TheBeerObserver

One of my favorite beer moments of the year is the release of Anchor's Christmas Ale. During the 1990s when I was brewing for a living, I would annually buy an extra six pack to cellar in the basement in order to compare vintages. Each year's recipe is unique and this was one of the beers that would hold up for a few years.

All was good until my cellar started expanding - and then I had kids.

This year, I did an inventory on my overflowing beer cellar and realized I had Anchor Christmas Ales from 1995, 1997, 2000, 2004, and 2005. The fact that I acquired a 34 oz magnum of the 2008 vintage was all the incentive I needed to invite KevinK and his wife Kimberly over to join Jennifer and I for a tasting.

Expectations were mixed at the thought of tasting a thirteen year old beer - we're not talking scotch here. And, after trying these, maybe we should have.

1995 Anchor Christmas Ale

The year that Kevin started at Beer Works. The aroma gave a kick right when we opened the bottle - a big nose with strong higher alcohols, with malty raisons, cherry / almond notes. There was a little head, but it had lost most of its carbonation. The flavor was a little tart, with some sourness - it disappeared pretty quickly. At first glance, it was passable for a 13 year old beer - certainly oxidation was an issue.

1997 Anchor Christmas Ale

This one didn't have the punch that the first one did when we cracked it open. The nose was much less pungent - more chocolatey, with the sour almond, cherry stone notes. The body was a little chewy - with chocolate and sour notes and it ended sweet, like the bottom of a root beer barrel, but thinner.

The first two beers were... interesting, but nothing very drinkable yet. And the sourness was becoming a trend.

2000 Anchor Christmas Ale

While the third beer in our tasting was the first one with any carbonation, this one confirmed the sour trend - time had taken its toll. The 2000 vintage was the least flavorful of the bunch - was it a hot winter that year? It was malty, but there were no real spice, chocolately or caramel flavors.

Time for the magnum. Turns out, freshness matters.

2008 Anchor Christmas Ale

All three of us comment on the quality of the aroma - mild spiciness with malty notes. This is the first beer with a beginning, middle, and end - whereas the previous beers all disappeared off the tongue prior to the finish. A clean beer with a malty start and crisp finish, it had chocolate, black/roasted malt notes, with some caramel and a little tanic. There wasn't much hop bitterness - earthy hop flavors suggest Ruggles or Chinook hops.

Finally, to wrap up the tasting and help me clean out my beer cellar, we had one more to try.

Bush de Noël (Scaldis Noel)

Bush de Noël (Scaldis Noel) is a Belgian special / strong ale, with a whopping 12% alcohol by volume. Light copper in color, the bottle did not have a year printed on the label. It had to be 10+ years old and poured with no head. Like the first of the Anchor Christmas Ales, the nose on this beer was full of lots of higher alcohols - to the point where we couldn't smell anything else. The flavor with strong and sweet, with quite the punch. It had apricot and blackcherry flavors, very fruity and tart with a sharp alcohol finish. According to Kevin, it grabbed you by the boo boo. And the perfect compliment for the canolli's Kevin & Kimberly brought.