Anchor Our Special Ale 2005

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Again, a winter winner from Anchor. One of the more attractive beers on the market, between the smell and the beautuful presentation. solid spices, full, even heavy flavor. good stuff.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

This beer has Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza, or whatever the hell else written all over it. This is one fantastic holiday brew! The only other spiced holiday brews I have to compare this to are the Christmas brews of Anchor past! I really enjoy this holiday treat and give Anchor tremendous props for this wicked concoction.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 7

Pours a dark brown with some burgandy highlights. Pours with a rich, stiff light brown head that fades to a light layer.
The aroma comes off like a Christmas fruitcake. Some spice (nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice), some bready, cakey aromas, and fruity (chreery, and grapes).
Lots of the same flavors.
Sort of a medium/light body. Light carbonation. Dry finish.
A fine beer, and a craft brew classic.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Dark brown color with a slightly reddish tone. Head is decent, tan colour. Aroma is pleasent- sweet, enticing with various spices, nutmeg and cinnamon are noticeable. Taste is soft and creamy, very pleasent. Its a great seasonal brew i look forward to every year.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

very dark brown colour and a big creamy beige head; a ton of spices (as usual for those Anchor Christmas beers): cloves and ginger dominate; notes gingerbread; oily and medium-bodied; high carbonation, dryish spicy finish where some chocolaty notes appear - rich and tasty but not quite the way I like it

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 7

Pours a really nice ruby/brown with a two finger tan head that fades slowly to a nice cap, and leaves tons of lacing on the sides of my glass as I drink it. Smell; cinnamon, nutmeg, a bit of chocolate and a little pine tree. It smells sweet, and the spices definitely make me think of the holidays. Taste; the spices hit first, cinnamon and ginger, caramel, a little bit of pine tree, and just enough of a hop bite to it. I also get a little vanlla as it gets warmer. It's not as sweet as the smell would have led me to believe, which I'm thankful for. Overall though, there's just something about this that just doesn't sit right with me. I think the spices just don't meld very well together. Mouthfeel is thin to medium in body, and very smooth.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

After aging the beer for one year I noticved that the flavors have mellowed and not as aggressive as they were when I had it in intially in December 2005. As I poured the beer I noticed a very dark brown body with a wonderful brown head that was thick and full of small bubbles. The first aromas I noticed were pine and roasted chocolate barley. As I swirled the beer in my mouth I began to notice that the flavors moved from pine to roasted & burnt barley to choclate and then finally pine. There was a lso a hint of ginger in there but very faint. A very delicious and unique holiday ale.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 7

KCC Rnd 3. True mahogany color, like a bay horse, and clear. Lots of lasting, reddish-tan foam and abundant lacing, especailly after the pour. Smells like bread dough, very bready and yeasty. There's a strong aroma of ginger, too. A whiff of alcohol sometimes comes straight through. The taste is complex and intriguing: dried cherries, subtle spice. The flavors circulate in a current of carbonation. Sometimes, a sweetish cherry taste is clearly perceived. The aftertaste is a letdown, since every other aspect of this experience was so fine. Tart, sour, and dry, the spicey dried cherry flavor leaves a musty, off-putting taste after swallowing. Drinkable, admirable in its uniqueness, but not the best ever.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

Dark ruby brown with firm tan head. Cainnamon, pepper, brown sugar and biiter hops in the aroma. Ginger, cinnamon, nutshells, toffe and hoppy in flavour. Dry spicy finish but feels a bit sweeter than past years vintages.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

Wonderful looking ale here..dark brown with crimson and ruby accents and a totally gorgeous creamy "coffee n’ creme" coloured head..beautiful. Aroma is slightly fruity, hints of spice and treacle, slightest hint of hop. Thate taste is of dark maltiness, prunes come most to mind, then "mincemeat pies and orange peel, then a very dark roasted coffee, prune juice finishes off the mouthful..slight peppery aftertaste. Very good on the palate..quite invigorating. I really liked this and think it might age even better..truelly a Christmas Pudding in a beer glass