Anchor Our Speical Ale 2004

[MeridianFC]

I see no one has done a review yet so I'll jump in with both feet. I picked up a 6 pack and a magnum from Cairo Liquors here in the District. As a matter of fact I got 'em the moment they hit the store. I hadn't seen any around town and was down Dupont Circle way so just popped in to see if they'd gotten theirs yet and what do you know the bounty had just arrived. I still haven't opened a bottle yet. Another poster had mentioned preferring the bottle to the keg, I've just never found that to be true for myself in any year. That's just me though.

Well I went up to Baltimore last weekend and stopped in Max's in Fells Point. They had the the Anchor on draft, which as I've probably mentioned before is one of my favorite beers in the world. Sure it's different every year and some years have been better than others, for me the early 90s were key, but it never fails to satisfy. The brew had gotten somewhat bitter, from roasted malts I would hazard, for the past couple of years, but this years sees a return to the form that has me marking off the days on the calendar waiting for its release.

It's got the same dark color, the space between dark brown and black, much like the Anchor Porter only moreso. The thin head dissapates rather rapidly but it laces down the glass nicely. There's an solid whiff of spice in the nose. A complex blend that really reveals itself in the aftertaste. I'd guess there's cinnamon, maybe ginger(?), maybe cardamom(?), nutmeg(?) hell I'm a bit lost I've never been able to figure out exactly what they have going on. I'd guess (and could be completely wrong) that cardamon and actual pine are the core "spices". Anyhow, nice full mouthfeel, into a slightly sweet, though not at all cloying, finish. Lots of spice in the finish. It surprisingly easy to drink this one.

The menu at Max's had the brew listed at 6%abv which explains a lot of trouble I've gotten into with this beer in the past!

I'd rate this maybe the best since the 1994, which has been my favorite year to date.

BTW it's the 30th anniversary of OSA, so here's to Fritz & Co. Well done.

[chazwicke]

I've got some out on the balcony "cooling". I'm gonna dig into one or two this evening. I got mine at Total Wines in Chantilly along with Snow Goose, Hop Wallop, and Troegs Mad Elf.

[BluesHarp]

The review sounds excellent! I wasn't real keen on last year's for the (I felt) overabundance of bitterness that Meridian mentioned; although I do have a couple cellared that I hope will have mellowed a bit.

I will definitely have to pick some up at my paint store; they have an entire stack of cases on display, so I didn't get any this past week...

[chazwicke]

Damn! I thought I brought a sixer of the Anchor with me to the beach. I brought Snowgoose and Celebration. I was looking forward to Anchor.

[Katefan00]

I was lucky enough to pick up one of the last 6-packs of these at my local liquor store, and I'm pretty impressed. Here are a few impressions:

The beer pours a very dark color with hints of ruby tint, and a latte-colored head that dissipates pretty quickly. The nose is extremely prominent, reminding me of ginger, pumpkin, nutmeg, maybe even cherry, possibly pine.

The beer is medium-bodied but not syrupy, the carbonation adds to its mouthfeel, clean and fairly hoppy. Tastes of sweet spiciness, with a mild alcohol bite/bitterness as a closer. The taste is very toasty, reminiscent of coffee, maybe even mocha, just a hint of chocolate. But it's not over-sweet at all.

This stuff goes down really smoothly!

K.

[BluesHarp]

That's it! I'm getting some next week!! :)

[staronstage]

I'm hoping to get a Magnum of this brew for Christmas. You hear me Santa? Large amounts of good beer! I've been ever so good this year. :)

[steveh]

Anchor Brewing Co, San Fran, CA. 12 oz. bottle. No ABV noted.

A little different format, gonna try to write this as I taste -

Dark walnut brown color with shades of red. Cream to tan head that settles to a nice, finely bubbled cap.

Spicy, clove aroma - originally very floral - near soapy, but warming mellows that. Nutmeg and cinnamon mingling.

Spicy cinnamon and clove flavors with mellow dark fruit back and burnt, roasted malts. Crisp spicy hop finish. All of this blended and balanced well throughout - the spices probably being the most dominant, but well balanced with the complexity of other flavors..

Medium body wiith a syrupy mouth-feel.

Another fine holiday brew from Fritz and his minions. This beer always brings the season into focus for me, brings the sense that it is, indeed, winter. The slate gray sky and cold wind in Chi today only add the exclamation mark to the brew.

Wait - the sun just came out, what significance do you suppose that is?

S.

[BluesHarp]

Originally posted by steveh
Wait - the sun just came out, what significance do you suppose that is?

S.

...that Mother Nature has a sadistic sense of humor...;)

[steveh]

Originally posted by BluesHarp
...that Mother Nature has a sadistic sense of humor...

I thought it was the Anchor..? ;)

Damn - this is good.

S.

Blues, check yer PMs

[chazwicke]

I just got this from Dave Alexander of the Bricks and RFD fame. I was amoung those who attended that side by side tasting of several years of OSA and recall the same thing that Dave remembers about always adding more spice and never taking any out. Anyway, Here is his message:

Actually it's called Anchor Our Special Ale. The word Christmas is now
considered an insult by many with friends in the legal world so pretty much now only
English brewers seem to use it in any numbers. Most brewers are now tending
to call their winter seasonals by terror of lawsuit inspired "holiday ale" or
other similarly tepid names. I should point out Jeremy Cowan - of He'Brew beers
- does a winter seasonal called Jewbilation. He's got gots that guy. And he's
funny too.

Anyway.

Every year Anchor puts a different evergreen on the label of the bottle and
hand tap. We did a vertical tasting of about 5 years of the stuff at the Brick
several years ago. Mark Carpenter, the #2 in command after Fritz Maytag, told
me they never take spices out of the recipe. He asked the crowd to vote on
which had the most spices. Most went for past years' bottles. In actuality, the
current year had the most spice in the recipe. Mark said the perceived
dominating taste of any particular spice is because the balance wasn't yet perfected,
allowing for one flavor to overpower others. Back then their policy was to
raise the quantities of other spices in their attempt to reach the goal of a well
balanced taste in which no particular spice was preeminent. They would never
remove a spice or lower it's portion in the recipe. Whether they still hold to
that practice today I can't say. Anchor tends to be proprietary in regard to
sharing their recipes or ingredient lists so it's anyone's guess as to how
this wonderful annual offering changes but you certainly will notice differences
in the flavor profile from year to year.

RFD is currently flying thru a keg of the stuff. We have two more backup kegs
as well waiting as refills.

RFD (202-289-2030) is located at 810 7th St. NW, a block from the MCI Center
and about 50 yards from the Gallery Place/Chinatown metro stop.

Happy winter holiday season to all from
BeerGuyDave

[studentofbeer]

just had an osa again tonight, and i picked up a lot of "other" alcohol characteristics, with it reminding me of some italian wine i have had (don't even remember what style, but earthy, chocolate, very dark fruit like black cherry), as well as hints of both rum and sherry, especially in the aroma. these were all quite enjoyable sensations. I also picked up a pretty strong undercurrent of bitter chocolate, and some vanilla, as well as some of the other flavors steveh and katefan mentioned below, like cinammon and especially nutmeg. low carbonation, medium body. yum!

[grizzlymike]

&kiginally posted by studentofbeer [/i]
just had an osa again tonight, and i picked up a lot of "other" alcohol characteristics, with it reminding me of some italian wine i have had (don't even remember what style, but earthy, chocolate, very dark fruit like black cherry) [/QUOTE]


was it amarone?

[BluesHarp]

I finally picked up the '04 OSA today and tasted it back to back with last year's offering.

The '04 has much less dry bitterness, a sweeter malt character, and the spices seem to be a little more subtle than the '03.

I really like this beer...for my palate, every slight complaint I had with last year's batch has been "fixed" this year.

I thought the '03 was spicy almost to the point of drinking cologne, and it had a bitterness that I didn't care for...an overabundance of roasted malt, perhaps.

This year's, in my opinion, is much more balanced...I find all the components complimenting each other rather than fighting to see who can be more prominent.

Good stuff!! Thumbs up to Anchor :)

[tarapin]

I totally agree with the 04' being a harmonized balance of ingredients working together for a pleasant aroma and taste. I have just had th 02' on tap at a local establishment and I found it to be quite delicious, very smooth and mellow.

[steveh]

'02 on tap? Wow - that's a great establishment that will be that patient with a 2 year old keg in storage -- pretty cool, give 'em a plug!

S.

[tarapin]

The place in question is called Fadeley's Deli Pub here on Long Island. I use to be a beertender there. Next is the 03' and then 04' I did mention this on another thread so I hope I am not over stating. They also serve Southampton Publick House Secret Ale which I hear is a german styled alt? I have never heard of it before but is extremely tasty and smooth with a big delicious after taste that I have never experienced before. Also they have Atlantic Brewing Co. (from Maine) Coal Porter which is very yummy and a real treat to have down here in NY.