Is Anchor Falling Behind?

You answered your own question. The answer is because their beers are so well done that I'm always interested in seeing them make more. Anchor Summer tends to be my jam in the warmer months -- can't wait to see it on the shelves soon.

 

I see them on the shelves everywhere here and decided to try this one the other day and after tasting I will be buying more from them.



Good brew at a decent price…Cheers ~

 

Anchor has some really solid offerings in their line-up but would be good to see them venture out every now and then. That being said, Anchor Steam was one of the beers that really drew me into the craft beer scene and I'm sure continues to do so for other people exploring the craft beer world. Fritz...Thank You!

 

I really don't think Anchor needs to roll out new styles every year. With that being said they have Breckel's Brown now and they worked on the new Zymurgy project lager. I hope I get a chance to try that one someday.

 

Occupy protesters make noise. Anchor makes beer.

 

Anchor just released a new beer, California Lager, the Zymurgy project one, which is excellent. And they released another batch of OBA this winter (tap only I believe), so along with their excellent standard year around offerings, its not like they are falling asleep at the wheel.

 

My son, a die-hard Bud/Keystone Light drinker, got turned on to better beer with Liberty Ale. I am forever in Anchor's debt.

 

I think the free tibet guys made the most noise of any protest that I've seen. That was crazy music.

 

i like Anchor cause they keep it simple...dont get me wrong experiemental beers with 100 different indgredients can be good, but sometimes its too messy...brekles brown is a single malt and a single hop and kicks arse.

 

What a fooking dickish comment to make...

(Yeah, you'll point out the fact you used a winkie emoticon, but that still doesn't excuse the lack of respect for a brewery which helped paved the road for you and your brother)

These guys reintroduced dry-hopping, the porter style, barleywine and THAT is your response?

Really?

In terms of quality, Anchor blows away virtually all other brewers...craft or otherwise.

 

Well, those are claims of the Anchor Brewing Company, but they aren't backed up by the record. Rheingold's McSorley's Ale, Ortlieb's Neuweiler Cream Ale and the Falstaff version of Ballantine XXX Ale and IPA were all still dry-hopped when the first versions of Liberty Ale came out (1975-76).

As for "reintroducing" Porter (and that's a recent claim for Anchor AFAIK- I just heard of it on a recent video they have on their new website), both Stegmaier and Yuengling Porters were still around in the 1970's. The Lion also had their own Porter before they picked up the Steg labels in the early '70's, don't know when they dropped it. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the other local PA breweries (there were still more than a dozen) were still making draught-only porters in the '70's for local bars.

And Falstaff was still making Narragansett Porter and the draught only Krueger Old Surrey Porter in RI the 1970's.

F. X. Matt (then the West End Brewing Co.) brewed a few different draught-only beers for their local market, and I have a vague recollection of a porter being one of their (barely) surviving styles - they once brewed a number of top fermenting beers- including an IPA, a stock ale and a sparkling ale (the latter I know was still around in the '70's).

I'll give 'em "barleywine", tho'.

 

Love me some Old Foghorn!

http://instagr.am/p/JL1d58O0z4/

 

Why re-invent the wheel? If it ain't broke don't fix it. Stick with what you do best. Give the people what they want.
There are four answers to OP question.

 

If Anchor brewed only Anchor Steam Beer it would still be a top 10 brewery imho.

 

Fritz released Liberty in '76 and it was so new, so different from everything else at the time, that was all the new the brewery had to in its lifetime as far as i'm concerned. nearly every beer in their portfolio is good or great.

the last brewery i want to see releasing half baked brews every six months is Anchor.
Cheers.

 

You assume too much ... thanks for the loaded perception. My post has nothing to do with the amount of respect or my view of the brewery's quality. 2000+ brewers in the US now and they are way down the bottom for me in terms of marketing, making noise, etc.

Sort of an "out of sight, out of mind" situation IMO. I know of nanos that market their beer better than most large craft brewers.

 

(clearing throat)
and Steam. can't forget Steam. or is it California Common? depends on which lawyer you ask...
(clearing throat again).

 

Market, yes -- how about brew?

There are just so many new, nano, micro brewers within that 2000+ that fall so short of anything as good as what's been done better by breweries that have weathered the storms over the years.

 

I am relishing all this love for Anchor Brewing. For the record, many years ago (maybe 1990) they brewed a suite of beers (three types, I think) using an old Egyptian recipe that required them to bake hundreds of loaves of bread. There were no hops in that beer. I think you could only buy it at the brewery, and I happened to be there for my first-ever brewery tour, with my wife and kids in tow. I bought a six-pack and drank it over the next few weeks after I was back home. Interesting taste. I wish I had saved the bottles. Anyway, I just wanted to point out that they do try some experimental stuff, and were doing it before many of today's craft breweries existed.

 

Ha, ha-- oh, yeah, there is that, too. (In my defense, IceAce didn't refer to that aspect, so neither did I).

Altho', I have seen people claim erroneously that Anchor invented/created the Steam Beer process, whereas they were merely the last surviving brewer of it. (None of the others survived Prohibition apparently, altho' breweries that had once brewed steam beer did survive IIRC).