Just took a sip of Anchor's 2010 Christmas Ale.

[arover]

My God, I wish I hadn't just gotten a single bottle of this. It's the first Christmas Ale I've tried from Anchor Brewing. The pine aroma they've achieved is simply amazing, if I close my eyes and smell it I feel like there's a Douglas Fur right next to me, with a pumpkin pie nearby. The taste is also a well-done balance of what I would consider pumpkin spices and some very pine-like hops. Anyways...thought I would share (and take a break from all the cooking). If you get a chance, grab a bottle! Happy thanksgiving, HBT!

 

[CRQuarto]

Ha! My neighbor (also a homebrewer) was over last night while I was getting my starter ready, and the conversation ended up with us both saying exactly what you have. I was floored by how good that beer is, and wondered why I had waited to try it, haha!

 

[steinsato]

I just cracked a bottle of this last night. I wish I had not bought a 6 pack. This stuff is nasty.

Edit: I'm more of a hop lover than malt lover. This beer is definitely a malty beer (no surprise) but the extra flavors they added to it continue to give it a sweet flavor and don't seem to help balance the beer in my opinion. I did notice the finish and aftertaste did have a bit of hop flavor but not enough for my liking. This is the first of these beers I've ever had. Is this the standard for these beers?

 

[NorCalAngler]

I thought it was...interesting. I didn't get the pine and pumpkin that you note. I got a lot of sour cherry, fig, coffee and vanilla. Are you sure you got the 2010? It sounds like we tasted a completely different beer.

 

[culturejam]

I thought the 2010 brew was very "sprucey" rather than pine. For me it was flavors of spruce, berry, coffee, and some other spice I can't quite figure out.

2010 is the best one they've done over the past 5 years or so, to my palate.

 

[CampfireBrewingCo]

I got one bottle of it and to me it tasted like some type of cleaning detergent. I couldn't even drink it. I went back to my Sierra Nevada Pale Ale to wash that nasty taste out of my mouth.

 

[dvdanny]

I absolutely loved it, I got spruce and some spices, possibly juniper berries as well. It was rich and dark like a porter and kicked the crap out of the SA Old Fizwig Ale I also poured out.

 

[blizzard]

My local beer store has magnums of this stuff for about $17. Unfortunately, douglas fir is not my favorite beer flavor.

 

[culturejam]

I absolutely loved it, I got spruce and some spices, possibly juniper berries as well.

YES!!!! It's juniper!