R.I.P. Anchor Brewing

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 By 12:30 p.m., the Anchor Brewing flag had been replaced by an American flag, and a flurry of former employees had departed for drinks at Thee Parkside.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.)

If you're going to San Francisco, put an Anchor Steam in your glass

To the best of my recollection, my San Francisco-loving girlfriend did not introduce me to Anchor Steam. Instead, that was at the hands of a former roommate. But I do seem recall her imbibing the brew as part of her indulgence of all things San Francisco. It was part of the package, so to speak.

I've gotta say, this new label just doesn't compare with the old one. To the best of my knowledge, the label redesign was courtesy of the brewery's new corporate masters, Sapporo, who bought it in 2017. I guess I just have fond memories of drinking the stuff with the old label back in the mid-90s. At least they kept the shorter, stubbier bottle.

Steam beer, which I assume is also known as California common, is brewed with lager yeast. But, instead of letting the little fungi do the sugar eating/alcohol pooping routine at chillier temperatures as is their wont, they do it at the warmer temps that their ale brethren prefer. Legend has it that the term "steam beer" came from the days when Anchor would stow its wort in tubs on the roof of the brewery to let cool ocean breezes chill it down to a suitable temperature. The steam rising from these open containers gave us the name.

Anchor Steam is a beautiful clear amber. I got a nice, white head on top but it largely went away before I could get a snap. It smelled like caramel with something floral throw in the mix as well.

While there's a bit of a caramel taste, it is not particularly sweet. Perhaps a good, solid fizziness helps in this regard. This is joined by a light breadiness and a nice, firm dose of hops which have a spicy/herbal - almost minty - flavor to them.

This is a fine brew. It's got a clean, lagery malt flavor balanced by a generous dose of hops which provide a brisk counterpoint.

A few days before I began preparing this post, I learned that Anchor is pulling back and will only be available in California from here on out. Sad news. I don't drink Anchor beers that often but the occasional Anchor Steam has been a welcome treat for some time now. It seems that Anchor just hasn't been able to tack the stormy seas of the craft beer world. This American tradition sadly cannot hold its own against the IPA madness.

Well, it just means something extra special if/when I get to San Francisco.

(Continue with "On the Verge of Going Into Operation Crystallization".)

She Wore Lemon: Meyer Lemon Lager by Anchor Brewing

I had an Anchor Steam relatively recently and, oh man, was it good. It was one of the few microbrews in Madison taverns 25 years ago and having one again after a several year hiatus was a real treat.

Formed in 1896, San Francisco's Anchor can lay claim to being one of the oldest American craft breweries. It has a real Behind the Music history too with the brewery burning down multiple times, surviving the Noble Experiment, going into decline and slouching into the 1970s before rising like the Phoenix to become one of microbrewing's elder statesmen. They began brewing Liberty Ale – made with Cascade hops – back in 1975 and it stands as sort of a proto-American West Coast eyepah. Anchor is a storied and pioneering brewery.

After reacquainting myself with Anchor, I began to keep a closer eye on their spot on liquor store shelf and noticed their Meyer Lemon Lager. Was the titular Meyer one of the brewers? Or perhaps the brewmaster's hound? No. A cursory search turned up that it was a variety of lemon. Then I went and drank most of my six pack before discovering that it was actually a lemon-orange hybrid that originated in China and became popular in California by the mid-20th century with its sweeter, less tangy yet still lemony taste.

My hope going in was to have a good warm weather beer. You know, a crisp lager with some citrus zing and not too potent. At 4.5% A.B.V., Meyer Lemon Lager seemed to be perfect...on paper.

In my glass, Meyer Lemon Lager was a lovely gold color and a bit hazy as well. I think my photo exaggerates the haze because of the angle at which it was taken. I managed a big, fluffy, white head on my pour which lasted a long while. An effervescent brew, it was full of bubbles. A beauty of a beer, eh.

The aroma was led by – quelle surprise – lemon. This was followed by a cracker-like graininess as well as a faint encounter with spicy hops. Anchor notes that the beer has Cluster, Nugget, Steiner, & Experimental Hop No. 07270. I cannot find evidence of a hop variety called "Steiner" although a company called S.S. Steiner has a hop called Experimental No. 07270 so perhaps this is just an instance of poor copy editing. In that case, the Nugget and Experimental Hop No. 07270 were used in dry hopping and so should be most prominent in the smell. I didn't catch much of a hop smell but it seems that Experimental Hop No. 07270 is spicy.

So what does a Meyer Lemon taste like beyond the Wikipedia description? Well, a lot like a lemon, to my taste, although it did have a patina of orange. It didn't really taste sweet to me – in this beer, anyway, but it was less sharp tasting, less tart. In addition to liking the taste of the Meyer lemon, I also appreciated how much of it ended up in the beer. It was a Three Bears kind of thing: not so much as to drown out the nice biscuity malt flavor nor too little so that it was relegated to the background in a purely ornamental role. Indeed, it was just the right amount.

I wasn't able to discern any of those Cluster hops. Not being familiar with them, I wasn't sure what to be on the look out for. Apparently they are like grapefruit and pine so I can definitely understand how those flavors could get lost in lemon.

The lemony zing slowly faded on the finish where I was finally able to taste hops. The citrus tartness never disappeared but was overshadowed by grassy/spicy hops which made for a dry, slightly tart finale. My empty glass was left with some really nice lacing. Strands thick and thin were in abundance.

Anchor hit the nail on the head here. I wanted a good summer thirst quencher and they delivered. The folks in San Francisco whipped up a good, crisp pale lager and mixed it with just the right amount of citrus fruit flavor. The Meyer lemon has a bracing tartness to it but not mouth-puckeringly so. Tasty and refreshing; a wonderful summer brew.

Junk food pairing: Go get yourself a bag of Lay's Chinese Szechuan Chicken potato chips to go with your Meyer Lemon Lager. The Meyer lemon originated in China and San Francisco has a large Chinese/Chinese-American population. Plus the chips have a nice soy-garlic base that's highlighted by the mellow burn of pepper and that mixture complements the citrus of the beer perfectly.