I live in Toms River, NJ. There is no avaiability on Anchor Our Special Ale in Ocean and Monmouth county. I emailed Anchor. They referred me to a distributor in north NJ. They are not sure what stores have it. Has anyone seen this for sale anywhere? Thanks - Mark

[jlttb]

It was held up in New York for awhile. I've gotten it but it sounds like its still pretty rare (http://www.realbeer.com/discussions/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1962) - I think my guy only got four cases, as a matter of fact.
Don't give up!
I can only hope we'll eventually see a glut of Anchor in January with $9.99/case closeouts!
...maybe not.

[Cavalier92]

I got it at the Canal's near the Hamilton Mall just outside Atlantic City.

If you're headed to PA anytime soon, the Beer Yard in Wayne, PA had it last week when I was there. I think their website is beeryard.com .

Let me be honest here, at this point, it doesn't sahpe up as one of their best efforts. It's big and heavy and has the Anchor hopy signature, but with no real nuance to it. Perhaps it will get better with age.

C

[AXXE]

Found it at Wine Country/Liquor City in Linden. Bought 2 cases. Not a huge beer selection, but a lot of wine at good prices. Now I have to find some magnums.

[GunNut76]

My local store has cases and magnums coming out their wazoo! Problem is I don't like the Anchor Christmas Ale all that much...tastes like a pine tree to me.

[hopjack13]

every year is a different recipe, this years was pretty good i thought, i didn't get any pine taste. also this is the first year i've sampled the osa. seems to me, i didn't much care for anchors line up ie. steam beer , summer brew. until i tried the liberty ale recently, now i have a whole new appreciation for anchor products.

[brewmonkey]

Originally posted by GunNut76
My local store has cases and magnums coming out their wazoo! Problem is I don't like the Anchor Christmas Ale all that much...tastes like a pine tree to me.

That's what I get from it. Two seperate years I tried it and did not like it. If I wanted to drink something that tastes like a forest I would drink Gin (which I cannot stand).

[ratman03]

Originally posted by Cavalier92

Let me be honest here, at this point, it doesn't sahpe up as one of their best efforts. It's big and heavy and has the Anchor hopy signature, but with no real nuance to it. Perhaps it will get better with age.


Hmm... I think the 2003 Anchor XMAS is awesome. It's brown for sure, but I wouldn't call it heavy. I found the flavors and aromas incredibly varied as well. If you let it warm up in the glass you'll start getting whiffs of a bunch of different things -- I thought I tasted some dates and cinnamon, all delivered with the subtleness Anchor is known for. I guess I'm surprised to hear the bad reviews because it's one of the best holiday beers I've ever tasted.

Cheers!

[jlttb]

Originally posted by ratman03
Hmm... I think the 2003 Anchor XMAS is awesome.
You definitely don't get that clear ring of spices in the nose and taste that were there in previous years, but it's still a rich, tasty brew. I see this year's as a reminder that you can't grab the brass ring everytime.
Though if you leave a case on my doorstep, I'll be quite happy!

[davesarman]

I like to think of Anchor's OSA and Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome as the two opposite ends of the good winter beer spectrum. OSA is one of the most spiced beers there is (there are probably others that I'm not aware of) and the Winter Welcome is one of the most subtly complex winter beers in my opinion. It's easy to find people who don't care for both beers. I personally like them both, but I have to be in the mood for either one of them. I usually buy a sixer of the OSA and only have one or two a year and cellar the rest. (I'm going to have to start drinking them sometime!) I usually buy a 4-pack of the Winter Welcome and drink 2 and cellar 2. I also usually do a vertical tasting of the Winter Welcome with one or two older vintages. I've found that if kept properly, it is a wonderful beer. Hoping the OSA is as good as it ages, I'm sure it will be. Vertical tastings can be very fun if you've never tried them, especially if you've kept notes from your previous tasting of that particular vintage.