Anchor Brewing Co. - San Francisco, CA

When you visit San Francisco as a regular tourist there are several things you "must" do. Alcatraz, Ghiradelli Square, Fisherman's Wharf, Union Square (if you're feeling a bit adventurous), always make the cut. In my not-so-humble opinion every beer drinkershould add one more to their list, Anchor Brewing Co. Located only a 15 minute cab ride from downtown San Fran on Potrero Hill, the brewery is housed in an all cement building with no air conditioning (not needed due to the proximity to the ocean) and an amazing view of downtown. There is something pleasant about a building with all the windows open causing just enough breeze to keep the temperature just right. The tours book up well in advance, especially the afternoon tours, so make sure to book at least two weeks out. Fortunately they were able to squeeze me in last minute.

Upon walking into the building you instantly get the feel that this is a place full of people who just really enjoy brewing beer, and they really enjoy brewing it their own way. I was excited to see that the tasting room had six beers on tap which meant that I was in for a good sampling at the end of the tour. From right to left the beers they were sampling are; Humming Ale, Anchor Steam, Liberty Ale, Breckle's Brown, and Anchor Porter.

The brown was just released in the past 6 months, and It was nice to see a beer I hadn't tasted yet on tap. But, I get ahead of myself, let's talk about the tour. As with most tours the guide started with a brief history of the brewery. Here are some of the highlights I found interesting:

	The brewery was started at some nondescript time in the gold rush by a German immigrant named Gotlieb Brekle (hence the beer named Brekle's Brown). That is pretty much the only time period during its history that the brewery hasn't lived through major adversity. It was purchased by a father and his son-in-law in 1896, but burned down only 7 years later as a result of the fires following the earthquake of 1906. The brewery was rebuilt, burning down once again within the year.
Ernst F. Baruth Father-in-law		Otto Shinkle Son-in-law

During prohibition, as the tour guide said, "The best evidence that they continued operating is that there is absolutely no evidence that they continued operating" but somehow, steam beer was still readily available. The guide also mentioned that Anchor was the only brewing company in San Francisco to emerge from prohibition still in operation. As the country's preferences shifted to lighter, mass produced (cleaner) beer, the brewery was facing extreme financial challenges. Just days from closure, the company was purchased by Fritz Maytag in 1965 with $108 in it's bank account. Under Fritz's management (and cleanliness standards) the brewery flourished and was sold last year to two former Skyy executives for eight figures (according to our guide).


Anchor produces (and originated) a California Common Beer, which is a an off-shoot of historic steam beer. Steam beer uses lager yeast, but is fermented at warm temperatures. The tour began in a room that housed the upper part of the brewery's all copper kettle, lauter tun and mash tun. There was a wonderful ambiance in the room fragrant of wort and hops, and one of the most notable features was a glowing orange light coming from a window used to visually inspect the beer flowing past as it moves from one process to the next.

Given the rise in popularity of Anchor's beers, the brewery is almost always in use, and soon will move to 24 hour cycles. Sure enough as we walked in, one of the brewers opened one of the hatches to let the steam from a recently brewed batch come wafting into the room.


The next stop on the tour provided our. First peak into the "traditional Brewing methods" advertised on Anchor Steam bottles and marketing. As all brewers know, part of the brewing process is to cool down the wort to fermenting temperature. Anchor's chosen method for this cooling process goes all the way back to the original beer left in open containers on Gottlieb's rooftop to be cooled by the Northern California climate. Of course, the process is much more controlled and sanitary these days. The beer is still pumped into open containers, but these containers are in a sanitized, temperature controlled room. This method of open fermentation is something I have never seen before.

The tour guide mentioned that there are several theories as to where the name "steam" came from in relation to their beer. One theory is that this open style of fermentation (on the rooftops of the brewery and Gottlieb's home) resulted in a characteristic steam in the San Francisco nights.

Next up, the hops room. If the world were a perfect place we would all have closets in our house dedicated to such a purpose. While many non beer enthusiasts don't like the smell of spent grain, almost no one can turn their noses up at the sinus-opening fragrance of fresh hops. The room was sectioned off for each type of hops, and in each a giant bag of hops spilling out into the open air.

Reluctantly leaving the hops room, we worked our way down the stairs to the cellar which contained the storage tanks. Kept at a very chilly temperature, the giant tanks were connected through a snaking series of filling hoses connected to one central location fed directly from the fermentation containers. In these tanks is where the next (semi-unique) traditional brewing method is employed to produce natural carbonation. I can't remember the exact ratio, but if recall it was an 8:1 ratio of beer that had completed fermentation with beer that had only been fermenting for one day. The portion that had only been fermenting for one day continues to ferment in the storage tanks, naturally producing carbonation that dissipates into the beer. As a final step to remove any undesirables the beer is flash-pasteurized. This means the beer is brought up to a high temperature for a short period of time. This greatly increases the shelf life of Anchor's beers.


Last on the tour, the bottling line. As you can see and hear in this video, it was hard for the guide to verbally provide us with information, so he used a series of paper signs and hand motions to point out pieces of equipment and provide facts. One not shown on the signs is something he mentioned to me as we walked along. He said the brewery produces about 90,000 gallons a year, and that the major breweries (Coors, etc.) throw out that amount before noon each day. Sounds like an unverifiable stat, but interesting none the less. If accurate it provides some perspective on size.

After the tour it was on to the tasting room for servings (and second and third servings in some cases) of the six beers on tap. During the tasting I rediscovered the Humming Ale which tastes particularly fantastic from a tap, and a new beer, the Brekle's Brown. I wish I could say otherwise, but I found the Brekle's to be just a typical representation of a brown ale, nothing too unique or characteristic about it. In the picture below you can see a generously filled taster of the brown, and off to the right in the picture evidence of a fact as-to-hither unknown to myself.


In 1993 Anchor Brewing Co. started a small distillery. I had noticed a some distilling equipment on the tour, but assumed it was for the personal use of the employees as many brewers dabble in distilling. Quite to the contrary, the brewery produces whiskey and two types of gin. I asked, but apparently the Old Potrero whiskey produced by Anchor is particularly hard to find, and about $60 a bottle. I have no doubt that in the years to come the former Skyy execs will remedy that situation...


With a slight buzz and a refreshed mentality, I hopped in a cab that ushered me quickly back down the hill, and into the grind.