Anchor closing?!

[DonT]

Very sad to see it close... Anchor Steam was one of my first craft beers back in the day. When my brother and I started brewing in the early '80s, we toured the brewery. As we were walking through the hop storage area, our tour guide had to take care of something and left us standing there alone. Well... with piles of hops staring us in the face, we proceeded to stuff our pockets. When we finished the tour and went into the tasting room our guide offed us a bag full of hops when he learned we home brewed. At that point we showed him our pockets... we all got a good laugh. Memories....

 

[Mr. Vern]

RIP to an iconic brewery that lasted over a century! Revival led by Fritz Maytag in the 80's before selling to the investment group. Fritz sounds like a smart business man, earning himself 12 James Beard awards (one lifetime achievement award and a host of beer/wine/spirits professional awards).

The explosion of breweries and local options provides us with more options than you can shake a paddle at. I still feel sorry for the employees and I will miss their Christmas Ale although Michigan did not get any in 2022.

 

[Witherby]

Not to make light of the subject but maybe they could be persuaded to release their exact recipes for us.

The December 2014 issue of Brew Your Own magazine had a cover feature on Anchor with recipes for Anchor Steam, California Lager, Liberty Ale, Anchor Porter, Old Foghorn, and Anchor Small Beer and very detailed descriptions of their brewing process.

 

[rtstrider]

The December 2014 issue of Brew Your Own magazine had a cover feature on Anchor with recipes for Anchor Steam, California Lager, Liberty Ale, Anchor Porter, Old Foghorn, and Anchor Small Beer and very detailed descriptions of their brewing process.

May just have to subscribe to BYO for the Anchor Liberty Clone recipe From my understanding it's a 2 row/Cascade SMASH. May just use the New Albion Ale recipe from the BYO clone book, add dry hops, and sub in Omega West Coast 2 for the yeast. Figure that'd probably be in the ballpark

 

[hout17]

May just have to subscribe to BYO for the Anchor Liberty Clone recipe From my understanding it's a 2 row/Cascade SMASH

I believe you may be able to go on and just purchase a print copy of that particular issue as well.

Edit: Link to Issue at BYO

 

[jimdkc]

The book "The Anchor Brewing Story" (available on Amazon, hardcover or Kindle) has homebrew recipes for Anchor Steam, Anchor California Lager, Anchor Porter, and Anchor Liberty Ale.

 

[Yesfan]

RIP to an iconic brewery that lasted over a century! Revival led by Fritz Maytag in the 80's before selling to the investment group. Fritz sounds like a smart business man, earning himself 12 James Beard awards (one lifetime achievement award and a host of beer/wine/spirits professional awards).

The explosion of breweries and local options provides us with more options than you can shake a paddle at. I still feel sorry for the employees and I will miss their Christmas Ale although Michigan did not get any in 2022.

First thing I thought of when I started reading this thread was Fritz bringing the company back from the dead. If anyone hasn't seen the old Beer Hunter episode talking about Anchor, I highly recommend the below video from The Beer Hunter series. It was a cool show hosted by Michael Jackson (no, not that Michael Jackson) back in the 80s. Im pretty sure all the episodes are on YouTube to binge watch (which I did a couple of years ago).

 

[DoctorDuvel]

i hate cali "lager" yeast so my empathy is solely for the employees. i simply wont buy their stuff as it all tastes the same to me. except the porter, but that's pretty rare to see on shelves. even when they got bought out before sapporo and tried to be hip trendy micro they had very limited success. i think the premise of building a brewery around a somewhat specific and love-it-or-leave-it yeast isnt really feasible anymore

As far as i know, cali lager was mainly only used in the Steam beer. Unless you're talking about their ale yeast which was used in most of their other beers, which is pretty distinct, and i could see some people not liking it.

 

[matt_m]

Mine on the right, theirs on the left. Pretty damn close except mine is probably a little undercarbonated so I cranked it up a couple PSI. I have 5 bottles left, need to have my wife help me do a triangle test.

 

[SanPancho]

As far as i know, cali lager was mainly only used in the Steam beer. Unless you're talking about their ale yeast which was used in most of their other beers, which is pretty distinct, and i could see some people not liking it.

the original stuff.

 

[wepeeler]

Sad. I looked forward to their Christmas Ale every year. Although I wasn't a big fan of the last few year's versions. Still a bummer.

 

[balrog]

Goose Island

I miss Honkers Ale.

 

[Malticulous]

I seen two six pack sitting warm on the shelf at the market today. Had to buy them anyway. Probably the last I'll see. I gave one pack to my friend that intrduced me to that beer.

 

[tracer bullet]

Mine on the right, theirs on the left. Pretty damn close except mine is probably a little undercarbonated so I cranked it up a couple PSI. I have 5 bottles left, need to have my wife help me do a triangle test.

Did you follow their recipe pretty closely (i.e. the BYO link shared earlier)? I found theirs to be far sweeter than mine, and / or fruitier. I will of course compare recipes again.

 

[MaxStout]

Sad to see Anchor close. I'll have to brew a clone/tribute soon.

I wonder if the BJCP will change "California Common" to "Steam Beer" now that Anchor (the trademark holder) is no more. I'm not a lawyer, though, so I don't know how all that works.

The trademark becomes abandoned 3 years after the trademark holder deliberately stops using it. After that, the owner has no legal claim to its use. The TM goes into the public domain unless someone else registers it with the USPTO.

Let's check back here in July 2027 for an Anchor Steam brew-a-thon.

 

[3 Dawg Night]

The trademark becomes abandoned 3 years after the trademark holder deliberately stops using it. After that, the owner has no legal claim to its use. The TM goes into the public domain unless someone else registers it with the USPTO.

Let's check back here in July 2027 for an Anchor Steam brew-a-thon.

But, since Sapporo owns it and isn't going out of business, would the three years still apply?

 

[mac_1103]

The trademark becomes abandoned 3 years after the trademark holder deliberately stops using it. After that, the owner has no legal claim to its use. The TM goes into the public domain unless someone else registers it with the USPTO.

They don't have to keep making the beer to keep using the trademark though. They could sell nostalgia merch for instance.

But, since Sapporo owns it and isn't going out of business, would the three years still apply?

Yes. You have to actively use the specific trademark.

 

[matt_m]

Did you follow their recipe pretty closely (i.e. the BYO link shared earlier)? I found theirs to be far sweeter than mine, and / or fruitier. I will of course compare recipes again.

I used the recipe from the Anchor History book.

 

[jimdkc]

Going to have to try the Anchor Porter recipe from the book. It's always been one of my favorites.

 

[MaxStout]

But, since Sapporo owns it and isn't going out of business, would the three years still apply?

The 3 year limit on the TM starts to run down when the owner stops using it. It doesn't matter whether the owner (Sapporo in this case) is still in business. Trademark protection only applies as long as the owner keeps using the TM. When they intentionally stop using it, that clock starts running, and the owner loses the TM after 3 years.

 

[shoengine]

Darn, that blows. Fortunately I got a chance to go there a couple years back on the way to a wedding. It was busy as hell. Wonder what it takes to be profitable these days?

 

[DoctorDuvel]

Darn, that blows. Fortunately I got a chance to go there a couple years back on the way to a wedding. It was busy as hell. Wonder what it takes to be profitable these days?

Probably helps not to be in San Fran or probably CA in general. Wish they considered relocating and/or downsizing. Kind of feel that there was some mismanagement involved.

 

[rtstrider]

Looks like byo removed the pay wall and has the anchor clone recipes for free now


https://byo.com/article/anchor-clon...SxtirHsyVMotwRe2srKx7PutNpbGcpWwlZuRSDli8dWtA

 

[BrianB]

I loved their Christmas Ale and was successful getting some each year for a few years running here in Maryland. Sorry to see them go out of business. I'll miss it during the Holiday season.

 

[Oleson M.D.]

When I heard this news, a keg of Anchor Steam was ordered, and we picked up two six packs. There were only 6 kegs in the Dallas market, and I got one of them!

 

[Wildmild]

My only Anchor experience was with Anchor Steam beer. Didn't seem much different from Budmilcoors. Maybe they're closing because there are so many good competitors now.

Back in the day when there was only Budmil (Coors not sold in east US) and related lagers Anchor Steam was the only alternative except Sierra Nevada. None of the IPAs existed yet.
Anchor Porter was pretty good.

 

[InspectorJon]

Must have been 1973 or 74 in high school when I first found Anchor Steam in the East SF Bay Area. It was like an epiphany, American beer with flavor. We served it at our wedding in 1981. Lots of memories around that beer. Sierra Nevada kind of took over Anchor’s place in my refrigerator somewhere along the line; and then other micro breweries.

Nostalgically sad to hear the news, but honestly, I don’t think I’ve bought Anchor more than a few times in the last decade. I am surprised any manufacturing company can survive in San Francisco. It’s kind of like California on steroids but I guess we’re not supposed to talk politics. I think I’ll go to the store and look for a six pack for old time sake.

 

[wetmk]

Back in the day when there was only Budmil (Coors not sold in east US) and related lagers Anchor Steam was the only alternative except Sierra Nevada. None of the IPAs existed yet.
Anchor Porter was pretty good.

I never really liked Anchor Steam. I thought it overrated. That being said... I would agree wholeheartedly with the above quote if Anchor Steam was replaced with Anchor Liberty Ale.
Cheers.

 

[rtstrider]

Welp have the Anchor Steam recipe waiting for an open keg and brewed the California lager, using wlp810, yesterday. The California lager is going to actually cold condition in the keg for a month or so with gelatin after fermentation. Basically it's going to sit in the keg until morning of the FSU/LSU kickoff then time to tap! Going to brew the Libery ale after getting through the slew of the upcoming Oktoberfest brews and may try my hand at their Porter recipe around Christmas. Never brewed a Porter before so thinking that might be a good excuse to bust out the wlp051 and give it a go

 

[Albionwood]

Pretty interesting reporting on the situation here, from the business perspective and with employee observations.
https://vinepair.com/articles/sapporo-usa-anchor-brewing-liquidation-analysisTo me it reads exactly like so many other acquisitions by large corporations. Instead of leveraging Sapporo's marketing and distribution power while leaving the brewery to make Anchor beer, they seem to have tried to change everything about the brewery. Maybe they might have got away with that in the past when the craft beer market was expanding and everything worked, but today it's contracting and even the best-run and innovative companies are beginning to struggle:
https://www.goodbeerhunting.com/sig...pting-leading-breweries-to-reconsider-successLike so many other homebrewers, Anchor Steam was a big deal for me 30-40 years ago, and I brewed various clones of it many times over the years. It held up well for decades. But eventually it fell off a little in quality and failed to stand out against all the great craft beers flooding the shelves and restaurants. At some point years ago I realized it was disappointing me every time I drank one.