Anchor Brewing Christmas Ale 2012:
Hello all and once again, welcome to another Christmas Ale review, this time it’s a beer that wraps up another line from a brewery that I have fallen in love with this year.  Yes friends it’s time to look at Anchor Brewing’s Christmas Ale, a beer that changes every year and has become a collectors items of sort for those who properly refrigerate their bottles and can enjoy them for years to come (how cool would it be to impress someone with a “vintage” 2007 Anchor Christmas Ale?).  Today’s beer is this year’s blend and since it’s top secret to what is in its we’ll have to go off the ole palate test on this once so bear with me as I try to get a grasp on what I have in front of me.  The beer pours a dark muddy brown with a nice fluffy foam head that disperses to a thin film with no lacing to speak of and nose of cinnamon sugar blend along with a dark sweet bread smell underneath. The beer’s initial taste is very smooth and evenly flavored with noticeable carbonation while the mid tongue brings out strong spice note that mellow with a creamy undertone that is just barely there while the back end is very akin to a pumpkin stout.  The aftertaste is a nice malt and hop blend that bloom to a warming sensation on the back of the tongue that tries to mimic that warming sensation that is at home in the whiskey bottle.  So my first jump into the world of Anchor Christmas Ale is pretty cool and intriguing with the knowledge that they change this one up year to year.  So call me hooked and knowing that Anchor is another brewery that has a great top to bottom line up (though there are a few beers that seem pretty similar to each other), it’s not quite up to Oskar Blues standard but at least it’s in the same ballpark.  I have a desire to hunt down a 2011 version of this and start to store these bottle for future use and enjoyment.  Drinks at my place in 2015.