The 2016 recipe seems more spice forward than the past couple of years. I am catching more rye notes as well as more of the spruce/tree aroma and bite. I’m tasting a bit of clove as well. The malt seems to be more of a burnt roast. Overall, more hearty this year.
Of course part of the allure of the beer is the tree on the label, discussed as much, if not more than the recipe. Here is the 411 on the 2016 label: “Our tree for 2016 is the “1,000 Mile Tree” or the lone pine found during westbound construction of the transcontinental railroad. Discovered in 1869, it was a lone pine amidst a vast and desolate landscape. The tree on this year’s label was hand-drawn by Bay Area artist James Stitt, who has been creating Anchor’s Christmas Ale labels since 1975. His charming illustration of the 1,000 Mile Tree includes a person at the top of the tree with a mug of beer, honoring an old legend that railway passengers sometimes attempted to climb the tree.”
You can see all 42 of the Christmas “trees” in the collection right HERE.