Anchor Steam Beer

*subjective

 

And in Tennessee, this is my exact thoughts. I enjoy it every so often, and all year round. And mine is likely not the freshest, but I love it.

 

I recently found some Anchor Steam (unrefrigerated of course) on a store shelf in the heart of Vienna. I decided to give it a pass, as I’m unsure of the age and prefer the cheaper local options in larger bottle formats.

Of course, this discussion has me thirsting for some, and I will probably buy a pack when I’m home, if it’s cheap enough.

 

I've been loving the stovepipe treatment they are giving this now, 1.99-2.19 for over a pint of this one works for me often

 

2 weeks papers

 

Not Fair!!
Looks amazing
Cheers

 

I asked a local bottle shop to get Old Foghorn, and thankfully Brendan came through this year
Cheers

 

I sent an email to Anchor via their beer finder website asking them to bring their beers back to Casper. I got a reply from a fellow named Al, the regional manager of Anchor beers who covers Wyoming. I'll let you know what the outcome is, if interested.

 

I've been drinking Anchor Steam for years and congratulate the OP for starting this thread. It breaks my heart to hear it being equated to an Octoberfest but to each his own, and a legitimate question if that's what you're tasting.

I haven't had one in a while but for anyone wo has seen my picture or posts in the past - part of my youth was spent drinking Anchor Steam in the parking lots of Grateful Dead shows and they remain near and dear to my heart; I'll certainly grab a six to revisit soon but for me it's always been a very partial "5", and has always been a swampy bitter dirty Lager with a rough edge...but you have to imagine the conditions...

...a dreamy scorching hot sun baked parking lot in Southern California, or upstate New York, or a fallow field in Vermont or Oklahoma, or any number of road trips in between Red Rocks or Alpine Valley, or the awesome Knickerbocker Arena in Albany...the sun baked condition of these sixes haphazardly thrown into the back of trunks in cars on tour, then more carefully placed on ice in coolers at the last minute...and then the anticipatory cruise around the parking lot scene looking for goodies...with an Anchor Steam or a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale in a koozie cup, and then spilling out of the show four hours later with a frozen smile on scouting for a cooler with a "$1 beers" sign on it and doing it all over again...that is what Anchor Steam means to me...

Sorry, I got lost, is this Beer Advocate or did I have a flashback??!! Anyway, I'll revisit Anchor Steam hopefully soon this summer and report back, cheers!

 

Cool! I still have a few bottles I brought back from SF and visiting Anchor....great stuff!

 

When I visit San Francisco I stay at The Argonaut right on Fisherman's Wharf. Every time I've been, the bar has Anchor Steam on draft at the cool little bar downstairs. Drinking good fresh Anchor Steam, watching the shipping activity on the bay, and soaking in the city is magical to me.

 

Lately I've been seeing Anchor Steam less frequently around my area, which is unfortunate, and I've been seeing their Liberty Ale and their Porter not at all, which is calamitous. Anchor brews have (what I assume to be) a distinctive yeast profile that's appealed to me since I was a young Nor Cal sprout. I remember when the Liberty Ale was an unusually hop-forward brew; SNPA would come along soon enough and seem enormously hop-forward too. Times have changed!

 

Anchor Steam is just good solid beer that for me carries a bit of nostalgia. In the mid 80s in NC (IIRC), it was one of the few draft choices that was not a Bud/Miller option (were getting Coors then. but seemed more cans that taps) and was always a "splurge" being prob 1-2$ more a pitcher. That old chain Darrell's was prob the first place I had it. I also was a great brew with a pizza but now prefer many things to it. When in SF I enjoy it as much out of tradition and respect for it.

@rgordon --was it a big seller in NC?

 

I have to agree with the other comments that Anchor Steam is at its best by far on tap in the Bay Area. And the Anchor brewery tour is a classic that should not be missed, plus there's some very cool dive bars in that neighborhood for after the tour.

 

It did fine. I think late 70s/early 80s. I used to have to pick up exact order numbers from a bonded and refrigerated warehouse. I love Anchor Steam, but Anchor Liberty was eye-opening. The first one I had just happened to be given to me by a friend from college who lived next door to James Taylor's family. It had been given to him by one of those reprobates!

 

Fritz Maytag is no longer involved in the day to day management, so the new management may have tweaked the profile. Also, I noticed Anchor is now using understandable freshness dates.

 

I think the beer has not changed. Try Anchor Steam Lager .

 

Hasn't that been the case since he sold it to the Skyy Vodka boys - well, "flippers", as it turned out - in 2010, even if Maytag was made "Chairman Emeritus" of the now-defunct "Anchor Brewing and Distilling Co."? (The distillery portion of the company was not sold to Sapporo but had to change it's name - Hotaling & Co.).

"Anchor Steam Lager" ? New beer or are you referring to Anchor California Lager (which is not a "steam" beer)?

 

Found some Anchor Steam over the weekend that was under a month old, so I had to pick it up. Glad I did - forgot how nice and sightly hoppy it is when decently fresh. The new limited edition label is very cool too; you can see it here:
https://www.brewbound.com/news/anchor-brewing-introduces-limited-edition-anchor-steam-beer-label