Anchor Brewing to be acquired by Sapporo

Sad news indeed.

 

So is Sapporo "big beer" or can we keep drinking Anchor?

 

"...while it might not fit the definition of some self-appointed organizations, we’ll always be the original, and we’ll still be handcrafted in San Francisco.”



Geez, you'd think that the current management at Anchor would be a little more kind to the Brewers Association, given that they looked the other way when Anchor was sold to The Griffin Group yet kept Anchor on the "Craft Brewer" list despite seeming to go against the B.A.'s "Independent" definition:

Anchor is still a member of the Brewers Association (well, for now) and was a founding member IIRC. Fritz Maytag was president of the old Brewers Association of America for several terms, one of the two merged brewers organization that formed the current Brewers Association.

As for Sapporo, the 2016 TOP 50 BREWERS lists from the Brewers Association had them at #19 on the "Overall" list (based on their contract-brewing of Sapporo and Sleeman beers at City La Crosse in WI) but absent from the Craft list, so that would mean Anchor should lose the B.A. "Craft Brewer" designation this time under the current definition, but you never know with the B.A.

Sapporo USA's website's press releases last year claimed "all Sapporo products sold in the U.S. are brewed in the U.S. and Canada" but current TTB COLAs for Sapporo brands - Premium, Reserve and Black - list their origin as Sapporo's Vietnam brewery (from the labels themselves):

 

"I am a man of fixed and unbending principles, the first of which is to be flexible at all times."

Everett Dirksen (for many years the Senior Republican Senator from Illinois).

 

When I saw Anchor putting out the Lemon Lager, Blackberry IPA, Mango Wheat and Blood Orange Blonde it made me worried that their sales had gone down.

 

Weird. I never realized how big Sapparo was.

 

From the linked article I took note of:

“Anchor Brewing management said it did not specifically plan for a complete acquisition. However, to support the brewery’s long-term future and further international expansion (it currently distributes to 20 countries), it needed to relinquish full ownership to Sapporo.”

I posted in the ongoing thread of “The Craft Beer Boom Has Gone Flat”:

“I wonder if the US craft breweries could expand exports to remain economically viable? Maybe that is one way they could grow/expand the market for US craft beer?”

It would appear that Anchor/Sapporo are thinking along these lines.

Cheers!

 

Indeed. As was Magee of Lagunitas.

 

The hop company Baarth Haas Group's 2015 Barth Report, had Sapporo at #28 worldwide with a barrelage of 8.6m hectolitres (~7.3 million barrels) in 2014. Quite a bit smaller than Japanese rivals Kirin (partial owner of Brooklyn Brewery) and Asahi (brewer of Pilsner Uquell).

 

Very disappointing, but not entirely unexpected.

Though I suppose if this makes Anchor Porter more prevalent here in Virginia, I might be a little more forgiving.

 

As a native SFer, that makes me sad. But as others said... their attempts at chasing current trends have been falling pretty flat.

 

Yeah, but OTOH if they didn't brew them, all the beer geeksters would have been moaning about how "boring" Anchor beers were, how they weren't "innovative" and how disappointing their variety packs were because they contained 3 bottles of Anchor Steam Beer (which grandpa used to drink on tap during the Summer of Love when he was a roadie for Moby Grape).

But, yeah, it was sad to see those beers on the shelves, especially when the other classic Anchor beers were so often either absent or well past their freshness date ('round here, anyway).

 

This is the bit that interests me the most. As of me posting this, Anchor STILL bears the "Independent Craft" seal of approval on the BA directory.

 

Well, Uncle Charlie and his minions might still be asleep in the Rockies and, according to Sapporo's Press Release:

...so, the B.A.'s got time to either update their website or make another "exception" to their definition .

 

The smart move for Anchor, IMO, would have been concentrating on getting the freshest beer possible out to their customers and concentrating on the "classic" nature of those beers. Not putting out ham-handed attempts to stay relevant.

Number one reason that I don't drink Anchor here in PA. We just don't get fresh beer out here.

 

The completion of the agreement was my thought as well.

 

If you like the beer, drink it. If you don't like the beer, don't drink it. If you've convinced yourself beer corporations are conspiring evil against smaller beer companies then stop supporting them. But don't stop at beer - include your smart phone, your car, the food you buy and maybe you'll actually have some credibility.