Franklins Anarchy Ale

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

This was the 3rd place finisher in a recent APA testing held by a friend who is a BJCP member. This was my favourite beer of the night, although the version I had was 7% and from a growler. The flavour was amazing, nicely balanced between the citrusy hops and the malt. A beautiful amber pour, and good body. A great beer.

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

It's been a while since I've been to Franklin's. Not because it's not any good, but just because I forget it's there with a brewmonster like DuClaw right here in my back yard. So I'm not sure if I've had this beer before, and even if I did, I think they tinker with the recipe so much that it's probably nothing like the version that was available the last time I was there.

Today at lunch I had the Anarchy Ale. I have been drinking a ton of spicy winter brews lately and a beer billed as the "hoppiest on the menu" sounded real good. These folks do not lie. This beer was a beautifully hoppy ale that hit the spot.

The pour was real nice. It had a spectacular head that left behind a very nice lacing on the pint glass. Power packed with hoppy goodness, you got a slight "copper on the tongue" taste that you sometimes get with a good pale ale. The color was typical of this style of ale whereas it was a medium copper color.

Overall, this was just what my taste buds needed. Something with a little hop kick to it to dust off all the spices that have been on my tongue from the winter beers. Give it a try sometimes.

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

This one pours a hazy amber. There are pinesol hops in the aroma. In the flavor the hops continue but turn slightly astringent which is a little bit of a turnoff.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

An interesting beer, that the brewers pride themselves on the fact that it's a different beer each and every batch. Thus, this review may not have any relation to what other folks find and review later on down the road...! But I do actually kinda like this sort of variability, to be honest -- reminds me of the long-gone 20 Tank Brewing Company in San Francisco, where seemingly *every* beer was variable, different batch-to-batch. Made things always interesting!

This batch (that I got both a pint at the brewpub, and later a growler-full for my hotel room) doesn't wholly resemble what is listed on the brewpub's website, but the write-up does provide some clues to the Anarchy Ale series of beers....

> "Anarchy Ale - Charles' signature brew is made differently
> with each incarnation and is usually one of our hoppiest
> offerings. This batch is reminiscent of our first anarchy --
> refreshing and lighter in color than recent offerings and heavy
> on the Cascade hops."

"Heavy on the Cascade hops", indeed. This particular beer I have a growler of clocks in at a rather obtuse 8%ABV -- much stronger that what the website write-up quotes for this beer. But you know what? I think it works nicely.

Nicely warming and filling in the mouthfeel, with something of a spicey feel to the backend and the flavor profile. Spicey and hoppy in the aroma, and with the citrusey Cascade thing showing up on all fronts, there isn't a whole lot about this beer that I don't like, to be honest.

I've no idea if this stronger-than-the-norm version will remain the benchmark for the Anarchy Ale series, or if this is just a "bigger-than-average" version for the holidays. But either way, the base recipe for this beer is a winner, and any subtle (or not so subtle?) shifts in the resulting beer don't detract IMO.

Recommended.
Music: Discharge "The Clay Punk Singles Collection".
//TB

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

Enjoyable, perhaps a tad sweet, however. Amalgam of flavors in here, runs the gamut from peach and date, to pecans and chocolate... But there seems to be a lingering astringency to this one, which leaves one with a somewhat disagreeable taste.