Anchor's Aweigh

I figured I'd catch up a day and crack open the Anchor xmas ale today too. This is a dark ale in a 12 ounce bottle, no alcohol content specified.

There really couldn't be a much starker difference in interpretation of holiday beers than this one and the French one from earlier. The Anchor is very dry, with lots of spices in the nose -- mostly ginger and cola notes. The flavor is malty but not sweet, with a very assertive hit of spruce notes, I'd be very surprised if this wasn't brewed with spruce tips. There's a bit of astringency, which may be from the spruce, but it's not overpowering. It's quite tasty. I'll have to pick up this year's version to see what it's like.