Silken smooth ’20 vintage winter warmer plugs lightly creamed dark-roast chocolate malting into dried cocoa, bitter coffee and tarry molasses apprehension. Mocha-backed walnut, cola and hazelnut sedation as well as coniferous holiday-spiced fern, pine nut and spruce tip illusions recede.

Anchor’s 41st Anniversary holiday ale resembles a dry porter with its burgundy-browned body, roasted mocha malting and ashen hop char. Sweet sugared spicing and evergreen freshness of many previous “Special” offerings lags, relying instead on chalky dried cocoa, nutty chocolate, black coffee and raw molasses tones to enhance dried-fruited black cherry, fig and plum illusions.