Our Special Ale-Anchor Brewing
After 38 years of brewing, this is still one of the better winter brews. It's basically a porter with a dark brown color and slightly cloudy appearance with aromas of cocoa and "spices." Each year is a different "secret" recipe and the varieties of hops, malts and spices are never revealed and I rarely can discern what the special additive/s are. This year, I think it's a blend of allspice and nutmeg but that's just a guess. I sniffed the usual suspects from our spice rack at home and still can't pinpoint the smells and tastes. Thick foamy head with the flavor becoming even more enjoyable as the beer warms. This would be good with fruit or spiced cakes or by itself. I'd guess the IBU about 30 and the ABV is listed at 5.5%. A classic certainly worth a 6er to savor a couple, trade a couple and save a couple for next winter to compare with the 39th edition. I received two of these as traders and thank dpslaw and my drug rep buddy for the bottles.
Both your posts inspired me to crack open one from my six pack a bit early.
Pours a dense translucent brown with a thick, rich tan head that lingers.
Smells like gingerbread, which makes me a bit apprehensive. Bison Brewing's Gingerbread organic beer is an atrocity whose commercial success I don't understand ( to be fair, their Chocolate Stout and Honey Basil beers are outstanding).
Very bitter astringent up front, which dissipates quickly and finishes like a gingerbread man, all spice and sweet.
Quite a worthy dessert beer.
You could probably split a 12oz bottle between 2 people, not for alcohol reasons, but the flavours are strong and a little goes a long way. A good winter session sipper.
I'm intrigued by Anchor's assertion in the article that they have taken spiced beer as far as it can go. I hope Anchor is more creative than another winter wet hop or double IPA entry.
My first Our Special Ale was spiced with spruce, which led me to brew a spruce beer for the following Christmas.
The label on the spruce extract said 1 tablespoon per gallon, and the total bottle was 5 teaspoons. Convenient, since most homebrewers brew in 5 gallon batches.
Long story short, it was undrinkable- smelled and tasted like Pine Sol. I aged it for 3 years, opening another bottle every holiday season hoping it would mellow to no avail.
I finally poured it all out after year three. If I ever dared try again, I think 1 tablespoon would have been plenty.
Happy Holidays!