Anchor closing?!

[Dog House Brew]

Great article on Sierra and the others. Breweries in the growth cycle were able to ride the wave. Cores are fine, core portfolios just don’t work now. SN paid attention to the market shifts. The others were not as attentive to change. Anchor never really changed at all. I still remember the collab Fritz did with Koch at Sam Adams. They came in a case of different 750ml corked bottles. The Anchor one was fantastic. All the others were Fantastic beers!! Now the shelves are flooded with tons of IPA, most are out of date. People then buy and the beers are not good. I’m amazed at how poor so many of these beers are made. I’m always asking myself, “what are they thinking?” I think that is what happened riding that huge wave. They weren’t thinking, they were riding.

 

[ITV]

Purchased in 17 and Union formed in 19. Worker dissatisfaction usually comes with a buyout. Didn’t Sapporo recently purchase Stone? Stone also was running in the red. Will that be the next closure? So many options on the shelf now. Still another sad story. I’ll keep supporting the independent labels when I buy.

Next closure, Bells?

Another take on the Anchor story: How Sapporo USA Sank Anchor Brewing Co.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

I wonder how much of this is due to the horrible economy. Workers can write their own tickets these days, but how many people are willing to keep buying good beer as the price shoots up? Also, how much of it is due to consumers learning to recognize bad beer in fancy bottles? I think weeding out is inevitable.

 

[BrewerofBeers]

It's good beer. What happened was exactly what they said it was: inflation, competition, high operating cost. What that means is, not selling enough beer. Making good beer is the easy part (we homebrewers do it). Marketing, distributing, packaging, etc, all at a reasonble cost to the buyer is the challenge. These days, it seems a brewey can thrive for a few years on an exciting new introduction, which is often a strong IPA of some sort, which may even be featured in taps in bars and restaurants. It's been that way for decades. Anchor Steam seemed to refuse to bend to the explosion of IPAs and NEIPAs. Nor did they want to make an 7-8% standout modern beer. Also, they didn't fit in with the light beer crowd who drinks buds and coors.

 

[day_trippr]

In 1990 there were less than 250 licensed breweries in the USA.
In 2022 there were over 9700 licensed breweries in the USA.

Predation happens...

Cheers!

 

[Oleson M.D.]

It's good beer. What happened was exactly what they said it was: inflation, competition, high operating cost. What that means is, not selling enough beer. Making good beer is the easy part (we homebrewers do it). Marketing, distributing, packaging, etc, all at a reasonble cost to the buyer is the challenge. These days, it seems a brewey can thrive for a few years on an exciting new introduction, which is often a strong IPA of some sort, which may even be featured in taps in bars and restaurants. It's been that way for decades. Anchor Steam seemed to refuse to bend to the explosion of IPAs and NEIPAs. Nor did they want to make an 7-8% standout modern beer. Also, they didn't fit in with the light beer crowd who drinks buds and coors.

And that is exactly why we liked Anchor Steam. They brewed the beer we like. Not chasing the flavor of the day.

 

[beren]

And that is exactly why we liked Anchor Steam. They brewed the beer we like. Not chasing the flavor of the day.

The flavor *we* like. But we don't pay the bills, the trendy flavor of the day does, sadly.

 

[bhanson]

I was always a bigger fan of the porter, although their steam beer was also something unique. And Liberty ale once upon a time was the hoppiest thing we'd seen.

Anchor shut down before, before Fritz Maytag bought it and turned it around. Anything's possible, but we're in a period of consolidation for sure, so if we see it again, it's likely to be some contract brewery buying rights to brand and recipes.

Honestly, I haven't bought any of their beer in years at this point, but it makes me sad.

 

[bike2brew]

I'm glad I had the opportunity to purchase a 6 at total wine last winter. Sad that I won't get a chance again. It was good beer and given the state of the future its reassuring that we have access to clone recipes of favorite beers

 

[MaxStout]

Plenty o' factors in this (and the larger issue of breweries shutting down, in general). Some that come to mind right away:
1. A Darwinian thinning of the herd going on. Unsustainable, what with 9700 U.S. breweries, per @day_trippr's data.
2. Fickle tastes among beer drinkers.
3. Competition from other beverages, and a trend among some people to eschew alcohol altogether.
4. Inflation, meaning less disposable income for buying craft beer.
5. Supply chain issues and post-Covid price-gouging turning away some consumers who refuse to pay $12-$15/4-pack, or $8 a pint in a taproom.
6. Quality problems in some packaged beer--e.g., short shelf life of certain varieties.
7. Poor management.
8. Acquisition of craft breweries by large corporate entities, then the inevitable cuts when one doesn't live up to revenue projections.

 

[beren]

One of the things that got me into brewing was $20-$35 for a *growler* fill of craft beer. Even Blue Moon was $15 at a bar that did growlers.

 

[day_trippr]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/dontse...pearheads-efforts-to-save-anchor-brewing/amp/

 

[Brushwood Brewing]

After hearing this, I ordered my final Anchor Steam on draft at a tavern in Delaware over the weekend. RIP.

 

[pdxal]

Regardless of location this is a trend. "Old school" craft breweries that were in the first/earlier waves that didn't keep up with or set new trends are falling by the wayside all over the country. When was the last time you bought an Anchor Steam, or a Fat Tire, for that matter?

 

[tracer bullet]

Regardless of location this is a trend. "Old school" craft breweries that were in the first/earlier waves that didn't keep up with or set new trends are falling by the wayside all over the country. When was the last time you bought an Anchor Steam, or a Fat Tire, for that matter?

Anchor Steam a few times a year, in 6-pack form, for me. Got harder to find when they started canning, I didn't know what to actually look for.

Never fat tire, I didn't actually ever like it. Just not my style.

 

[madscientist451]

Plenty o' factors in this (and the larger issue of breweries shutting down, in general). Some that come to mind right away:

3. Competition from other beverages, and a trend among some people to eschew alcohol altogether.

Was at the beer store the other day (we still have the "beer distributor" model here) and I noticed most of the customers when I was there were picking up Truly, White Claw and Hard lemonade.

 

[Oleson M.D.]

Regardless of location this is a trend. "Old school" craft breweries that were in the first/earlier waves that didn't keep up with or set new trends are falling by the wayside all over the country. When was the last time you bought an Anchor Steam, or a Fat Tire, for that matter?

We have been buying 1/6 bbl of Anchor. It was a staple in my tap rotation.

 

[shoengine]

Was at the beer store the other day (we still have the "beer distributor" model here) and I noticed most of the customers when I was there were picking up Truly, White Claw and Hard lemonade.

I go to a lot of sporting events and by far the most common drink I see men drinking is seltzer. One guy at a hockey game had a stack of three Truly cans on the arm of his seat.

 

[beren]

Regardless of location this is a trend. "Old school" craft breweries that were in the first/earlier waves that didn't keep up with or set new trends are falling by the wayside all over the country. When was the last time you bought an Anchor Steam, or a Fat Tire, for that matter?

Fat Tire? Not long ago

 

[beren]

A lot of people really like seltzer because it gets them drunk and it’s very few calories. It’s not really about the taste.

 

[BrewerofBeers]

I've actually had Anchor Steam a couple times on draught recently.

 

[hout17]

Fat Tire? Not long ago

I liked Fat Tire and so did my father in law. He kept it in his fridge regularly that is until they changed the recipe..sigh.... Lol

 

[mac_1103]

Anchor went broke primarily because revenues plummeted. Revenues plummeted primarily due to out of state sales falling off a cliff. I'm just not seeing what that has to do with their location, even though I have no doubt that there are all sorts of issues with trying to run a business in SF.

 

[bwible]

Plenty o' factors in this (and the larger issue of breweries shutting down, in general). Some that come to mind right away:
1. A Darwinian thinning of the herd going on. Unsustainable, what with 9700 U.S. breweries, per @day_trippr's data.
2. Fickle tastes among beer drinkers.
3. Competition from other beverages, and a trend among some people to eschew alcohol altogether.
4. Inflation, meaning less disposable income for buying craft beer.
5. Supply chain issues and post-Covid price-gouging turning away some consumers who refuse to pay $12-$15/4-pack, or $8 a pint in a taproom.
6. Quality problems in some packaged beer--e.g., short shelf life of certain varieties.
7. Poor management.
8. Acquisition of craft breweries by large corporate entities, then the inevitable cuts when one doesn't live up to revenue projections.

Plus, CA. Enough said there. I read one article where the employees were all blaming Sapporro who bought the company and ran it into the ground.

 

[bwible]

My club was also sending around emails and discussing this. We’re planning a Christmas beer exchange this year among the club and I’m thinking in advance. In honor of this I should brew an attempt in the style of Our Special Ale. I’ve searched for clone recipes and not found much outside of the Clonebrews book. From what I know the recipe was different every year. Thats not a bad thing in my opinion, since there’s no one “thing” you have to nail.

I’m thinking in the style of a winter warmer, approx 7%. I think I have a decent handle on the base recipe, hops, grains, yeast. Where I’m weak is on spices. I generally don’t brew spiced beers. Does anybody who has drank Our Special Ale frequently or who frequently brews spiced beers have any input of the kind and amount of spices you would try in an Our Special Ale clone? Thanks for any input.

Maybe we put a group recipe here and we can all brew it. Or whoever wants to.

 

[Dog House Brew]

A lot of people really like seltzer because it gets them drunk and it’s very few calories. It’s not really about the taste.

That’s what they make spirits for. I’ve never had any seltzer that I said, wow that’s awesome. They have all had an artificial taste.

 

[beren]

That’s what they make spirits for. I’ve never had any seltzer that I said, wow that’s awesome. They have all had an artificial taste.

Yeah but taxes/convenience/social expectations make that unpopular. Popping open a few cans of seltzer is easier and a closer experience to social beer than mixing a jack and coke. Plus many venues don’t allow liquor sales, and if you bring a flask you're the ‘drinker’ and have something to carry arround when done.

 

[bwible]

So for a first draft of an Our Special Ale recipe, I came up with this. I wanted to use up the little bit of honey malt I have left and I've had a jar of molasses waiting to be used for a long time. Everything said figs and dark fruit, so this seemed appropriate. I wanted to get to 7%, went about .5 on the hop ratio since this is a spiced beer. I brew 3 gallon batches, all my brews are 3.5 gallons into the fermenter so that I actually end up with 3 gallons of finished beer. Simpson's Best is what I have a sack of, you could use Maris Otter.

Winter Warmer - OSA
17-A British Strong Ale

Size: 3.5 gal
Efficiency: 81.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%

Original Gravity: 1.072 (1.055 - 1.080)
Terminal Gravity: 1.018 (1.015 - 1.022)
Color: 16.76 SRM (8.0 - 22.0)
Alcohol: 7.07% (5.5% - 8.0%)
Bitterness: 33.1 (30.0 - 60.0)

Ingredients:

6.5 lb (75.9%) Simpson's Best Pale Ale Malt - added during mash
.5 lb (5.8%) Special Roast Malt - added during mash
.5 lb (5.8%) Munich 10L Malt - added during mash
.25 lb (2.9%) American Honey Malt - added during mash

.5 lb (5.8%) Molasses - added during boil, boiled 60 m
5 oz (3.6%) Light Brown Sugar - added during boil, boiled 60 m

.75 oz (50.0%) Northern Brewer (6.4%) - boiled 60 m
.75 oz (50.0%) Northern Brewer (6.4%) - boiled 20 m
1 ea Vanilla (whole bean) - boiled 15 m
2 tsp Orange Peel (dried) - boiled 15 m
.25 tsp Allspice - boiled 15 m

1.0 ea Wyeast 1272 American Ale II™


Results generated by BeerTools Pro 2.0.24

 

[tracer bullet]

BYO has an article about Anchor if folks are interested (free to read):

https://byo.com/article/anchor-clon...-66637638&mc_cid=b188101318&mc_eid=00bbdcbc16

 

[Wrendelar]

So for a first draft of an Our Special Ale recipe, I came up with this. I wanted to use up the little bit of honey malt I have left and I've had a jar of molasses waiting to be used for a long time. Everything said figs and dark fruit, so this seemed appropriate. I wanted to get to 7%, went about .5 on the hop ratio since this is a spiced beer. I brew 3 gallon batches, all my brews are 3.5 gallons into the fermenter so that I actually end up with 3 gallons of finished beer. Simpson's Best is what I have a sack of, you could use Maris Otter.

Winter Warmer - OSA
17-A British Strong Ale

Size: 3.5 gal
Efficiency: 81.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%

Original Gravity: 1.072 (1.055 - 1.080)
Terminal Gravity: 1.018 (1.015 - 1.022)
Color: 16.76 SRM (8.0 - 22.0)
Alcohol: 7.07% (5.5% - 8.0%)
Bitterness: 33.1 (30.0 - 60.0)

Ingredients:

6.5 lb (75.9%) Simpson's Best Pale Ale Malt - added during mash
.5 lb (5.8%) Special Roast Malt - added during mash
.5 lb (5.8%) Munich 10L Malt - added during mash
.25 lb (2.9%) American Honey Malt - added during mash

.5 lb (5.8%) Molasses - added during boil, boiled 60 m
5 oz (3.6%) Light Brown Sugar - added during boil, boiled 60 m

.75 oz (50.0%) Northern Brewer (6.4%) - boiled 60 m
.75 oz (50.0%) Northern Brewer (6.4%) - boiled 20 m
1 ea Vanilla (whole bean) - boiled 15 m
2 tsp Orange Peel (dried) - boiled 15 m
.25 tsp Allspice - boiled 15 m

1.0 ea Wyeast 1272 American Ale II™


Results generated by BeerTools Pro 2.0.24

looks tasty, might contemplate adding the molasses and brown sugar later in the boil say around 5min left, they don't need to boil just mix in