Beer Revisited: Anchor Christmas Ale 2012
As I mentioned Tuesday night, it has been a long time since I officially revisited a beer. So instead of buying something completely new this weekend, I decided to revisit BotW #411: Anchor Christmas Ale 2012, brewed by the Anchor Brewing Company of San Francisco, California.
From what I remember, I really liked the 2012 edition. (I have not reread my notes from last year because I do not want to influence my experience tonight.) However, I only drank two bottles; the remaining four from my sixer have been chilling in the back of my fridge all year. The temperature in my fridge is usually on the low end of the “fridge zone” (34º–40ºF) on my fridge thermometer, so the maturation process has likely been slower than it would have been if I kept the bottles at cellar temperature. Oh well. The fridge worked well for my bottles of 2009 so I am going to continue using it.
I am unsure whether or not I should have drank a bottle or two earlier this year. I have been told that six months is a good interval to gage a beer’s maturation, so I thought about drinking a bottle of 2012 in June to see how it had changed. However, my gut instinct tells me that six months is too soon, especially since I have been aging the bottles in my fridge. I think I did the right thing by leaving them untouched until now. The question now is, “How long should I continue aging?” I hope tonight’s tasting will help answer that. My 2009 was fantastic after three years, so I may keep bottles of 2012 for 2014 and 2015. With four bottles left, I could stretch it to 2016. Hmm… We’ll see what it tastes like tonight.
For this revisit, I have decided not to copy and paste my previous notes for side-by-side comparison. Instead, I will wrap up the tasting with a comprehensive comparison.
Serving type: 12-ounce bottle. The bottling code printed on the label is “2OH,” which is deciphered to mean October 8, 2012.
Appearance: Poured into my Christmas Ale 2009 pint glass. The color is deep brown with a light ruby tint. Two fingers of dense, tan head settled slowly and evenly, leaving lacing stuck to the side of the glass and a thick ring around the edge.
Smell: It is a pleasant and mellow balance of festive and arboreal spices. Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, a little peppermint, pine, and spruce. (In that sense I guess it is similar to the 2013 edition, though less intense.) Dark fruit — mostly dark cherry and fig — hangs out in the background, as well as a little brown sugar. The malts are mostly masked.
Taste: A balance of ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, arboreal spice, cherry, fig, caramel, and molasses greet the taste buds. They fade mid-sip and are followed by a strange vacuum of flavor for a second or two. The spices reemerge in the aftertaste with toasted malts, maple syrup and brown sugar. It has to be one of the most complex aftertastes I have ever experienced; it is as if the beer has momentarily painted my taste buds. As the beer continues to warm, the spices become less prominent on the front end and the flavors blend harmoniously. The end, though, does seem a touch flat.
Comparison to 2012 tasting: Having read my notes from last year, it seems like the spices have become much more prominent, especially in regards to the flavor. Last year the beer was maltier than the average Christmas Ale, but the spices have emerged from the aftertaste. And though I thought the flat ending was perhaps a negative effect of the aging (maybe this edition does not age as well), I was surprised to find “a hint of flat Coke” in my previous review.
Is another year (or more) of aging justified? Maybe one more for one bottle.
From what I remember, I really liked the 2012 edition. (I have not reread my notes from last year because I do not want to influence my experience tonight.) However, I only drank two bottles; the remaining four from my sixer have been chilling in the back of my fridge all year. The temperature in my fridge is usually on the low end of the “fridge zone” (34º–40ºF) on my fridge thermometer, so the maturation process has likely been slower than it would have been if I kept the bottles at cellar temperature. Oh well. The fridge worked well for my bottles of 2009 so I am going to continue using it.
I am unsure whether or not I should have drank a bottle or two earlier this year. I have been told that six months is a good interval to gage a beer’s maturation, so I thought about drinking a bottle of 2012 in June to see how it had changed. However, my gut instinct tells me that six months is too soon, especially since I have been aging the bottles in my fridge. I think I did the right thing by leaving them untouched until now. The question now is, “How long should I continue aging?” I hope tonight’s tasting will help answer that. My 2009 was fantastic after three years, so I may keep bottles of 2012 for 2014 and 2015. With four bottles left, I could stretch it to 2016. Hmm… We’ll see what it tastes like tonight.
For this revisit, I have decided not to copy and paste my previous notes for side-by-side comparison. Instead, I will wrap up the tasting with a comprehensive comparison.
Serving type: 12-ounce bottle. The bottling code printed on the label is “2OH,” which is deciphered to mean October 8, 2012.
Appearance: Poured into my Christmas Ale 2009 pint glass. The color is deep brown with a light ruby tint. Two fingers of dense, tan head settled slowly and evenly, leaving lacing stuck to the side of the glass and a thick ring around the edge.
Smell: It is a pleasant and mellow balance of festive and arboreal spices. Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, a little peppermint, pine, and spruce. (In that sense I guess it is similar to the 2013 edition, though less intense.) Dark fruit — mostly dark cherry and fig — hangs out in the background, as well as a little brown sugar. The malts are mostly masked.
Taste: A balance of ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, arboreal spice, cherry, fig, caramel, and molasses greet the taste buds. They fade mid-sip and are followed by a strange vacuum of flavor for a second or two. The spices reemerge in the aftertaste with toasted malts, maple syrup and brown sugar. It has to be one of the most complex aftertastes I have ever experienced; it is as if the beer has momentarily painted my taste buds. As the beer continues to warm, the spices become less prominent on the front end and the flavors blend harmoniously. The end, though, does seem a touch flat.
Comparison to 2012 tasting: Having read my notes from last year, it seems like the spices have become much more prominent, especially in regards to the flavor. Last year the beer was maltier than the average Christmas Ale, but the spices have emerged from the aftertaste. And though I thought the flat ending was perhaps a negative effect of the aging (maybe this edition does not age as well), I was surprised to find “a hint of flat Coke” in my previous review.
Is another year (or more) of aging justified? Maybe one more for one bottle.
