Anchor Our Special Ale - Aging and Tasting Notes
By jason on Dec 11, 2007 in Aging Well, Bocks, IPA's, and More, Reviews
Name: Our Special Ale (Christmas Ale)
Brewer: Anchor Brewing
Style: Not sure - a porter perhaps?
Vintage: 2007
Cellared On: November 3rd, 2007
Original Tasting: November 10th, 2007
Beer geeks everywhere know the holiday season is upon us when Anchor’s Our Special Ale starts showing up on the shelves. The recipe for this brew remains a closely guarded secret, and each year it’s tweaked and twisted to produce a unique taste for that vintage.
Smells of piney hops (and maybe a touch of spice) greet you as you pour out the 2007 version of this beer. It pours out very dark, not quite into blackout stout territory, but rather shading a bit towards dark cola brown. There was nothing too noteworthy about the average off-white head, although some lacing did cling to my glass throughout my drink.
Malt flavors greet you as you first take a sip. They’re not too bold, but still very enjoyable. The main malt flavor is of smooth roasted/chocolate malts with a tiny bit of honey or candy sweetness. As the flavor progresses, the piney hops (some people even call the hop flavor spruce-like) and spices come in and take over the malts fairly quickly. The finish is light and dry, with spices that linger briefly on your tongue.
I really enjoyed the mix of spice here, I could identify nutmeg and a bit of clove. Other tasters have mentioned cinnamon, black pepper, and cardamon, but I didn’t get very much of those flavors. I find a lot of the Christmas/Holiday beers to be a bit sickenly overwhelming with their spices, but Our Special Ale doesn’t suffer from that at all. It’s very well balanced and fun to drink.
Six-Month Tasting: May 23rd, 2008
Pretty amazing. My tasting notes almost exactly match up with what I tasted six months ago. First time that’s happened!
If there was any difference, I would say I noticed a bit more a roasty malt presence then I did before, but that’s about it.
Cellar Outlook: Our Special Ale has a long history of cellaring and aging, and I’m sure this year’s version will do fine in the cellar. Recently, beer author Lew Bryson wrote about a tasting of vintage Our Special Ales on his blog Seen Through A Glass. In that article, Anchor rep Andy Musser mentioned that he felt this beer doesn’t really improved with age, it just gets less spicy and more fruity. I’ll be keeping that in mind as I see where the 2007 vintage goes!
Six-Month Outlook: No reason to second-guess myself now, everything’s still going strong.
Next Tasting: May 2008
Jason
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