Welcome to day ten of fourteen days of Anchor Christmas spanning 14 years of the beer. You can view the back story and the tasting for 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.
Anchor Christmas 2010
Day 10: Anchor Christmas 2010
Tree: Maidenhair Tree, Ginko Biloba
Anchor Label - An interesting note on the main label. It doesn’t actually give the tree name. Typically, the scientific name is somewhere on the label, but not this year.
Neck Label Text:Â This is the thirty-sixth “Our Special Ale” from the brewers at Anchor. It is sold only from early November to mid-January. The Ale’s recipe is different every year, but the intent with which we offer it remains the same: joy and celebration of the newness of life. In ancient times trees symbolized the winter solstice when the earth with its seasons appears born anew.
Tasting Notes: Founders Brewing Tulip glass. 2010 has some tastes in common with 2009. It also seems kind of thin and lifeless. There’s a small hint of some of the things on the nose that I got much stronger in the years that sat longer, but it’s just barely there. It does have more of the evergreen / spruce flavor to it than 2009, but it’s still not as good as some of the earlier years. The carbonation is steadily improving as we get closer to the present year.
Cheers!
2 Responses to “Fourteen Days of Anchor Christmas: Day 10 – Anchor Christmas 2010”
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Had one last week while it didn’t have a harsh finish or taste stale etc there just wasn’t much going on. Dry finish no aroma from glass did get some herbal mint and slight pine from the bottle at first. Fresh this was one awesome beer.
You’re getting down to the wire. I have some of the 11 and 12 left as well will be interested to see what you think.
It sounds like we had a similar opinion of the ’10. I didn’t remember what it tasted like at the time, but I agree that it seemed lifeless after four years. It’ll be interesting to see going forward if it’s the time that makes the difference or the changing recipe. I can’t think the recipe would change enough to make that big of a difference between 2007 and 2010, but maybe.