The Brew SiteAdvent Beer Calendar 2019: Day 1: Anchor Christmas Ale
Way back in 2005, I had the idea to start a December feature combining the idea of Advent calendars with beer, at least in a virtual sense. Starting on the 1st, each day would reveal a new holiday- or winter-themed beer until Christmas Eve. Since then, I’ve seen others do similar features, and there are even actual beer (and other alcohol) Advent calendars that you can purchase.
For this 15th edition of this feature, I’m kicking off this first of December with the beer that I started with in 2005, and have featured every year since: Anchor Brewing Christmas Ale.
Introduced in 1975, this is a holiday beer that became the holiday template for American craft brewers. Featuring spices, a different (and secret) recipe each year, and a new and different label each year, Christmas Ale has all hallmarks of what is now tradition. Here’s a bit about the recipe and the label from this year’s press release:
“We are committed to preserving Anchor Christmas Ale’s signature style while adding new ingredients to enhance this annual delicacy. Slightly darker than last year’s Christmas Ale, the 2019 edition is layered with toasted caramel and coffee flavors with subtle hints of Mexican chocolate, rounded out with herbaceous spices. Crack open a bottle for a spiced whiff of western evergreens, roasted malts and coastal flowers,” shared Anchor Brewmaster, Scott Ungermann. “It’s a rich, round and full bodied-treat with a silky, smooth finish. Christmas Ale is best served in a big open glass at a table full of family and friends.”
As each Christmas Ale recipe evolves, so does its hand drawn packaging, created by long-time Anchor Illustrator Jim Stitt, who has created Anchor’s Christmas Ale labels since 1975. Since ancient times, trees have symbolized the winter solstice when the earth, with its seasons, appears born anew. This year, Stitt illustrated the Western Arborvitae – the “tree of life” – across the label. It is an evergreen conifer native to Northern California, the same region that Anchor has called home for over 123 years. Before modern medicine, properties of Western Arborvitae leaves were believed to have healing properties – hence, the moniker “tree of life.” 2019 Anchor Christmas Ale proudly wears this tree and symbolizes the start of a strong, healthy beginning.
This year Anchor also sent me samples of the beer to review. In the aroma I found roasty notes with nutty overtones, tempered by hints of chocolate and warming spices. The flavor is spicy, dry, roasty, and a bit porter-like with chocolate malt richness. The spices are subtle but offer up a chili-like flavor, with cinnamon bark, and minty herbaceousness. It tastes like the holidays are here!
Anchor Christmas Ale is a holiday favorite that I look forward to each year, and is worth the effort to seek out.
Find Anchor Christmas Ale on:
Top photo credit: Erin Conger