Anchor Brewing Shutting Down

[Danno]

High Noon is a pretty good hard seltzer, at least the grapefruit flavor is. Tastes like vodka, grapefruit, and soda water (which is what it purports to be).

[riser4]

I'll have to try it if I see it. I like my vodka drinks to have some vodka taste.

[BmillsSkier]

High Noon is a pretty good hard seltzer, at least the grapefruit flavor is. Tastes like vodka, grapefruit, and soda water (which is what it purports to be).

Yeah I think that's the trend, carbonated canned drinks that are actual booze like vodka or tequila (not industrial metallic tasting rubbing alcohol) and juice, which are light years better than White Claws and the like. They're not bad every now and then when you don't want beer by the pool, but they're still pretty sweet.

I kinda like the ranch water approach but prefer to make my own in the Yeti as opposed to the canned stuff. Ice tequila and some fizzy water with a squeezed lime and some Tajin.

[dunfree]

Yeah, thanks EWG, cool and informative perspective.

Re: seltzers; yeah, incredible the amount of shelf/cooler space they command these days. I'm not a fan at all as most taste like industrial rubbing alcohol with fake flavoring but hey, there's clearly a massive market for them.

They now sell a SunnyD branded booze in a can.

[BmillsSkier]

They now sell a SunnyD branded booze in a can.

I can taste the nostalgia.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Wifey is sad about this, in 1986 she spent a summer in Berkeley and when she wasn't cocktailing she was with friends in a bar or on a beach drinking the newly discovered (to her) Liberty's. And our vacation trips up to the north coast were always accompanied with a full cooler of them.

She stopped drinking a couple of years ago but really wants to find some to enjoy one last time.

[old goat]

So who here that is lamenting their demise has bought a 6 pack or even a draft of Anchor Steam in the last 6 months?


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[Raises hand]. I was buying it until Safeway stopped carrying it.

Bring back Boca Brewing Co.

[Tele 'til You're Smelly]

Too bad, Anchor Steam was my wife's favorite Super Bowl beer (for mostly nostalgic reasons I think), I'd bring some back when I'd find it in other states at it was sparse around here lately. You'd think another brewery would buy the name & recipe? I guess Sapporo wanted too much for it.

To jump on the "I hate a certain beer" bandwagon, for me it's Breckenridge, and not just since it was bought by InBev. Every single variety I can't stand- I tried yet again recently with their pilsner and I actually sent it back for a different brand (it was sweet and the color of urine)- I don't think I've ever done that before.

[mcski]

Yeah, thanks EWG, cool and informative perspective.

Re: seltzers; yeah, its incredible the amount of shelf/cooler space they command these days. I'm not a fan at all as most taste like industrial rubbing alcohol with fake flavoring but hey, there's clearly a massive market for them.

There once was a massive market for Bartles&James too. Those fuckers remember

[BmillsSkier]

There once was a massive market for Bartles&James too. Those fuckers remember

[fatnslow]

I can taste the nostalgia.

"sunny delight will make you happy"

[old goat]

I'd rather drink stale bong water than a Whiteclaw. However, since your choices are limited I get it and fortunately the beverage is there for you.

My kid bought a bunch of that shit for his wedding. No one drank a drop of it. I gave it away in these pages. BTW, I think there's a niche market for craft bong water.

Where I differ with EWG's analysis is the idea that taste is the primary driver of success in the beer business. Beer prefernece, like the preference for any consumer good, is in large part a matter of social aspiration. Do I want to be seen as a hipster or a good ol boy?

Or maybe the beer and the place go together. The first place I had a hef was in Austria; the first place I had a Belgian was Brussels, and neither has ever tasted as good since. Or maybe those places just make better beer than the US.

[BmillsSkier]

Why not both?

[esseff]

Best taproom tour I ever experienced....but that was early 90's.

The 'liquidation' should be interesting to see as someone will likely buy the brand. The bigger picture; why they didn't / could not sell off the brand/operation to another party. I suppose they tried but I doubt anyone wanted to pay the ask$ as AS is in a high cost area & labor (they shop went union after Sapporo acquired it).

[dookeyXXX]

There once was a massive market for Bartles&James too. Those fuckers remember

I was always more partial to California Cooler, myself…

And who remembers when Zima was all the rage? They were truly ahead of the curve!

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Yeah, location and labor costs are going to be huge for anyone buying in. There's plenty of tech bro gazillionaires who have the money to take it on, but like posted above, you'd have to be willing to burn a huge pile of money to fight for an increasingly smaller slice of a market dominated by macro owned "craft" companies.

[ghosthop]

So who here that is lamenting their demise has bought a 6 pack or even a draft of Anchor Steam in the last 6 months?


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We drink Steam at my house somewhat regularly, probably once every other month. A steam and a cigarette on the patio with my friends around 330 after a long shift, go sleep for a few hours and then ski/bike all day to do it again. Formative years.

I am majorly disappointed about the Christmas Beer. There are five bottles over in Tooele, I am probably going to make the run tomorrow.

[MarsB]

And who remembers when Zima was all the rage? They were truly ahead of the curve!

Zima made an excellent mixer.

[half-fast]

Its good to see that (at least around here) the micros that pretty much only made IPAs and sours are venturing into lagers

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

The original cheerleader beer.

God bless them. They sure helped the clothes fall off of a lot of girls back in my high school daze.

[BmillsSkier]

Its good to see that (at least around here) the micros that pretty much only made IPAs and sours are venturing into lagers

I too like this trend towards lagers and pilsners. As EWG alluded to though, and from my understanding, lagers are really hard to make, much less make well. Happy some are taking on the challenge.

The original cheerleader beer.

God bless them. They sure helped the clothes fall off of a lot of girls back in my high school daze.

Cheerleader beer, lol.

Zima was that during my high school days, the successor in title to Bartles and Jaymes.

[EWG]

I too like this trend towards lagers and pilsners. As EWG alluded to though, and from my understanding, lagers are really hard to make, much less make well. Happy some are taking on the challenge.

Lagers take a lot more time to ferment than ales. Means they spend more time in the fermenters. Fermenters are expensive. The available fermentation space is usually the biggest bottleneck in brewing (until you outgrow your brewhouse.) That's one of the biggest reasons you don't see them more.

But now that the market is saturated you see more lager breweries looking to fill that niche. Helps when they can buy cheap tanks from places that go out of business.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

Gigin alone at the bottom of the hill
Our protagonist named Bill
Sets his sights on an Anchor Steam pint
All he needs is thirteen quarters
Congregated in his hat...

[Name Redacted]

Lagers take a lot more time to ferment than ales. Means they spend more time in the fermenters. Fermenters are expensive. The available fermentation space is usually the biggest bottleneck in brewing (until you outgrow your brewhouse.) That's one of the biggest reasons you don't see them more.

But now that the market is saturated you see more lager breweries looking to fill that niche. Helps when they can buy cheap tanks from places that go out of business.

Seeing a lot of horizontal tanks stacked these days too. Allows the lagers to clarify faster. I pretty much only drink pilsners or kolschs at the breweries these days. Maybe an ipa here or there, but in the summer Im all about the crispy boyz! Haha.

[sb]

Its all about managing tank space. Time in tank.

The need to make starters for a 30 bbl fermenter adds effort and expense.

Dt is the enemy.