Anchor Brewing Company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Type | Independent |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1896 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, USA  |
| Industry | Alcoholic beverage |
| Products | Beer |
| Owner(s) | Fritz Maytag |
| Website | http://anchorbrewing.com |
Anchor Brewing Company is an American alcoholic beverage producer, operating a brewery and distillery on Potrero Hill in San Francisco, California. The brewery was founded in 1896, and was purchased by its current owner, Frederick Louis Maytag III, in 1965, saving it from closure. It moved to its current location in 1979. It is one of the last remaining breweries to produce California Common beer, also known as Steam Beer, a trademark owned by the company.
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[edit] History
Anchor began during the Gold Rush when Gottlieb Brekle arrived from Germany and began brewing in San Francisco. In 1896, Ernst F. Baruth and his son-in-law, Otto Schinkel, Jr., bought the brewery and named it Anchor. The brewery burned down in the fires that followed the 1906 earthquake, but was rebuilt at a different location in 1907.[1] There is no record of what Anchor did during Prohibition,[2] but it resumed serving steam beer after Repeal, possibly as the only steam brewing company still in operation. However the brewery burned down yet again within the year, and it relocated once more, this time to an existing building a few blocks away.
The brewery continued operations into the late 1950s, but suffered heavily from the country's increasingly strong preference for the light lagers produced by the megabreweries.[3] It shut its doors briefly in 1959, but was bought and reopened the following year.[4] By 1965, however, it was doing so poorly that it was about to close again. Anchor's situation continued to deteriorate largely because the current owners lacked the expertise and attention to cleanliness that are required to produce consistent batches of beer for commercial consumption.[1] The brewery gained a deserved reputation for producing sour, bad beer.[2]
In 1965, Frederick Louis Maytag III bought the brewery, saving it from closure. Maytag purchased 51 percent of the brewery for a few thousand dollars, and later purchased the brewery outright. It moved to its current location in 1979.[3] Turning the failing brewery around required more than the infusion of money that his fortune made possible. Maytag also had to change the character of the beer that was produced there. Between purchasing Anchor and producing the first batches of bottled Anchor Steam in 1971, Fritz had to learn the brewing process from scratch, invest in improvements to the equipment, and focus heavily on cleanliness in the brewing process.[4]
During the 1980s Anchor Steam Beer began to achieve national notice and demand increased from only a few thousand cases a year that he had been making in the old location. It should be noted that Anchor Steam is not a true historical steam beer of the sort that was brewed at the turn of the century. It is instead a representative (and in fact the definitive one) of California common beer, a refined derivative of historic steam beer which is more in keeping with Anchor Steam's reputation as a quality American lager.
In 1993, the company opened Anchor Distillery, a microdistillery in the same location as the brewery, and began making a single malt rye whiskey, named Old Potrero after the hill. In 1997, the microdistillery began producing gin, called Junípero — Spanish for juniper, and a reference to Junípero Serra, an important figure in San Francisco's and California's history. Recently they have also begun producing a Jenever style gin called Genevive, using wheat, barley, rye, and the same herbal ingredients as their Junípero gin.
[edit] Products
Anchor has a core range of eight beers,[5] as well as several occasional beers.[6]
The core beers include:
- Anchor Steam
- Anchor Wheat
- Anchor Liberty Ale
- Anchor Porter
- Old Foghorn Barley Wine
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Maureen Cole, Ambitious Brew: The Story of American Beer
- ^ Maureen Cole, Ambitious Brew: The Story of American Beer
- ^ "Anchor Brewing Company -- Company History". www.fundinguniverse.com. http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Anchor-Brewing-Company-Company-History.html. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
- ^ Maureen Cole, Ambitious Brew: The Story of American Beer
- ^ "Anchor Steam - Anchor Steam Beer". www.anchorbrewing.com. http://www.anchorbrewing.com/beers/. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
- ^ "Anchor Steam - Special Projects". www.anchorbrewing.com. http://www.anchorbrewing.com/beers/specialprojects.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
[edit] External links
- http://anchorbrewing.com - Anchor Brewing Company
- http://anchordistilling.com - Anchor Distilling
- http://www.yorkcreek.com - York Creek Vineyards
Coordinates: 37°45′49″N 122°24′02″W / 37.7636°N 122.400542°W
