Anchor Steam

srsly this is some good brew dudes
http://www.taverntrove.com/beerpics/Anchor-Steam-Beer-Labels-Anchor-Brewing-Company_47498-1.jpg
have one and write yr thoughts, eh?

Always really liked

http://www.bruguru.com/Anchor_Porter.jpg

Never liked the beer, like their rye though.

are there places that still make old-school steam beer, apparently anchor steam is something different.

Steam beer may be defined as a highly effervescent beer made by brewing lager yeasts at ale fermentation temperatures. It has two distinct but related meanings:

Historic steam beer produced in California from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s;
Modern California common beer, the official name for the beer family which includes Anchor Steam beer.
Historic steam beer, associated with San Francisco and the U. S. West Coast, was brewed with lager yeast without the use of refrigeration. It was an improvised process, originating out of necessity, perhaps as early as the Gold Rush. It was considered a cheap and low-quality beer, as shown by references to it in literature of the 1890s and 1900s.

Modern steam beer, properly known in the brewing community as California common beer, was originated by Anchor Brewing Company, which trademarked the name Anchor Steam Beer in 1981. Although the modern company has corporate continuity with a small brewery which was still making traditional steam beer in the 1950s, Anchor Steam beer is a craft-brewed lager. The company does not claim any close similarity between it and turn-of-the-century steam beer.

Steam beer always makes me think of McTeague

well whatever if it's not a true to style steam beer, it has a great taste which i can only describe as being a nice beery banana-y taste that is one of my favorites for some reason maybe because the chef i used to work for prized it. it is effervescent, but not moreso than other brews

i should add that this is the only source of this taste that i know of

love the porter and the summer beer, in addition to the steam. had the bitter for the first time tonight, it was pretty good.
i think anchor is my favorite american brewery.

also love the bottles and labels, especially this one, which i haven't tried
http://www.anchorbrewing.com/images/small_beer_bottle.jpg

uhhhhhhhh the best

this is good shit. had one on tap a few days ago for the first time in a long time, and enjoyed every drop.

i think the six-pack bottles are wack in that they don't supply the standard 12 oz dose.
they are 11 oz, fcukin misers

One thing I like about Anchor Steam is that it's a beer that my gf and I can agree on. Hoppy enough for me but smooth enough for her.

http://www.culturemagazine.ca/joyentsite/images/White/secret(1).jpg

Haha.

I recommend the Anchor brewery tour (free) for the tasting afterwards (also free).

overrated imo.

beer, not tour. tour is def underrated.

http://drfermento.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/bock_bottle.jpg

Inspired by this thread, I picked up a sixer of this tonight. Their signature beer has been a perennial favorite, tho I've been on a bock thing lately, so I decided to give this one a try. It is a nice, solid bock: malty, a little burnt-tasting, slightly sweet & dark (but not too dense). Any thoughts on the porter? That is another one I've been meaning to try, tho I don't see it around too much where I live.

Haters gonna keep on hating: Really really think this stuff is swill and a total ripoff compared to things people get back east like Yuengling and Brooklyn Lager.

That said, Liberty Ale is my favorite of their batches.

recommend the Anchor brewery tour (free) for the tasting afterwards (also free).

I stopped by one day and they said tours are booked months in advance? I guess free beer is popular?

Yeah, I booked mine about 3 weeks before my trip to CA, and the only way I made it in on the day I wanted was because I was traveling solo.

i don't think anchor steam is better/worse than something like brooklyn lager but it's got kind of a specific taste that i'm rarely in the mood for. tho i haven't had any in a while and this thread is making me want to pick some up.

my first legal beer in america

My first microbrew of any sort. Haven't had an Anchor Steam in ages; I have, however, had many of these:

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/02/0206_best_beers/image/2_anchor_liberty.jpg

How much does Anchor Steam cost you guys?

Even here, it's like $7.99/6. Liberty is like $8.99+.

Ridiculous.

Giggin' 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

A crow, a scavenger type
California redemption provides him with his rent
Room and board inside of a fifth of Comfort

As the wind penetrates his bones
His mind keeps focused
Tidal waves of sound
Catapulted from his horn wail like lovers

The coins don't drop consistent as does the mercury
His meter slows realizing
A zenith, he's reached perfection
No one did see him die

Thirteen quarters, to answer your question, Steve.

Even here, it's like $7.99/6. Liberty is like $8.99+.

Pretty sure that's what it is at the store across the street from me. Doesn't seem too out of line with similarly distributed micros.

Rising price of hops (and taxes!) means $7.99 is about the bottom price for any beer I'm interested in, and Anchor's usually a buck or two higher than that. I'm continuing to drink Sierra Nevada Celebration until it runs out; the best corporate micro in the 8 dollar range, imo.

Sierra anything > Anchor Steam

Really really think this stuff is swill and a total ripoff compared to things people get back east like Yuengling and Brooklyn Lager.

^This shocks me. Yeungling is awful. I love Anchor Steam. I also like the whiskey Anchor makes, El Portrero or something like that. I havent had it in a while, but it's really good.

xpost: I had some of the Sierra Hefeweizen during the Super Bowl. Very good.

dude in chi-town anchor anything is like $10.99/sixer unless you go to one of those big liquor stores
sierra=mad hops

$7.99/6

i wish!

I like some of their seasonal brews, but generic brew is not my thing.

now available on tap in the UK, fyi

I lost my taste for beer some time ago but their whiskey's not so bad.

dude in chi-town anchor anything is like $10.99/sixer

I haven't bought Anchor Steam in a while, but I really don't think that's true? On reflection, I think it's probably $8.99 at my corner store instead of $7.99, but I don't think it's more than that. Liberty is definitely more.

I did spend $10.99 on a six-pack of Bell's Two-Hearted last week. Couldn't bring myself to plunk down $16.99 for the Hopslam.

Huh, maybe it's $9.99.

love Anchor Steam nearly bought a bottled sixpack from an awesome offy in Highbury last night. instead got the Brooklyn dark chocolate stout (expensive) and some a variety of Eurobeers.

steve back east anchor is comparable to sierra or brooklyn...there's like a 2 dollar swing in the price of all those, say between 8-10.

ok, theory proved, y'all are getting ripped off for this swill.

This shocks me. Yeungling is awful.

yeah, now you know how I feel about the caliber of Anchor Steam!

Everyone outside of the home region gets ripped off buying regional beer, no?

yeungling is not fucking awful

mrs mookie re yuengling: 'i would like more beer in my beer'

this one is for mrs. mookieproof

http://www.yuengling.com/images/beers_porter.jpg

she prefers draft

Everyone outside of the home region gets ripped off buying regional beer, no?

― FIST FIGHT! FIST FIGHT! FIST FIGHT IN THE PARKING LOT! (milo z), Wednesday, February 17, 2010 11:03 AM (52 minutes ago)

i can readily find Sierra for $6/6 which may be a bit of a hometown discount, whereas Anchor has ALWAYS been $8/6 in SF and for what? It's not Dogfish Head or trappist. That said, when you plan to visit SF, call ahead (like WmC suggests) and book yourself on the tour. It's really informative and hey endless free beer.

dudes i aint tryin to say that anchor steam is the *best* beer
just that it's good and a unique taste: the banana esters, yo.
is there other beers out there with this profound compound contained therein? i would love to hear about them.

much prefer to yuengling, and find it slightly more agreeable than brooklyn lager tbh. the other brooklyn beers are generally >>> the lager, though.

also this shit is like $12/six here, but new york is retarded expensive.

$12 for a sixer of Anchor Steam in brooklyn = they have srsly raised the taxes on booze in the last two years or u are going to rong stores.

prob a combination of the two. maybe $11 is more accurate? tbf i did go to the shitty expensive organic food store cuz it is closest to the train.

bodega beer is hella expensive

i got a 12 of yeungling for $10 at whole foods last weekend so

ha was about to get excited but you're back east right. yuengling is good

yeah in nyc

i have tended to eagle rock in your absence

Tremendoid, keeper of the flame.

thx my man. is dons still open? i thought i saw him in--lol--trader joes the other day. but i didnt know if hed moved back to brooklyn or what.

you guys, Anchor was sold to an investment company that is hell-bent on expanding the brand to reach more consumers world-wide. We shall see what that spells for the once mighty brewery.

RIP

i bought a pitcher of yuengling for $5 not that long ago.

it was in shitty sports bar in central PA not far from Pottstown though.

xpost -- Yargh. Did this just happen?

a month or two ago, i posted it in the general beer thread. let me find it.

;_;

Well so long as Lagunitas is still going strong on its own...

i just paid a visit to Sierra Nevada Brewery and Chico and gained "hella" newfound respect for them. I think I've under-rated them for years/decades?

you guys, Anchor was sold to an investment company that is hell-bent on expanding the brand

Could it reach Leffe levels of mediocrity?

sold to skyy vodka guys iirc

sierra nevada is a great standby imo. always relatively cheap and reliable

^^ in a pinch, it usually comes back around to SNPA 4 me

good beer to bring to a party if u r not sure what is appropriate

pretty much the #1 selection in terms of BEER THAT IS AVAILABLE AT MOST PLACES THAT SELL BEER

and, really, not a bad choice overall tbh

yeah, i used to think it was just omnipresent mediocre beer but after seeing what they do (esp. compared to lol Anchor), I'm way more into it! Also the brewery offers like 15 types of beer, 10 types that you can't get outside of the premises. Plus their food at the adjoining restaurant is great. Boy did I just get hook, line and sinkiered didn't i?

i really want to get some old portero. saw it once at the store but waited to pull the trigger, a couple weeks later it was gone :(

― call all destroyer, Wednesday, February 17, 2010 3:37 PM (4 months ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Buy it if you see it, but you'll rarely see it.

Always glad to see someone else actually going to the SN brewery and having their 3rd eye and a few more taste buds opened. Go back up there in the spring when they do their maibock, which they only sell from the gift shop, the restaurant and I think a couple of stores in town.

xp--i still see it at two stores around here, but that 70 bucks = 3.5 bottles of rittenhouse i could stock up on before it disappears for god knows how long

I repped for the Sierra Nevada IPA (called Torpedo) on the other beer thread and I'll do it here too. Good and well-priced when it's on sale ($14/12-pack iirc).

Anchor was surely my first "craft" beer; it'll be a shame if they ruin it.

($14/12-pack iirc)

Wow, that seems v cheap.

There pilsner is fantastic (could be the 100+ degree temps influencing that) but their Chico IPA is really refined spin on their famous PA, smoother and less brassy than the Torpedo.

I got two 12-pks of SN PA for 28.48 last week in Atlanta...it's even cheaper if you're lucky enough to live near a Total Wine & More. They had it for about $23 or $24/case last time I looked.

so y'all gonna start a sierra nevada c/d thread now or what?
i stand by my statements abt anchor steam beer. i am sorry to hear that mofos chargin so much for it and that the brewery is now in the hands of dudes w/ $ for eyes, whatever
it's still a special beer to me and a wonderful style

Anchor is meh imo

i useda love Anchor Liberty Ale, but a few years ago they changed the recipe and made it less hoppy and i never went back

report: at the corner store i get beers sometime anchor steam $9.99, sierra nevada $8.99 for sixers
went with the sierras you jerks

better beer, better brand, better brew bro

bah bah bah bah whatever

brooklyn > sierra nevada > anchor >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> yuengling imo

lol @ nyc beer options

yeah i probably would have stanned for anchor when i first started drinking micros but that's just because i loved the bottles/style. it's really just not as good as sierra imo.

plus there are so many solid local options up here that it seems crazy to spend the $$$ when i could be ~helping my local economy~

gbx i had a surly bender mixed with cold brew coffee the other day, damn.

(tried to get a six pack of furious to take home, but forgot you can't buy beer in mpls on sundays :/)

I like Anchor Steam, but I'm not local so the price yadda yadda ripoff etc.

Nobody's been able to tell me: Were Anchor Brewing and their distillery sold together as a package deal? If not, who owns the distillery?

Sierra was way overplayed a few places for a while compared to anchor, and all we seem to get is their pale ale.

gbx i had a surly bender mixed with cold brew coffee the other day, damn.

(tried to get a six pack of furious to take home, but forgot you can't buy beer in mpls on sundays :/)

― emotional radiohead whatever (Jordan), Tuesday, July 13, 2010 2:53 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

did you have that made, or did you get Coffee Bender?

and yeah, Sunday blows in mpls.

protip: only four packs of surly ;)

Guys, you can also drive south on Sundays, now. We just passed a law allowing hard liquor sales in convenience stores!

easier to drive east imo

sconnnnnnnnnnny run

I like Anchor Steam, but I'm not local so the price yadda yadda ripoff etc.

lol it is expensive everywhere except on their brewery tour (free).

did you have that made, or did you get Coffee Bender?

it's a drink at the bedlam theater (i was there for a wedding gig), but i just saw the coffee bender on the surly website and that sounds delicious too.

oh shit you're the reason i couldn't sit on the patio last saturday huh

haha yup. you probably could have crashed anyway or heard the band from down the street, we played out on the patio from like 9 - 12.