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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

#171

Post by jdmichal »

pastor_bob wrote: post #133
tristor wrote: post #94

This doesn't surprise me. As somebody who got deep into craft beer, I have always thought of Anchor Steam as being relatively mediocre. They were likely a breath of fresh air well until the 1980s, but my the early 1990s there was a burgeoning US craft brewing revival that had a solid brewery (and in most cases better than Anchor) in every US state. They also aren't the only old craft brewery in the US, generally. It'…

How many readily available American Porters are better or even comparable to the Anchor Porter? I can only think of 1 (Sierra Nevada) off the top of my head. It's a sad that you can't just sell a Porter anymore. Have to throw banana and peanut butter in it or make it 15% alcohol to get accepted by the 'craft beer' aficionados.

I've felt similarly for a while. It seems like all these smaller brewers start with an IPA, then maybe make something else later. Well, I don't like hoppy beers, and I especially don't like IPAs. I like malty dark beers like dunkels or Irish reds, and those are apparently way down on the "craft beer" clout list.

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

#172

Post by voidfunc »

yamazakiwi wrote: post #163
sfpotter wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a little surprised Anchor didn't do better. I personally got worn out by all the craziness and experimentation in the craft brewing scene. Really unique IPAs or sour beers were fun for a while, but after a while, I realized I just wanted something reasonably good and predictably normal, i.e. a Normal Good Beer. It seemed like Anchor was delivering on this, but maybe there were enough other options that they just…

I don't have the numbers... but I'm going to assume that regular beer drinkers drink the popular light beers or already have a craft beer they like and spend less money trying new products. It took contentious political media to get die-hards to stop drinking their favorite light beer. That's how ingrained these brands are. It's harder to sell a new Amber Ale than a Juicy Mango/Dragonfruit IPA. These 2 beers serve di…

I think this is right. When I was in my 20s I was really into beer. Now I'm older and I split my time between the usual light beer culprits when I'm drinking out and enjoying a few craft favorites when I'm drinking in and gaming/doing hobbies. Also when a four pack of 16oz cans is approaching $20 (or exceeding that) I'm less likely to be exploratory because who the he'll wants a fridge of rejects they don't like.

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

#173

Post by yamazakiwi »

ifyoubuildit wrote: post #132
alex_young wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally I think it’s important to note the community standards here when replying to comments. It’s better to thoughtfully discuss something than to criticize the writing style of someone else in my opinion.

That style of comment does bother me though. It implies some kind of authority or consensus. "It is important to note" should just be read as "I (and people as enlightened/ informed as myself) think". Just tell me your opinion, and I'll evaluate it based on it's content. You telling me that it's Important only puts me on alert for some kind of bias. EDIT: to clarify, if I'm doing my job correctly as a critical reader…

I like the affectations. It shows other users that noting something of relevance is good user behavior. "Is your comment actually worth noting??" is a good consideration to keep HN high quality. Some users will misuse it but that's very transparent so I believe it's worth mentioning when you believe something is worth mentioning (haha)

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

#174

Post by WarOnPrivacy »

nilespotter wrote: post #154
crazygringo wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think stopping drinking was a response to exactly that -- it got out of control, then people quit. At least in NYC that's when we saw the first non-alcoholic "liquor" stores emerge. Because people still want a sophisticated treat to sip to mark the end of the day.

Got any example of this new wave of sophisticated non-alcoholic liqour?

Around here, the rising alt is kratom.

Non-alchoholic=yes. Liquorous=no. Sophisticated? I have no idea.

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

#175

Post by ChainOfFools »

codyb wrote: post #114
softwaredoug wrote: post #107

The pandemic has triggered / accelarated a lot of trends One trend I wonder about is cutting back on drinking. From a health perspective, I see more and more health officials loudly saying no healthy amount of alcohol[1]. It's simply poison. Not that I'm aggressively for any kind of prohibition, and don't very rarely drink, but I wonder if we'll see increased awareness and more people just deciding not to drink as mu…

I've certainly been moving back towards lighter beers... those IPAs are too strong. You think 5% to 6% isn't a big deal cause it seems so small, but it's a 20% increase in alcohol content. 5% - 7% is a 40% increase! If you're drinking pints, it's like adding half a shot to every beer you drink. It adds up quick.

I'm a little concerned about the phenomenon I've noticed on the shelves lately which is that every brand seems to be first, putting the ABV content in larger and larger font and a more prominent position on the label with each new offering, and that they are now starting to clock in at doppel and trippel and barley wine levels of alcohol on a regular basis. The number of casual drinking beers that have hit 10% or even 11% ABV which used to be an extremely exotic and limited availability product is insane.

the likes of Delirium tremens are now looking tame by comparison to some of these general market beers i.e. voodoo ranger and raging bitch.

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

#176

Post by photonerd »

splonk wrote: post #158
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…

The local reports were that Anchor had been slowly losing money for years before the Sapporo acquisition. Supposedly Sapporo was intending to use the Anchor facility to brew Sapporo locally and then eventually found out that the site wasn't really suitable or would require too much renovation. Whether this led directly to the Stone deal, I don't know (I doubt it, given relative sizes, but it may have been a contribut…

Oddly I only have ever seen Anchor in bottles in the Bay, but it was (and is) still really popular as a beer of choice locally.

I’m guessing it’s not the local market that’s the issue

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

#177

Post by yamazakiwi »

WarOnPrivacy wrote: post #174
nilespotter wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Got any example of this new wave of sophisticated non-alcoholic liqour?

Around here, the rising alt is kratom. Non-alchoholic=yes. Liquorous=no. Sophisticated? I have no idea.

Kratom is believed to activate on opiod receptors.

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

#178

Post by sheepybloke »

tristor wrote: post #94

This doesn't surprise me. As somebody who got deep into craft beer, I have always thought of Anchor Steam as being relatively mediocre. They were likely a breath of fresh air well until the 1980s, but my the early 1990s there was a burgeoning US craft brewing revival that had a solid brewery (and in most cases better than Anchor) in every US state. They also aren't the only old craft brewery in the US, generally. It'…

I agree. When I went to SF Giants games as a 415 member, you could get Anchor Pilsners for $9. It was a good deal for a baseball game, but they were competing against more interesting local beers or better beers (imo) like Pliny the Elder. Their beer was good, but the hard part is that I would always choose something else to drink.

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

#179

Post by WatchDog »

sfpotter wrote: post #117
bartread wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that is an important point but, with that said, I'd suggest that perhaps the reason Anchor were struggling is they didn't really innovate. Rather they rested on the laurels of that 127 year heritage. Certainly a very personal opinion but the first time I tried Anchor beers sometime in the noughties I was underwhelmed. Don't get me wrong: they're certainly better than Bud, Coors, etc., but as a Brit coming fro…

I'm a little surprised Anchor didn't do better. I personally got worn out by all the craziness and experimentation in the craft brewing scene. Really unique IPAs or sour beers were fun for a while, but after a while, I realized I just wanted something reasonably good and predictably normal, i.e. a Normal Good Beer. It seemed like Anchor was delivering on this, but maybe there were enough other options that they just…

> Too bad, considering they're a local beer with a lot of history and had a successful unionization effort.

127 year old company, unionizes in 2019, shuts down in 2023, I wouldn't really call that successful.

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

#180

Post by darth_avocado »

sfpotter wrote: post #117
bartread wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that is an important point but, with that said, I'd suggest that perhaps the reason Anchor were struggling is they didn't really innovate. Rather they rested on the laurels of that 127 year heritage. Certainly a very personal opinion but the first time I tried Anchor beers sometime in the noughties I was underwhelmed. Don't get me wrong: they're certainly better than Bud, Coors, etc., but as a Brit coming fro…

I'm a little surprised Anchor didn't do better. I personally got worn out by all the craziness and experimentation in the craft brewing scene. Really unique IPAs or sour beers were fun for a while, but after a while, I realized I just wanted something reasonably good and predictably normal, i.e. a Normal Good Beer. It seemed like Anchor was delivering on this, but maybe there were enough other options that they just…

> had a successful unionization effort

Just forming a union should not be a measure of success. If it ultimately led to shutdown of the division because it was unprofitable, I would argue it was a pretty unsuccessful effort.

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