Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale
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Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale
#2Too costly to produce, too much competition, insufficient demand outside California. A loss for sure but with so much competition I doubt it will be missed by many.
Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale
#320 years ago, Anchor was pretty decent. Like Sam Adams, there wasn't a lot of competition for US-brewed beer beyond the Bud-style macrobrews. Now there's a dozen good-to-great breweries in every city, and no reason to buy Anchor Steam anymore.
Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale
#4I remember getting Anchor Steam in California nearly 20 years ago, having been told about it by a relative as something to try. And having been happy to try a different tasting beer. The other California one I liked was Sierra Nevada pale ale.
I feel like that was a much more innocent time. Now no matter where you are, there's a pile of competing craft beers, trying to out do one another across different dimensions (though mostly hops), it's hard to keep track. At the same time, good beer seems to mean a lot less now, because of how spoiled we all are.
Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale
#520 years ago, Anchor was pretty decent. Like Sam Adams, there wasn't a lot of competition for US-brewed beer beyond the Bud-style macrobrews. Now there's a dozen good-to-great breweries in every city, and no reason to buy Anchor Steam anymore.
I disagree, despite living in one of the earlier craft brew havens (Seattle). Anchor Steam was already a unique offering when I happened on it ~15 years ago, and its uniqueness has only been more pronounced as the craft(ish) market has consolidated around IPAs. Anchor Porter isn’t nearly so unique a style, but it’s an exceptional one in the category and has consistently been my preference over local porters even when they were more common. Their winter seasonal really is stellar, and has long stood out in a category that’s basically become a mix of mislabeled IPAs and the occasional barleywine-ish heavy ale.
Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale
#6Liberty Ale is a true classic of brewing, but you can find something like it in any city now
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is another classic and you can find it practically anywhere
Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale
#7I remember getting Anchor Steam in California nearly 20 years ago, having been told about it by a relative as something to try. And having been happy to try a different tasting beer. The other California one I liked was Sierra Nevada pale ale. I feel like that was a much more innocent time. Now no matter where you are, there's a pile of competing craft beers, trying to out do one another across different dimensions (…
> trying to out do one another across different dimensions (though mostly hops)
In places with younger craft markets, it's like an even split between hops and extreme naming/label graphics. Here in Seattle, beer names are like Obscure Mythology Reference and you might enjoy the Wikipedia hole it starts you on while you imbibe. The first craft brew I remember seeing visiting my original home state, Virginia, was literally named Raging Bitch with a fierce looking dog baring its teeth and blood-like splatters of red ink. It was actually a pretty decent stout IIRC.
Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale
#8Bummer, they were one of few breweries with an interesting Christmas ale.
Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale
#920 years ago, Anchor was pretty decent. Like Sam Adams, there wasn't a lot of competition for US-brewed beer beyond the Bud-style macrobrews. Now there's a dozen good-to-great breweries in every city, and no reason to buy Anchor Steam anymore.
I disagree, despite living in one of the earlier craft brew havens (Seattle). Anchor Steam was already a unique offering when I happened on it ~15 years ago, and its uniqueness has only been more pronounced as the craft(ish) market has consolidated around IPAs. Anchor Porter isn’t nearly so unique a style, but it’s an exceptional one in the category and has consistently been my preference over local porters even when…
Not passing judgement on the quality of Anchor Steam.
But the OP is absolutely right - there are now good to great breweries pretty much everywhere in the US. It’s hard to be a national beer company if you aren’t humongous.
People aren’t even looking at your stuff. The beer section at the gas station near my house is 50% local and 50% watery stuff. I have no idea if they carry Anchor Steam or not because I don’t look in that section and haven’t for years.
Note that some breweries, like Lagunitas, have effectively become local in multiple places by opening breweries in other states far away.
Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale
#10Liberty Ale is a true classic of brewing, but you can find something like it in any city now Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is another classic and you can find it practically anywhere
I have the hardest time finding Liberty ale in the US. Used to love it in Europe as one of the first craft beers along with Sierra Nevada. I still think both stand as real classics. If I had to just drink one beer for the rest of my life it’d be that. Sometimes I just want a good beer without grappling with wild yeasts and exotic hops and wills abvs.