Sad news. Just a month after my encomium to Anchor Steam, I read that Anchor Brewing is no more. After 127 years, the venerable brewery has closed.
At the company’s Mariposa Street headquarters, the doors were supposed to open at noon to welcome the steady flow of summer tourists and locals eager to take a walking tour of the historic brewery, which was founded in 1896 and has roots in the California Gold Rush. But the doors were closed to the public for an emergency meeting between Anchor’s parent company and its employees, who initially learned of the closure from the news release. Employees streamed out, some clutching desk plants, one — who wished to remain anonymous — exited the doors and simply offered: “Bulls—t. F—king bulls—t. That’s my quote.” Drivers rolled down the windows chanting, “Keep brewing, keep brewing!” By 12:30 p.m., the Anchor Brewing flag had been replaced by an American flag, and a flurry of former employees had departed for drinks at Thee Parkside.
Wow. Very disappointing but not at all surprising that the employees hear the news about the loss of their jobs via a press release as opposed to their employer.
Perhaps someone or someones will take up the torch and keep Anchor alive. We shall see.
(Photo by Grant Marek.)
2 comments:
I posted my reaction to this on the Beer Advocate forum.
As a bonus, I made a 30-pack of the photographs I took when I toured the brewery in January 2016, and uploaded it to a variety of file hosts, including three in Japan.
I shall have to check out those photos as that contact sheet thingy looks pretty neat.
Alas, I never got to visit Anchor. I didn't drink it very often but I would occasionally grab some Steam Beer and try something new by them, if it wasn't an IPA, such as their Meyer lemon beer.
I hold out hope for another Fritz Maytag to step forward and save it but I am not holding my breath.
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