About
Anchor is America’s first and oldest craft brewery, with roots dating back to the California gold rush. Today, our beers are handmade from an all-malt mash in our traditional copper brewhouse. Our process combines the time-honored art of classical craft brewing with carefully applied, state-of-the-art modern methods.
6.1/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
This is certainly an interesting concoction. Pours a clear dark orange color with a medium thin eggshell-white head. Thin lacing. The aroma is light toasted malt. Light-bodied and bitter, without much flavor. A bit of earthy malt is there but the general bitterness is all the beer really has. The finish is lightly bitter and lingering. All in all, a nice throwback beer but not one I would go out of my way to have again.
Tried
on 26 Mar 2005
at 11:48
7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Draught
Clear brown color, creamy medium-sized off-white head, lace. Flowery aromatic hoppy nose. Crisp, flowery hoppy ale. Well-balanced, good bitter aftertaste. Tasty.
Clear brown color, creamy medium-sized off-white head, lace. Flowery aromatic hoppy nose. Crisp, flowery hoppy ale. Well-balanced, good bitter aftertaste. Tasty.
Tried
on 19 Mar 2005
at 12:46
7/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
(Bottle 35,5 cl) Also in this year’s vintage the Anchor Christmas Ale is a very dark thing, close to pitch black. Nice, stable light brown head. Again with it’s burnt notes it reminds me a lot of a Stout, altthough not as dry. Spicy and pleasant and very quaffable due to the low alcohol. Perhaps slightly less character than last years brew.
Tried
from Bottle
on 15 Mar 2005
at 16:33
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
(Bottle 35,5 cl) Vintage 2001. Thick, almost tar-like black beer with a generous brown porter-like head. When I had this the first time I wasn’t impressed. But either the beer or my tastebuds has changed! Extremely full, reminiscent of a Stout with it’s characteristic burned aroma in good balance with the more fruity notes from the ale-yeast. Spicy - but from what I do not know. Apparently Anchor changes the recipe every year. Surprising that this beer doesn’t contain more alcohol - it appears stronger.
Tried
from Bottle
on 15 Mar 2005
at 11:22
7.8/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 8
[Vintage 2001, BBE Oct-03, Sampled March 2005] A brown beer with a huge dense brown head. The aroma is sweet and spicy containing notes of wood, musk, lavender, and cocoa. The flavor is sweet and very spicy with notes of pine (though not nearly as much as in the newer versions), wood, lavender, and musk. The mouthfeel is a little flat.
Tried
on 14 Mar 2005
at 15:36
7.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Sampled from 2007 bottle. So here’s it goes with a younger version: Esters and a slightly sweet smell. Brown sherry color. Taste is not too strong; it’s actually lightly sweet. Mild hops, but a decent alcohol finish. Ratings: 6-4-7-3-13; total: 3.3. Sampled from bottle, dated 2004. This tiny sample still had a big malty smell. Less hoppy than, say, a fresh Bigfoot. Some nice fruity esters offer suggestions of strawberry and honey. A nice, cleansing brew. Ratings: 8-3-8-5-16; total: 4.0.
Tried
from Bottle
on 07 Mar 2005
at 10:37
6.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 7
Dark beer with an initially frothy head, christmas pudding, coffee and chocolate aroma. The flavour is spiced and fruity with a christmas pudding like edge. Overall a reasonable beer.
Tried
on 26 Feb 2005
at 12:05
7.5/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 8
What a great beer! Pours nearly perfect looking amber orange with a nice cream head. Smells a little of fruit (apple?) with just a bit of hops. Somewhat peculiar taste that is quite pleasant, but hard to describe... Sweet with mild fruit flavors, but not syrupy. Hops are present, but don’t overpower. So smooth.
Tried
on 24 Feb 2005
at 23:14
6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 5
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Dark red-ish brown colour. Dense head. Sweet-ish liquorice aroma. Roasty flavour with notes of liquorice and spices (cardamom). Somewhat thin finish. Is the recipe really different from last year?
Tried
on 22 Jan 2005
at 14:30
6.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 4
Overall 6.5
Deep reddish amber,lasting tan head. Licorice and malt nose.Lots of malt in flavor,a hint of anisette and cedar
Tried
on 21 Jan 2005
at 10:24