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SF's Anchor Brewing Company shutting down after 127 years

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Re: SF's Anchor Brewing Company shutting down after 127 years

#61

Post by Solvency »

krustyburger wrote: post #21

It’s important to note that Anchor as a division is being shut down as a cost-saving measure by its owner Sapporo, a transnational, publicly-traded corporation. Sapporo says they have tried to find a buyer for Anchor, but to no avail. Meanwhile Sapporo recently purchased Stone Brewing in San Diego and are beginning Sapporo production there while still making Stone beers. If Sapporo hadn’t also bought Stone, presumabl…

I think we can start dropping useless affectations like "it's important to note" now that ChatGPT has utterly co-opted them and revealed how meaningless they are. You could have simply stated that Anchor division is being dropped. I'm already reading your comment. You don't have to sell me on why you're noting it.

Re: SF's Anchor Brewing Company shutting down after 127 years

#62

Post by eweise »

rco8786 wrote: post #58
krustyburger wrote: post #21

It’s important to note that Anchor as a division is being shut down as a cost-saving measure by its owner Sapporo, a transnational, publicly-traded corporation. Sapporo says they have tried to find a buyer for Anchor, but to no avail. Meanwhile Sapporo recently purchased Stone Brewing in San Diego and are beginning Sapporo production there while still making Stone beers. If Sapporo hadn’t also bought Stone, presumabl…

Genuine question. Why is this important to note?

Can Anchor be considered a craft brewer if its owned by Saporro?

Re: SF's Anchor Brewing Company shutting down after 127 years

#63

Post by chubot »

chubot wrote: post #38
WiseWeasel wrote: post #16

A shame they weren’t able to adapt to modern beer tastes. As long as I can remember, I've thought of them as the mediocre beer I’ll begrudgingly drink only if all other options are exhausted.

Anchor steam on tap is very good IMO In the bottle it seems to lose everything for some reason I never buy it in the bottle, but I get it on tap But I’ll admit there are a zillion options that are similar or better now. The market changed a lot

The obvious follow up is I think they must not have kept up with the times

I’d guess bottles are the majority of the business and I think that product is inferior

I don’t know what the other breweries do, maybe it’s just freshness and inventory, or a better or more consistent bottling

—

I should also add that I lived in SF, so it’s definitely possible that most customers out of city think of them as a bad bottled beer brand, whereas I had a different impression

Re: SF's Anchor Brewing Company shutting down after 127 years

#64

Post by ryandamm »

acheron wrote: post #39

> Anchor was established in San Francisco in 1896 and was the country's first craft brewery. So what definitions are being used here to claim this? Yuengling is quite a bit older, for example.

Yeah the article is a little muddled; it’s better to understand Anchor as the oldest existing brewery that makes what we think of as craft beer.

When it started there were many small, local brewers making a variety of beers. Prohibition and changing tastes killed off most of the breweries — it helped to be above a certain size so you could profitable brew, say, malted syrups during prohibition. Those that remained after prohibition ended quickly consolidated — that’s how we got the oligopoly off Bud, Miller, and Coors.

Consolidation continues for decades afterwards of course; the brands that got rolled up into the conglomerates included a number of light lager breweries. What distinguishes Anchor from Yuengling and others is Anchor made something other than a light lager — they made steam beer, a warm-fermented lager that has some ale characteristics.

I would categorize it as “proto-craft,” since the real craft movement started in the 80s with Sierra Nevada and Sam Adams; Anchor was an inspiration, a holdover, and an anomaly.

(Most of my sources for this post are Celebrator beer magazine and a series of books I’ve read, but I don’t have them at my fingertips so I may have some specifics slightly wrong here, caveat emptor for reading random internet comments.)

Re: SF's Anchor Brewing Company shutting down after 127 years

#65

Post by acheron »

ryandamm wrote: post #64
acheron wrote: post #39

> Anchor was established in San Francisco in 1896 and was the country's first craft brewery. So what definitions are being used here to claim this? Yuengling is quite a bit older, for example.

Yeah the article is a little muddled; it’s better to understand Anchor as the oldest existing brewery that makes what we think of as craft beer. When it started there were many small, local brewers making a variety of beers. Prohibition and changing tastes killed off most of the breweries — it helped to be above a certain size so you could profitable brew, say, malted syrups during prohibition. Those that remained af…

Makes sense, thanks.

Re: SF's Anchor Brewing Company shutting down after 127 years

#66

Post by gjvc »

rco8786 wrote: post #58
krustyburger wrote: post #21

It’s important to note that Anchor as a division is being shut down as a cost-saving measure by its owner Sapporo, a transnational, publicly-traded corporation. Sapporo says they have tried to find a buyer for Anchor, but to no avail. Meanwhile Sapporo recently purchased Stone Brewing in San Diego and are beginning Sapporo production there while still making Stone beers. If Sapporo hadn’t also bought Stone, presumabl…

Genuine question. Why is this important to note?

It's not the case that a family-owned self-contained company had to cease trading -- someone higher up in the ownership of the business decided to pull the plug. Although the inputs and outputs might arguably be the same, these are two quite different scenarios and decision-making processes.

Re: SF's Anchor Brewing Company shutting down after 127 years

#67

Post by jessriedel »

rco8786 wrote: post #58
krustyburger wrote: post #21

It’s important to note that Anchor as a division is being shut down as a cost-saving measure by its owner Sapporo, a transnational, publicly-traded corporation. Sapporo says they have tried to find a buyer for Anchor, but to no avail. Meanwhile Sapporo recently purchased Stone Brewing in San Diego and are beginning Sapporo production there while still making Stone beers. If Sapporo hadn’t also bought Stone, presumabl…

Genuine question. Why is this important to note?

I thought this was useful context that changed my interpretation of what was going on.

Re: SF's Anchor Brewing Company shutting down after 127 years

#68

Post by gjvc »

Solvency wrote: post #61
krustyburger wrote: post #21

It’s important to note that Anchor as a division is being shut down as a cost-saving measure by its owner Sapporo, a transnational, publicly-traded corporation. Sapporo says they have tried to find a buyer for Anchor, but to no avail. Meanwhile Sapporo recently purchased Stone Brewing in San Diego and are beginning Sapporo production there while still making Stone beers. If Sapporo hadn’t also bought Stone, presumabl…

I think we can start dropping useless affectations like "it's important to note" now that ChatGPT has utterly co-opted them and revealed how meaningless they are. You could have simply stated that Anchor division is being dropped. I'm already reading your comment. You don't have to sell me on why you're noting it.

Did you mean https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought-terminating_clich%C3%A... ?

Re: SF's Anchor Brewing Company shutting down after 127 years

#69

Post by kshahkshah »

chubot wrote: post #63
chubot wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anchor steam on tap is very good IMO In the bottle it seems to lose everything for some reason I never buy it in the bottle, but I get it on tap But I’ll admit there are a zillion options that are similar or better now. The market changed a lot

The obvious follow up is I think they must not have kept up with the times I’d guess bottles are the majority of the business and I think that product is inferior I don’t know what the other breweries do, maybe it’s just freshness and inventory, or a better or more consistent bottling — I should also add that I lived in SF, so it’s definitely possible that most customers out of city think of them as a bad bottled bee…

Other breweries do cans. Easier. Cheaper. Tastes better. Keeps the art fresh.

Re: SF's Anchor Brewing Company shutting down after 127 years

#70

Post by avisser »

eweise wrote: post #62
rco8786 wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Genuine question. Why is this important to note?

Can Anchor be considered a craft brewer if its owned by Saporro?

What about the fact that I can get Stone at my corner liquor store in Rhode Island? You know, the one that doesn't have a great selection.
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