Seven Years of Anchor "Our Special Ale"

With winter starting to fade, and spring time appearing, we can take pause and reflect on what is truly great about the colder months... Anchor Christmas Ale. Every year since 1975 the brewers at Anchor have brewed a distinctive and unique Christmas Ale, which is available from early November to mid-January. The Ale's recipe is different every year—as is the tree on the label—but the intent with which it is offered remains the same: joy and celebration of the newness of life. http://www.anchorbrewing.com/beers/christmasale.htm With some collaborative effort from good friends S. Joe Griffin and Richard Perry, seven years of this beer were brought together for one sit down session of vertical tasting. Unlike previous tastings, I have done, this one was not geared toward delineating any useful ranking of the beers. Instead it was a quest for understanding and appreciating a unique ale as it has evolved and aged. Because of this, there was no blind taste test, just a careful consideration of beer as it existed in front of us. For insight beyond the scope of this blog, check out the original pictures and other opinions from Joe and Richard HERE.

THE BEERS...

2004: This beer is seven years old. Needless to say I did not know what to expect. First off this beer had a fairly surprising and strong aroma. A nice spicy sweet smell. The first sip was thin and light bodied, however the malt is strong and flavorful, with a slightly burnt smokey taste, much like a stout. The spices are muted taste wise as the malt itself is very present. Not a lot of hop bitterness, however the  aftertaste had something piney about it. Overall a very good start to the tasting. The remarkable thing about this beer is how flavorful it was after seven years. Often a beer that has aged for only a year or so looses some of the nuances of added spices. This beer however retained a fair bit of its original flavor. Or, when it was fresh, it was the most flavor packed and spiced beer ever made... 

2005: This beer offered an abrupt change of pace. No real trace was left of the original spices that may have flavored this beer at some point. Instead, the beer had a bit of sourness to it. Not necessarily a wild flavor, but the yeast may have aged out of the beer a bit and caused some weirdness...or goodness depending how you look at it. The malt had a somewhat bourbon like character to it. Not really strong at all, just a hint. The finish was fairly sweet. This beer was good, and just that. It was a little disappointing after the previous year being so flavorful, however this kind of flavor was exactly what I was expecting for a six year old beer. Overall, Likable but forgettable...

2006: Very sweet beginning to this beer. The malt is strong and upfront initially but there is a flatness to this beer. Bland and no dynamics here really, but as the tasting continued, an apparent chocolate like characteristic became present. The burnt flavors of the malt also showed up and it seemed more like a stout that anything else. At this point I really enjoyed it, but not as the Christmas ale I have come to know. The spice had dropped out completely and all that is left is an o.k. stout like ale.

2007: This beer had a strong presence right off the bat. Sweet at first with a very alcohol strong finish. Again, there is a bourbon like taste apparent here. This beer seems more lively than the previous two. Also, the stout like burnt malt taste is not really a large part of the characteristic of this beer as it had been in the others. The malt instead had something more bready going for it. Much like an Anchor Steam beer. At this point I was starting to think that maybe these ales are brewed with malt bases that mirror existing Anchor beers like Steam, Porter, and Bock. Maybe. Either way this beer aged exceptionally well and was a stand out among the others.

2008: This beer had a much drier flavor and feel than any of the ones before. The malt was a little heavier as well. Not a strong malt presence overall, but more spice and complexity apparent here. It seemed that some dried fruit esters were still present from the yeast. It had aged fairly well and was fairly tasty. The standout characteristic here was the more pronounced hop and bitterness that was much  stronger that any other beer here. However, this aspect was not overwhelming. A very balanced, and somewhat spicy amber ale. This beer was not the most interesting out of the bunch, but it definitely held its own over the last couple years.

2009: This beer was very strong and spicy. Being only a year old, I expected this beer to retain some of its original flavor. The beer is light bodied overall. It most resembles the 2004 in terms of spice and aroma and literally tastes like Christmas. Very sweet with a slightly bitter finish. Again the dried fruit notes are present but the interaction of the intense spice and malt with what seems to be a strong yeast works to really round out the flavor of the beer. Honestly this is one of my favorite years. I had it quite a bit in 2009 when it was fresh and I loved it. It hopefully will be one that keeps it's flavor for some years to come. 

2010: This is a much fresher tasting beer obviously. It has everything right about it. A good upfront spicy aroma and taste without being overwhelming. The brewers have balanced these characteristics with a malt that is not heavy or overly stout like. Instead we get a very normal beer taste, kind of  bready, with a hint of burnt malt. It is similar in malt complexity to the 2007 version. However, instead of a Steam like taste, this beer invokes the subtle flavor of the Anchor Humming Ale. This sentiment was shared by Joe. This beer has a noticeable hop flavor as well, which may be adding to the  Humming Ale similarity. Overall this is the most balanced beer here. I have a hunch though that this beer may not age as well as others have. I realize that many of the beers here that seem bland or plain may have been well balanced to begin with  and the loss of  the spice character may  actually "kill" the beer in a sense. Regardless, I am looking forward to next years batch and seeing what this one will do over time.

For the sake of consistency, I did actually decide on my top three favorites of the tasting...

1) 2010

2) 2009

3) 2004   

Seeing as I may never be able to drink a 2004 Christmas ale again and given its potency after seven years of aging, it may be the best beer I have ever had in the grand scheme of things. However, for the task at hand it is placed accurately in relation to the others. 

Until next year...

Nine IPA Taste Test (Blind) v 2.0

 As summer finally shows itself, I can say  that one of my favorite beer styles to drink on a hot day has always been an American IPA. Generally hoppy and bitter with a balanced flavorful malt and citrusy/piney aromas, these beers tend to be perfect in an outdoor setting. Some may shy away from the overly bitter nature of this beer, but I see it as the ultimate showcase for both malt and hops. Here, a few compatriots and I compiled an assortment of west coast IPA's in an attempt to stack them up against each other and discern a clear favorite. Nine individual beers were brought to the table. This was a fairly ambitious undertaking as an IPA has a tendency to skew the palate. It was understood that many of them might exhibit similar flavors and one might decide that there is no clear winner. Either way it was going to be fun. 

As blind taste tests go, each beer is poured randomly and none of the tasters are aware of what is what. The goal is to form an unbiased opinion about what you like and don't like . This particular go around it was decided that we would use a point system instead of the traditional first, second... and so forth. With so many beers, we could easily decide a ranking afterward by just using arbitrary 0-10 point rankings. Here I will list all of the beers and give you the points I assigned them and small description for each in ascending order from least to most favorite.

9) Alaskan Brewing Co. IPA - 7 out of 10

This beer was somewhat malty in terms of balance, however the malt was uninteresting and just tasted like a boring medium bodied grain malt. The hops are there but barely. This was the most underwhelming beer during the test in this regard.  This brew over all tasted thin and ordinary. It is definitely an IPA, but I couldn't really give it much because it did not offer much.

8) Rubicon Brewing Co. IPA - 7 out of 10

This was a disappointing one, as I have frequented Rubicon Brewing Co. and loved their IPA on tap. The bottled version however was much different. There was virtually no aroma with this brew. The malt overpowers the hops. The hop flavors are merely an afterthought and are very floral in taste. Overall this version of their IPA was just O.K. 

7) Moylans Brewing Co. - 7.25 out of 10

This beer is well balanced and very bitter. The mouthfeel was pretty heavy, but it worked here. I liked this beer enough but it would not be my first pick for an IPA to drink. The aroma was fairly good and the hops come off a little piney. 

6) Russian River Blind Pig IPA - 8 out of 10

A very light malt on this one. Kind of a refreshing taste. The citrus like hop characteristic is good and the bitterness is also well balanced with the light malt. A fairly run of the mill IPA taste, however it is done very well. This was a close call when considering what would be in the top five. 

5) Eel River Organic IPA - 8 out of 10 

This was a malty beer for sure. More like a Pale Ale than an IPA really. However the hop aroma was great and there was a very rustic taste in this beer. Very balanced as the malt was prevalent but allowed the hops to do their thing taste wise. Not particularly bitter at first but there was a little bit on the back end. Overall, I would drink this regularly. 

4) Stone Brewing Co. IPA - 8.25 out of 10

Very bitter beer here. Almost exactly what I tend to think of when i think "IPA". This beer hit all the bases really well. Wildly aromatic, bitter but not harsh, medium to light malt, and very drinkable if you like IPA's. People who shy away from bitter beware because this is what this beer does best! The hop flavors were the star of this beer and I liked it. 

3) Marin Brewing Co. IPA - 8.25 out of 10 

This was a malty beast. Very sweet malt. Almost more of a double IPA in this sense. The hops were more piney and heavy tasting than I am particularly fond of, but the malt base was so robust that this beer offers a refreshing change to the others. I quite enjoyed this monstrous IPA!!

2) Anchor Brewing Co. Liberty Ale - 8.5 out of 10 

This beer according some may not be a true IPA. I say it is. There is really nothing else it could be in my book. Here, this beer was the epitome of perfect balance of hops and malt. Not to say it was the only balance that works, it was simply as if there were equal parts of both ingredients in the taste profile. The malts tend to shine here but the hops are definitely there and make it one of the best beers I have ever had. This beer was so good that it was almost my number one. This is the one I would recommend drinking on a regular basis.

1) Russian River Pliny the Elder -9 out of 10

This is as perfect as it gets for an IPA. This beer is strong. Strong enough to be classified as a double IPA. The flavor though is as much a regular IPA as anything else, but the hops are the star here. So perfectly bitter and very citrusy... The aroma is very crisp and clean. You can smell the bitterness!! The malt is very light bodied and refreshing. This beer is King of IPAs... Given the strength of this beer, I would not put down more than two of these in a sitting, but then again I wouldn't really have to.

Pale Ale Taste Test: v1.0

Every now and then one has a great idea. However, one rarely ever gets the chance to execute such an idea. In my case the best ideas seem to come around when I least expect them and fortunately they often involve beer. This time around it was in the form of a linear blind taste test. The theory behind this practice is that if you are unaware of the beer you are drinking, then all biases are removed and you can decide if you like the beer or not. Also, all preconceived notions about the flavor profile are removed and you are able to not only judge the beer with an even hand, but you can also try and take a stab at which beer you think you might be drinking. It's fun and scientific!!!

When setting up a "Blind Taster", as they have come to be known to me and my fellow beer drinking cohort, I have found that the best ones group together beers of a similar type or season. While I am no beer judge, nor do I really know what each type should taste like... I do know what I like and what I don't. In this instance Pale Ales were the name of the game. While this beer type has the tendency of being all over the board in taste, I decided that I would pick some fairly well known California Pale's and see how each stacked up to the other.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, North Coast Red Seal, Bear Republic XP, and Hoppy Brewing Co. Liquid Sunshine. (The later is technically a golden ale, but this was a hasty trip to BevMo and the liquid sunshine is a damn good beer!!)

The beer was poured into unmarked glasses, they were numbered from left to right 1-4 respectively. I drank them and ranked them...

Ranking:

1) 2nd (tie)

2) 2nd (tie)

3) 4th

4) 1st (favorite)

Results:

1) Hoppy Brewing Co. Liquid Sunshine

2) Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

3) Bear Republic XP

4) North Coast Red Seal

Short Reviews:

1)Hoppy Brewing Co. Liquid Sunshine

This beer was sort of the black sheep of the group as it was radically different from the rest. It is not really a pale ale so much as a really hoppy golden ale. However, it may be the only thing that Hoppy Brewing makes that would even fit with these others. So, with that in mind it is a good beer regardless. Light and crisp with a good hop aroma and flavor. The malt is well balanced with the hops. Citrus flavors come through and it is probably the beer I would see myself drinking in the summertime.

2) Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

This was the most unexpected answer overall. I thought that this beer was anything but Sierra Nevada. If I had to break the tie on taste alone, this would be 3rd. Since it is actually a pale ale I decided to make it a tie. I felt it was a little bland and uninteresting. The hop aroma was subdued and although balanced with the malt it was a little thinner than I was expecting given the color. Not a bad beer at all. Perhaps I have had too much of this beer in the past and my taste buds are saying "enough already"...

3)Bear Republic XP

This was definitely the least favorite by far. The malt was over the top and sweet as hell. Very caramel like. There was a little hop flavor, no aroma, and a very heavy mouthfeel. I would not drink this beer if I had a choice. I will however give Bear Republic the benefit of the doubt as I think that this beer may have been under-fermented (things happen). I have had the XP before and remember a much different beer.

4)North Coast Red Seal

This beer is amazingly good. I thought without a doubt this was Sierra Nevada... I was incontrovertibly wrong! The hop aroma was upfront and the balance between the malt and hops were perfectly harmonious. Just the right amount of bitter. I really enjoyed this beer alot! It may be the best Pale Ale available. Although as always, more testing is required.

Note: This really ended up being a battle between Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and North Coast Red Seal. The others were kind of peripheral in the tasting as I really felt like hashing it out between these two beers that I like so much. Red Seal prevails...