Anchor Brewing Shutting Down

[irul&ublo]

Shit. I love me a Steam, especially on draft.


https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/12/busin...s_iluminar_msn

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Nooooooooo. This hurts.

[EWG]

Sapporo bought em, tried to turn them into something they weren't, drove the sales into the ground, and is now cutting bait. Sucks. 150 years, and when craft beer exploded onto the scene we and a bunch of others used them as examples to figure out how to make things work.

They will be missed.

[old goat]

Oh dear. My favorite beer.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Staring at the ocean up on the north coast while drinking Liberty ales were perfect moments in my life.

[riser4]

That's depressing. Steam and Liberty, RIP.

[goldenboy]

They'd be fine if they just made some shitty overhopped IPA

[Cruiser]

The real loss is the mags of Christmas beer with the trees in em

[rideit]

The first time I ever drove cross country for some dead shows, we landed in S.F. The absolute first stop was to Anchor's bar/tasting room, which we had been planning the whole trip. We were brewers (in '87), and it was like liquid ambrosia. Huge formative memory, looking out over the bay with a cold pint, and a show that night.

[mcski]

Havent had a steam in 20 yrs and was never a huge fan, but total bs that sooo many Johnny come lately no skill bs hop breweries are still brewing their crap but anchor is gonna be history.

https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/...ibextid=Zxz2cZ

[yeahman]

That's what happens when you sell out. RIP

[irul&ublo]

Maybe Fritz Maytag still has a big bank account

[PB]

Elon can save it.

[BmillsSkier]

Havent had a steam in 20 yrs and was never a huge fan, but total bs that sooo many Johnny come lately no skill bs hop breweries are still brewing their crap but anchor is gonna be history.

https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/...ibextid=Zxz2cZ

Agree, and both of these are true:

They'd be fine if they just made some shitty overhopped IPA

The real loss is the mags of Christmas beer with the trees in em

Fuck I hate most craft beer because it is exactly that; over hopped shit swill that’s just easier to hide how shitty/inexperienced the brewers are.

It takes talent to make something that lasts and is consistently good.

My gripe isn’t so much for Anchor, but more for what they did and so many other like em. Fuck your trendy goats milk sour hop bomb bullshit. Learn how to make a good beer for more than one canning and a snarky label. Then do it as long as the macros and keep it consistent. Betcha can’t.

[dookeyXXX]

Havent had a steam in 20 yrs and was never a huge fan, but total bs that sooo many Johnny come lately no skill bs hop breweries are still brewing their crap but anchor is gonna be history.

https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/...ibextid=Zxz2cZ

I probably haven’t had an Anchor in 20 years either.
But when I was in college on the Central Coast (1985-1990) and began appreciating beer, the only “craft” beers—back when that label actually meant something—you could get were Anchor, Red Tail, Red Nectar, Acme, Marin Brewing, Full Sail, and Redhook.
Sadly, I believe that all of them are now defunct and many of them due to having sold out to Big Beer, who invariably changed their proven formulas for making good beer or tried to turn them into something they weren’t. Those that are still around definitely ain’t the same beer they were back in the day
While my tastes have changed drastically since my college days, Anchor will always have a place in my heart in terms of shaping my beer appreciation.
The brewery tour was the bomb, too. Such a classic building with a great view of the once great City.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Red Nectar was some good shit.

[dookeyXXX]

Red Nectar was some good shit.

Indeed.
I remember they were way ahead of the current CBD/hemp craze with a hemp beer that was dank before anybody used that term to describe beer!

And Red Tail Ale, we used to buy that from the local high-end wine shop as they only sold it in corked magnums!
(Pro tip: eating Hot Tamale candies while drinking Red Tail Ale was the bees knees!).

[yeahman]

Agree, and both of these are true:





Fuck I hate most craft beer because it is exactly that; over hopped shit swill that’s just easier to hide how shitty/inexperienced the brewers are.

It takes talent to make something that lasts and is consistently good.

My gripe isn’t so much for Anchor, but more for what they did and so many other like em. Fuck your trendy goats milk sour hop bomb bullshit. Learn how to make a good beer for more than one canning and a snarky label. Then do it as long as the macros and keep it consistent. Betcha can’t.

You're painting with a broad brush there bud. And macros pretty much suck.

[BmillsSkier]

You're painting with a broad brush there bud. And macros pretty much suck.

Of course I am. But these days the micros that can do consistency like macros can (my point) is less than most.

I’m comfortable in my assertion that there’s more or at least as much shitty micros out there as macros (notwithstanding the good ones of each), and Anchor was a gleaming exception.

[fatnslow]

Skipped school to drink stolen parents beer and smoke weed at a friend's house in 10th grade and Anchor steam was on the menu. It was exotic as hell when we were used to Beer beer or Heidelberg circa 1982.
I'm actually surprised they lasted this long in such a crowded market. Way too much competition in the craft market with a brewery on every corner.

[yeahman]

Of course I am. But these days the micros that can do consistency like macros can (my point) is less than most.

I’m comfortable in my assertion that there’s more or at least as much shitty micros out there as macros (notwithstanding the good ones of each), and Anchor was a gleaming exception.

I can't think of a macro I actually enjoy drinking.

As far as micros go, I guess I limit myself to pale ales and session IPAs so I can't give an opinion on all the weird concotions they come up with. But a good American craft pale ale just can't be topped in my book. I can think of ten awesome pales brewed in Montana.

For the record I never liked Anchor Steam much, or most other micro 1.0 beers. I drank them because they still beat macros any day.

But hey, to each his own.

[BmillsSkier]

It’s easy to be a macro hater.

It’s easier to be a defender of shifty micros that can’t make good beer by pointing at macros.

Neither of those are pointed at you. It’s a statement on how much bad beer gets a pass/hate.

There’s enough good micros out there, like Anchor, that stand as some sort of barometer for the rest. When one dies like this it makes all the other shitty ones more acceptable by its vacancy.

[evdog]

Sapporo bought em, tried to turn them into something they weren't, drove the sales into the ground, and is now cutting bait.

Bummer. Another example that private equity ruins everything. Sapporo bought Stone Brewing last year as well.

[Danno]

But when I was in college on the Central Coast (1985-1990) and began appreciating beer, the only “craft” beers—back when that label actually meant something—you could get were Anchor, Red Tail, Red Nectar, Acme, Marin Brewing, Full Sail, and Redhook.
Sadly, I believe that all of them are now defunct and many of them due to having sold out to Big Beer, who invariably changed their proven formulas for making good beer or tried to turn them into something they weren’t. Those that are still around definitely ain’t the same beer they were back in the day

Red Hook was the big boy in Seattle in the time I was there (90-92) and you're right, all of them are gone or changed for the worse, because they sold out.

My favorite beer of the time was Pike Place Pale Ale from a small brewery downtown. A few years later in Durango, I saw "Pike Pale Ale" with basically the same label in the liquor store. I was so fucking pumped that they had started distributing to that extent, and at first thought nothing of the slight name change. But it wasn't the same beer. And shortly thereafter it disappeared from the shelves.

[neufox47]

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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