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Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale

sfgate.com

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Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale

#271

Post by kodt »

eyelidlessness wrote: post #205
kodt wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes those super high ones are usually freeze concentrated (partially frozen, then ice is removed which removes water, what is left is stronger) multiple times to reach such high ABVs. The highest you will see actually fermented is usually around 18-20%, but there are specialty yeasts that can get up to 25%. Then you can get even higher with extended aging in spirit barrels where some ABV is picked up by absorbing res…

Worth mentioning, freezing and skimming ice is a clever distillation process. It’s also illegal under any other circumstances that distillation would be illegal, but nobody much cares.

Yeah these record breaking ones tend to come from Scotland where I assume it is legal. Or Eisbocks in Germany.

In the US I think it is technically illegal to make with a brewers license, though some breweries may make an Eisbock and sort of fly under the radar.

Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale

#274

Post by dfxm12 »

htag wrote: post #85
malablaster wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of the younger readers might not realize that Anchor was at the forefront of the American craft brewing renaissance. Back then Canadians would laugh at USA beer as all tasting like water. Only Europe had craft brew. Fast forward to now and the market is saturated. There are more craft breweries per capita in the USA than in Germany. We’re beyond peak craft brew.

> We’re beyond peak craft brew. Peak craft beer implies that the trend is now on a downward trajectory. I don't know if that is the case, craft beer feels really ingrained in the culture at this point. 1. Is there a decrease in craft breweries being started, or total gallons of craft beer being produced? 2. Is there a decrease in beer brewing hobby supplies?

We're beyond the peak from a critical view. Most innovation from brewers today is coming in terms of marketing or making numbers go up (loading up on ABV or IBUs), while seemingly treating flavor as secondary.

I'm definitely not saying no one is making good new beer anymore, just that the improvements from the ~80s-00s has slowed down.

Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale

#275

Post by bacchusracine »

TylerE wrote: post #25

The article buried the lede. "Anchor, founded in 1896, was saved from bankruptcy in 1965 by longtime owner Fritz Maytag, and _sold to Sapporo in 2017_, Singer said." It ceased to be an independent local brewer almost a decade ago. The corporate overlords are doing what corporate overlords always do.

>sold to Sapporo in 2017

And suddenly a great mystery is solved! I had Anchor Steam in 2013 thereabouts and liked it quite a lot. When it became available locally I was happy to get it but it didn't quite taste as I remembered it. As time went on I quit buying it because it just wasn't as good as I remembered it to be.

I wonder what they changed in the recipe?

Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale

#278

Post by pdntspa »

heartbreak wrote: post #237
pdntspa wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone targetted by the GOP's bullshit, I still don't care. Half-assed personal boycotts don't present the kind of numbers needed to effect change. Trump and his cohorts getting their asses locked up does. Burning everything to the ground that belongs to neonazis does. The BLM protests did far more damage and effected far more change than the combined power of everyone who boycotts Chik-Fil-A, Hobby Lobby, or Yue…

The personal boycotts of Bud Light are hurting Anheuser-Busch InBev, aren’t they? Sales are down 30% in Q2.

And they'll likely be back to normal next quarter

Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale

#279

Post by coldpie »

0xB31B1B wrote: post #18
rationalist wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have so many great, local breweries My city has a lot, but I personally can't share in them. I will instantly vomit if I drink any local brews (in any locale). Same with whiskey. I can drink nationally-distributed beers and vodka with no ill-effects. I have no idea why. I'm jumping on this comment because I imagine there are some HN readers that might have a theory and I would be very interested in hearing them.

I hate local beers. Local wine makes sense, there is terroir, a sense of place etc. Local beers are just some weird competition to see who can make the hopiest bitterest beer. I don't want to try a new lager every time I cross county lines, when I want beer I want something reliable.

I prefer to give money to my neighbor than to someone who lives across the country or the world, when given the choice. That's it for me, everywhere has good beer.

Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale

#280

Post by unethical_ban »

malablaster wrote: post #75
ecshafer wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sam Adams and and Trillium would both probably cause a bigger uproar than this Anchor Brewing company, which honestly I have never heard of not being in California.

Some of the younger readers might not realize that Anchor was at the forefront of the American craft brewing renaissance. Back then Canadians would laugh at USA beer as all tasting like water. Only Europe had craft brew. Fast forward to now and the market is saturated. There are more craft breweries per capita in the USA than in Germany. We’re beyond peak craft brew.

I didn't think Germany had much craft beer given the purity law.
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