Anchor Aweigh! (July 28th - 30th)

Perfect - my last 4 year old Old Foghorn - from my last trip to the city by the Bay and Anchor in 2019.....such an amazing brew!

 

Good Sunday morn to you all. I’ve had a handful plus Anchor beers over the years, including Steam, Our Christmas Ale, Liberty IPA, and Old Foghorn. I at least never rated their Porter and don’t specifically recall trying it (though I did have their Coffee Porter at some point).

I have what will likely be my last six-pack (under current management) of Steam at home, but happened to fund this filling up two facings, creeping over into the spot that once held Steam six-packs. This Anchor California Lager hasn’t a great date, but the couple I had the other day tasted fine enough.


Perfectly clear, allowing one to be entranced by the bubbles that sustain a half centimeter full cap of white foam. The nose has a cereal malt vibe, with what I am assuming a mix of yeast and hops bringing a fruity floral aroma.

A nice, bready malt hits my tongue first, though there’s a hint of staleness that gets accentuated by an odd pause in flavor. It’s a bit like an earthy hops decides to take over and then spends a few seconds going over the plans before executing them.

There’s a familiar mineral companion to the earthy bitterness that marches firearms after the pause. I wish I could have this alongside a Steam to see if it’s something “in the Anchor DNA” I am getting. The finish tries to turn grassy, but the conditions apparently aren’t quite right for anything lush and green.

Warmth brings a little bit of orchard fruit and the mineral note combines with the earthy to become a tad more clay-like, but these are small deviations on the overall experience. The lingering dry grass and pine needles that aren’t so distinct in single early sips tend to build up with successive tips of the glass and are what tips this beer into the enjoyable category for me.

 

I'll miss you most of all, Scarecrow

 

Happy Sunday afternoon. Thanks @FBarber for starting this Anchor thread. A bitter/sweet send off for sure.

Enjoying an Anchor Crisp Pilsner 5% ABV (American style Pilsner). This is a beer I don't ever recalling seeing often except in the mixed pack. Thus, I had never tried it. It's very good. Delivers on everything you expect from an American pilsner but with notably more flavor and aroma. Kind of suprising it didn't do better in the local area? Stiff competetion outside there but if this were a local offering for me, I'd definitely would have been be a regular drinker. Medium body, biscuity and grainy malt with a hint of honey. Spicy hops and restrained bitterness. It's semi-sweet, but finishes dry and clean. Hitting the spot on this humid 90°+ north Georgia afternoon. Cheers to Anchor!

 

I'm actually surprised by the small number of beer posts in this thread. I thought there'd be much more action after the amount of posts in the "news" threads.

This is my second post of Griffin Group beers. Old Foghorn from April 2015. I had one of these 2015s not long ago - perhaps a little before the initial announcement of the distribution cutback. I was surprised by how good that bottle was. Time for another.

I've said this before, but Old Foghorn is one of the great beer names in craft. This beer has great carbonation. Very dark ruby color. Smells of oxidation and dark fruit. It has a sticky residual sugar feel, but not in a way that creates an overly heavy body... and it's not overly sweet for what it is either. Tastes of burnt sugar, maple syrup... and there's a strong bitterness that lingers on the finish. Fantastic.

This beer has aged better than the Anchor brown ale from earlier. It doesn't have the high acidity of that beer. This beer has much more body than the brown ale.

I'm still tickled that BA lists this as an "English" barley wine despite the brewer claiming it's in the American style... and its critical importance in the development of American barley wine for craft brewers... and the Cascades used for dry hopping it.

@jesskidden , you've always done great work deflating Anchor's exaggerated claims of "firsts." Out of general curiosity (I'm not asking due to any Anchor marketing), what was the situation like for strong ale in America before the 70s? Beyond colonial times and Ballantine Burton Ale (which I assume wasn't commercially available), I rarely see any mention of strong ale. Were stock ales being made and sold (without dilution) after prohibition? (Apologies if the answer to that isn't easily encapsulated)

 

Honestly, I think it was a snooze you lose situation. I hit my local beer store two days after the closure announcement got out. Every six pack of Anchor Steam was gone. One sixer of the Porter was left and a couple of the mixed packs. After that, all I heard about and saw was empty shelves.

 

Anchor Old Foghorn -- Bottled February 10, 2023. 10.2 ABV


L -- Clear, deep copper-brown with a firm, off-white to light tan head that holds up very well. 4.5

S -- Caramel malt, earthy and herbal hops, dark fruit esters, light cocoa, and peppery alcohol. 4.5

T -- Herbal to earthy hops up front, sweetish caramel malt, light cocoa, dark fruit, hot alcohol. 4.5

F -- Mouthfeel is soft and syrupy with a crisp and dry finish. Light-robust body. 4.5

O -- Maybe my first ever Barleywine back in the 20th century -- or at least my second.

It wowed me then for what beer could be, it still wows today.

A very nice winter warmer, but rich and tasty no matter the weather. Another to be sadly missed. 5.0

 

Anchor San Pancho Mexican style lager 4.9% ABV. This one went off the rails a bit. On the sweet side, low bitterness and a citrusy note. Drinkable, but I can see this being a tough beer to find a market for. Not sure you could pry away a Corona (with lime) drinker with this. It's not too bad, just not something I would drink again. Cheers to Anchor!

 

Well, the famous Ballantine Burton Ale "Christmas brew" of the post-Repeal era was not sold - even says it on that label but the pre-Prohibition (so, still under Ballantine family ownership) brewery brewed and marketed Old Burton Ale (likely no relationship to the post-Repeal beer), which was coincidentally one of the very few US ales I've ever found that used the term "barley wine", but only in ads not on the label.

You'll find a lot of brewers noted that before Prohibition alcohol content was seldom promoted (they claimed it was Prohibition that made beer drinkers over-emphasize alcohol levels) and, of course, AFTER Prohibition into the 1990s it was general prohibited to list ABW or ABV on labels. Even in states which required it, often due to retail licenses or excise tax purposes, it was usually stated in a particular range, not a specific number, such as:

But there were a few higher alcohol ales around besides Ballantine's India Pale Ale (usually claimed to be 7-7.5%) after Repeal, some labeled "Stock Ale", but they were likely no higher than 7 - 8% ABV.

 

A 2023 Old Foghorn is the beer in this thread I wish I had. Great post from you to go with it too.

 

I enjoy a good barleywine. Regret I never tried this one. It was one of those beers I used to see a good bit here in GA four or five years ago, but rarely saw it the last two or three. Nice review.

 

Damn - the early ed.'s of Jackson's Pocket Guide to Beer in the late 1980s put the ABV of Old Foghorn at 8.75% and, as noted in the Anchor threads going on, Jackson had a personal relationship with Maytag, so it was likely Anchor's stat.

 

Me too!!!

 

Located Porter and Steam, both brewed in June, 23. (Pretty stoked) I'll share the Steam at a graduation/pool party later today, but the Porter is all mine.


So good. Creamy, chocolate malt, with nice bitterness to avoid the sweet.

 

I hadn't had a Barleywine in a long time before I found these -- I'm going to have to look more for some others. Hopefully somewhat as good too!

I also noticed I've never reviewed a Barleywine, but maybe that's just the English style. I know I've had my share of Bigfoot. When I can find it.

BTW -- Porter is the one that got away for me. Wish I'd found one last six-pack. Might have to wander into some off the beaten track stores to see what I might find.

 

Another Liberty Ale
Cheers

 

Damn, back to back. Must love me some Anchor!
This is the last Porter I have. Sure is a tasty, well made porter.

Cheers

 

This is really great. Thank you. I didn't know about their earlier Burton Ale! I was also wondering about the India Ale ABV.

As you know, Anchor doesn't exactly paste stats all over their product. My 2015 bottle had no ABV listed. I've seen claims of 8.9 to 10.something over the years... and it's no doubt changed over time. For what it's worth, their website currently states 9.8%. @steveh

 

Well, this may be my last Anchor Steam - ever. Last one from the mixed pack. Doubt I can find more.

 

As my contribution, I sampled the Steam, Pils, Lager, and West Coast IPA from a variety pack I found locally.

I visited Anchor a few years ago on a random weekday, and they happened to be celebrating the 200th birthday of Anchor founder Gottlieb Breckle. They even brewed a beer in his honor (anachronistically, a barrel aged beer) and they had some of his descendants in attendance. Truly something that could only have happened at a brewery like Anchor.