Game Day Beer Review: Anchor Brewing Anchor Steam California Common Ale

No trip to Northern California would be complete without sampling one of the state's best known and oldest beers, Anchor Brewing's Anchor Steam California Common Ale. The granddaddy of the craft beer movement, this beer was one of the first that truly opened our eyes to what American beer could be -- and we're happy to see that approximately 25 years after we first tasted it, Anchor Steam is still holding its  head up proudly. 

The beer poured a crystal clear copper color with a bright white head that left behind considerable lacing, even on the plastic airline cup from which this beer was drunk. Anchor Steam smelled primarily of caramel malt, with the mildest touch of hops just barely noticeable. 

Smooth malty goodness dominated the flavor profile; floral and hop notes also shone through. Anchor Steam could be the perfectly balanced beer: it was medium-bodied and tingly on the tongue. An American classic: A-

Game Day Beer Review: Anchor Brewing Our Special Winter Warmer Ale

Brewed for distribution only between November and mid-January, Anchor Brewing's "Our Special Ale" has become something of a holiday tradition in my house. Now in its 37th year of production, this beer is one that I look greedily forward to every holiday season. It's one of the best domestic holiday beers, in my opinion.

Poured from a 12 oz bottle into a modified pilsner glass, Our Special Ale is darker than you might imagine. It's a deep amber color, with the light in the room reflecting through the crystal clear beer like a string of lights on a Christmas tree. Our Special Ale offers a full, light mocha-colored head that leaves copious amounts of lacing in its wake.

On tasting you realize this is a fairly complex brew. I'm getting some upfront malts balanced by a certain hoppy dryness, but it's also full of flavor in between, as well: cinnamon, chocolate, pine, and even some faint clove. 


The overall effect is wonderful, as  it's all tied together. This beer is incredibly smooth, and oh-so-easy to drink. 2011 could be my favorite year yet: A

Get Back on the Bus

photo by Hello, I am Bruce	via PhotoRee

The screaming and yelling you may have heard outside your window Friday afternoon was the noise of newly-minted Spurs fans wildly abandoning the "biggest bandwagon in town" as the wheels came off the bus, due to the news of Tottenham's pairing with AC Milan in the Champion League Round of 16. The tie, announced Friday in Lyon and to be contested in two months' time, was greeted with a chorus of gloom and doom from Spurs' Nervous Nellie fan-base, who don't appear to be all that accustomed to the pressure and "squeaky bum time" that is the knockout portion of the tournament.  

I have some advice for you, Spurs fans, that should bring hope and good tidings in the New Year: Have courage, boys (even if it's of the liquid variety; there's a beer review at the end of this entry).  The sky is not falling, and the end is not near.  This is AC Milan we're talking about, not Barcelona.  If you want to cheer yourself up, just look across town at your buddies Arsenal: you could be in their position, and actually have to play Barcelona.  Now THAT would be truly scary.

But back to Spurs.