7 Days of Christmas Beers – Anchor Brewing ‘Our Special Ale 2011′

On day two of Christmas beer week we unwrapped the Christmas ale from Anchor Brewing in San Francisco.

This is the thirty-seventh “Our Special Ale” from the brewers at Anchor. It is sold only from early November to mid-January. The Ale’s recipe is different every year but the intent with which we offer it remains the same: joy and celebration of the newness of life. Since ancient times, trees have symbolized the winter solstice when the earth, with its seasons, appears born anew.

That’s what you can find on the neck label of the bottle, so I think you can tell that they take their winter beer pretty seriously. I’ll be honest; I didn’t think there was any more to it than picking some great winter spices and brewing a decent change-of-pace beer for a few months. It’s somewhat refreshing to see that there’s more to it than that.

A good back story is great and all, it’s one of the biggest non-taste selling points for craft brewers, but we’re here for the beer right now. Three things stood out immediately. It’s full bodied and fairly malty. The spices are very prevalent, most notably ginger and nutmeg but also cinnamon and allspice. And there is a good deal of carbonation.

There are more of all three of those things when compared to yesterday’s Great Lakes’ Christmas Ale. That’s not necessarily better or worse, just different. I’m not a big fan of highly carbonated beers, but this one didn’t get to the point of detracting from the taste. It actually worked quite well with the warm malt and spice combination. It has a somewhat dry finish and, to steal a term from Bud Light, high “drinkability.”

For you ratings junkies out there, BeerAdvocate gives it a B+, and RateBeer has it at 97. As will be my habit now, I’ve pulled my favorite quote from a review for you:

Lots going on here, get some pine needles, a slight RC Cola scent.

That’s not as absurd as some descriptions, but my love for RC Cola required that I utilize it.

Much like the recipe, Anchor changes the representative tree every year. You can see all the labels from past years below if you are into labeling…or Dendrology. This years tree, the bristlecone pine, just so happens to be a bit more entertaining than most because its binomial name is “Pinus longaeva.” I know it’s childish of me, but you can’t tell me that your inner 6th grader didn’t giggle when you read that. But grow up, because we at Guyism don’t support under-aged drinking!

Day 1 – Great Lakes Brewing Co – Christmas Ale

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