12 Beers of Christmas: Anchor’s Our Special Ale

Posted at 6:56 pm by Patrick under 12 Beers of Christmas

And now, a most venerable holiday offering: Anchor’s Our Special Ale.

Microbrewing pioneer Anchor Brewing Company has released a seasonal spiced ale for each of the past 30 years. It varies from year to year, but each vintage seems to share certain traits. OSA is almost always a dark garnet colored ale, with telltale piney scents from their hopping regimen (northern brewer?). Other flavor impressions have included everything from cinnamon, ginger, mace, nutmeg, chocolate and others.

This year’s version is more balanced than in years past. It is very viscous and coats the palette with a nice mix of spices and malt. It would be well-paried with a ginger snap cookie as with a burger with carmelized onions and blue cheese crumbles.

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