Name – Anchor’s Our Special Ale 2009
Country – United States
Type – Winter Warmer

Appearance – Pours a dark red and borders on brown with red highlights around the edges of the glass.  Nice size tans head but it is gone pretty quick.

Smell – Woah!  There is a lot going on here.  You get the cinnamon and nutmeg like you’d expect but there  is also some piney notes and dark fruits.

Taste – Even bigger woah!  All those spices mixed with a heavy dark fruit flavor.  Think figs and dates.  There is a bit of a caramel taste in there as well and a little piney hops.  Ultra complex.

I know that Anchor changes their recipe on this beer each year and I have heard people saying this is the best year ever.  Unfortunately this is my first to judge and it is definitely different.  There is so much complexity to this beer that it was almost sensory overload trying to pick out the flavors.  This is definitely not for a new comer but a big beer geek should really enjoy the hell out this one.

Overall Grade – B-