Anchor Christmas Ale is an annual tradition from the San Fransisco, California based Anchor Brewing. This year marks their 42nd release of the popular winter warmer. While the recipe and the artwork on the label are different every year, over 40 years of perfecting has made Anchor Christmas Ale a widely anticipated annual release. This year’s edition is no different.
This year’s Christmas Ale has a strong malt profile enhanced with wintry spices. The beer has a deep mahogany brown color with a creamy, tan head and boasts aromas of fruitcake, molasses, and fresh cut wood. The beer tastes of a roasted caramel malt, with notes of spiced chocolate and nuts. And it has a rich, smooth, and velvety mouthfeel. -Anchor Brewmaster Scott Ungermann
While each year brings innovation to the beer itself, half of the story is also in the ever evolving label. This year’s tree artwork is themed after the story of the “1000 Mile Tree,” a solitary pine discovered in 1869 in a barren landscape during the construction of the transcontinental railroad. The artist James Stitt also included a person sitting atop the “1000 Mile Tree” with a beer, “honoring an old legend that railway passengers sometimes attempted to climb the tree.”
Anchor Christmas Ale 2016 will be available from mid-November through mid-January. You can find it in 6-packs, 50.7oz. magnum bottles, and on draft in select locations.
Style: Winter Warmer
Availability: 6 packs, 50.7oz Bottles, Draft.
Release: November 2016
6.5% ABV
