Anchor Beer stopped selling nationally

[Wedunne]

What a bummer. This is my wife and my favorite brand. It’s not always easy to find a beer we both like, but we both enjoyed all of Anchor’s beers.

[mnavarre]

I was worried about this when Sapporo bought them, even though they really hadn't been relevant in years. Totally sucks, just a simply iconic brand, but they hadn't really updated to market trends and changing taste profiles. Now it's time to start worrying about Stone.

We got to do a VIP tour back in 2009 that was mostly brewers and other industry people. I was cool, as we had a lot more time, saw a lot more stuff, and ended up way drunker than you would on the normie tour. Most people also don't care about dissolved oxygen levels in the packaged beer coming off their canning line, but I got to have a lengthy conversation with the shift supervisor on their bottling line. We also got to see their distillery, shoot the shit with the brewers, that kind of thing.

Also Fritz Maytag was maybe one of the nicest industry rockstars I've ever spoken to. Lovely man, who arguably enabled the whole craft beer movement, and my career. I was sad when he sold Anchor.

[Bkhuna]

Maybe they can relocate to somewhere that is friendlier to business. Living where I do, I haven't seen Anchor for decades but I fondly remember that Anchor was my first real beer when I moved to San Diego in 1975.

[jfmorris]

Yeah, I have to think the business environment in San Fran is part of what killed them... but given what I am reading, relocation won't be happening. The business is kaput. The best we can hope is someone else buys the facility and takes over their recipes. I wish they would publish their recipes before they cease operations, but doubt that will happen.

[WillTravelForFood]

Maybe they can relocate to somewhere that is friendlier to business. Living where I do, I haven't seen Anchor for decades but I fondly remember that Anchor was my first real beer when I moved to San Diego in 1975.

Based on what we've been reading, it's not anything specific to San Francisco that's the issue. They've had $ issues since the Sapporo buy-out.

[mnavarre]

Yeah, I'm sure SF's gummit didn't help, but that's not the predicate cause. Mostly they tried to do too much distribution-wise, especially with a facility sized like a regional. They didn't update their portfolio, the weird rebranding, their financials sucked at least since Sapporo bought them, and probably well before. I mean, I dunno, "we're an iconic, historic brand, here's our hazy, cold, pastry IPA" probably just doesn't work.

[mgaretz]

Anchor's Liberty Ale was the prototype for what we now call a West Coast IPA. If it would certainly pass muster as an IPA if it was marketed as one.

[Bkhuna]

The Anchor spokesperson cited as primary reasons competition and production costs. Production costs aren't helped by draconian taxes and the all the factors that play into the cost of labor.

[Huskee]

I checked 2 different places near me that have lots of microbrews, no ASB. There's one more that I might check.

[Huskee]

WillTravelForFood Will check but historically no beer shipments online here.

[WillTravelForFood]

Huskee yes, but stores may have their inventory posted for you to pick up in person. Use the “near me” option.

[Huskee]

WillTravelForFood Sadly I believe I am out of luck. Tried the third store near me, and Google Shopping's 'near me' is all a no-go. Even tried a few other places online that said "limited stock" and as expected no shipping of beer to MI. [Tear]...

[ssennott]

I was never a fan of American Beer as I went to Germany just after I turned 18 and when I came home American beer was terrible, of course that was long before micro breweries hit the main stream but I never gave them much of a try, although it’s sad to see any business close after such a long time.

[SmokeyGator]

If you want a replica, just go with a standard lager recipe but use ale yeast. The reason it was called "steam beer" is because it was fermented at temperatures better suited to top fermenting yeast (ale yeast). Lagers use bottom fermenting yeast and are fermented at lower temperatures.

Historical for sure, it was a 100% American thing born of the Gold Rush and all that went along with it. We like our beer, but if all we got is ale yeast then damnit ale yeast it is!

[Troutman]

I guess they must have "dropped" Anchor ......

[Old Glory]

Sad to hear this. Was one of the first non mainstream beers I really liked. Anchor Steam, Bass Ale, and Sierra Nevada were my go too favorites.

[WillTravelForFood]

Google Shopping (selecting "nearby") continues to be accurate-ish for Anchor Beer availability. Popped by some stores that Google said had some on the shelf, and there was some Anchor still on the shelf.

YMMV

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

Well crap.. at my local bottle shop and they missed their last shipment... no more coming in ever sucks

[STEbbq]

Searching within the Instacart app will likely find it close by if available.

[Santamarina]

Can’t remember the last time I saw Anchor at my local taproom or bottle shop - and I live in CA. At times I feel they’ve been bound to tradition - updating to modern brewing styles well after the market changed.

As sad as I am to see them go, they’ve been largely irrelevant in the beer scene for over a decade.

Steam and Liberty were two of my favorite beers. I wouldn’t drink them often, but a few times per year I’d grab some to enjoy those traditional flavors.

The last bit of Anchor I have left is a magnum bottle of 2019 Xmas ale. Saving it for a rainy (December) day.

[RobertC]

Based on what we've been reading, it's not anything specific to San Francisco that's the issue. They've had $ issues since the Sapporo buy-out.

Yeah. It's certainly wrong to blame "gummint" or "SF." The proximate cause is exactly opposite: private corporate Sapporo's buy-out.

Oddly, I toured Anchor Steam's facility on Friday Oct. 16, 1987, in the midst of the market free-fall that culminated on Black Monday, Oct. 19, 1987. The tour that afternoon had an unusual number of SF stock exchange workers whose brokerages were rendered inaccessible by the crush of trade volume that afternoon. We drank long, well, and morbidly that afternoon. The crash was sobering so we knew we'd have to get a head start.

[Wedunne]

My wife found a six pack in the store the other day, hopefully not our last. Anchor almost folded years ago but it came back. Hopefully someone will buy what’s left from Sapporo and rejuvenate the brand. Just like the City of San Francisco, it’s been left for dead before, only to reinvent itself.