Bummer…
“Employees complained to VinePair last month about Sapporo’s alleged mismanagement and lack of understanding of craft beer in the US.”
interesting. i do not know much about anchor’s recent history but haven listened to fritz maytag on podcasts and and anchor’s history. made me wonder about why unibroue seems no longer purchasable and anytime i look up stuff about them they are fixated on promoting their weird and out-of-brand megadeth/dave mustaine brews.
very weird.
I posted the recipes from BYO on my threads but can send them here if anyone is interested.
Spread them everywhere.
Sapporo probably didn’t realize they were buying an urban brewery that wasn’t going to be able to be upgraded. I did the tour 10 years ago or so and it was a beautiful space. The mash tun was built into the center of the building and there were two giant copper kettles built into the space as well.
I hadn’t seen Old Foghorn since pre-pandemic and that’s the beer I will miss the most. It was an outstanding barleywine.
Sad times
Anchor Steam was good years ago. Absolute crap recently.
I also toured the brewery several years ago. I’m glad I got the opportunity.
I am so sorry to hear this, even though the quality had gone down in recent years. I make a California Common a couple of times a year, and when people ask me what that is, I say it is similar to Anchor Steam. Most people, especially in the Bay Area, know what that means because they have had one.
Yes, even on the East Coast of the USA we know a good, meaning old time, Anchor Steam.
after sapporro bought them they contracted out the brewing of most of their beers and the character and quality suffered greatly. Most of the anchor steam that was purchased post 2017 was brewed by a pretty crappy contract brewery based out of San Jose, CA
Anchor Steam was the first craft beer I started to drink in 1985. It was a wonderful beer back then. Yes, I would like to see a recipe for it.
In my understanding of history, the term “steam beer” was originally a bit pejorative, but a generic term applied to many beers. Anchor trademarked that name sometime around the late 1970s, so the style had to be called “California Common” instead of “Steam Beer”. Now that Anchor is going under, does their trademark disappear? Can commercial brewers call their brews “Steam Beer” without fear of legal consequences? It may not be a big issue, since I have found very few commercial breweries who make California Common. More than once I have been disappointed because I have seen a California Common listed on a website, but when visiting the brewpub found that they do not have any available.
Had to be called “California Common” due to Anchor Steam
Probably not - the trademark would be part of Anchor’s IP to be liquidated. Whoever buys the IP (since I’m sure it will be sold), will keep the trademark since it’s arguably one of the most valuable bits.
Everyone should realize we all contributed to their demise. When was the last time you purchased Anchor other than for a BJCP class, Christmas Ale, or Old Foghorn?
With the saturation of breweries people stopped buying Anchor and sales declined to the point the parent company wasn’t willing to accept it anymore.
Am I sad, yes, but I know I was one of the reasons they won’t be around anymore unless someone buys the assets to resurrect the brand.
Ya know, I’m not gonna buy beer just to keep a historic brewery alive. I’m gonna buy it if I like it.
One analysis here, it sounds like Sapporo didn’t know what to do with their purchase
I realize this is primarily sourced from employees, but the rebrand was a disaster IMHO.
The question is did you buy it regularly? If the answer is no, and for most people that is the case, then it’s the reason they are closing. It happens all the time in the beer business, but typically not to those who are well established. I can think of three right now within 30 miles who are for sale or closing.
I didn’t buy Anchor because it was one of the more expensive brands on the market. I vividly recall the first time I got my hands on a Liberty Ale, but that experience wasn’t enough to keep me coming back on the regular.
I do hope someone resurrects the brand, and soon. I would also hope they would scrap the new branding in favor of the old.