I started my fourteen days of Anchor Christmas spanning 14 years of the beer. You can view the back story and the tasting for 2001 and 2002.
Day 3: Anchor Christmas 2003
Anchor Christmas 2003
Tree: Sitka Spruce, Picea Sitchensis
Neck Label Text:Â This is the twenty-ninth Special Ale from the brewers at Anchor. It is sold from early November to 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. Pine cone drawn by Meriwether Lewis on Feb. 18, 1806 – Courtesy American Philosophical Society
Tasting Notes: Tulip glass. Hardly any nose on 2003. A bit of coffee. A bit of spruce. A bit of chocolate. It’s pretty thin. Again, there’s not much carbonation left. I think there’s a bit less of the aging aftertaste that I got with ’01 and ’02. I plowed through this one more quickly than the first two, so I’ll say that this one was a bit more drinkable. That probably goes with it being a little thinner. I’d be curious if old reviews agree that this was not as full bodied as the previous two years.
Note that the neck label is a bit different than the previous two years with an extra note along the bottom about the pine cone. There’s also a green label on the back.
Stay tuned for 2004 up next.