Beer thread
-
SF's Anchor Brewing Company, country's 1st craft brewery, shutting down after 127 years
"It was great that Fitz Maytag saved it back in 1966. I just wish somebody would save it now." This latest development comes one month after Anchor announced it was stopping national distribution and discontinuing its Christmas Ale, which it has produced since 1975.
Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
It was a successful and respected company when sold to Sopporo.
Craft breweries close all the time, especially in these days of flatlining segment growth and marketshare encroachment from spirits. But Anchor is not just any craft brewery. By most accounts, it’s America’s first craft brewery, credited with mainstreaming the entire concept of local, independent, artisanal beer production starting in 1965, when industrial scion Fritz Maytag saved the company from insolvency. Maytag transformed Anchor’s flagship steam beer from “sometimes drinkable” to “consistently delicious,” and played benevolent godfather to two generations of brewing virtuosos that would go on to become household names in the industry. Though Maytag sold the brewery in 2010 to the pair of Skyy Vodka vets who’d go on to sell it to the Japanese later that decade, and has since retired, present-day Anchor employees still fondly refer to him on a first-name basis in interviews.
Sapporo’s management of the storied Bay Area brewery betrays no such sentimentality. Via its United States’ subsidiary, Sapporo USA, the megabrewer made several baffling missteps at Anchor’s helm. When the brewery’s production workers unionized in 2019, the company’s execs spent weeks trying to bust the union and ultimately forced an election, casting themselves as cartoonish corporate villains to the pro-labor local customer base in San Francisco. They introduced a disastrous rebrand in 2021 that turned Anchor’s singular homespun look into a retina-searing amalgamation of much younger craft breweries’ worst aesthetic tendencies. They made costly investments in automated bottling and canning lines that might’ve made the plant more efficient if they were properly commissioned and staffed—but workers tell me they never were, meaning production actually decreased by as much as 60%. And when Sapporo USA acquired San Diego’s Stone Brewing Co. in June 2022, Anchor became second fiddle—the Japanese wanted to brew rice lager, and its smaller, older facility couldn’t easily be retrofitted to do so, while Stone’s could.
-
@MN5 said in Beer thread:
@RoninWC said in Beer thread:
@MN5 here's what I would recommend, rather than just sticking with the kit and that's it, there are two ways to add extra ABV, one which will add no extra flavour or the other which will add flavour and body to the beer.
-
Simply add Dextrose to your kit.
So heat up some of the water you are going to use in a pot on the stove and dissolve say 1 kg or more of Dextrose into the water, let cool and add to your fermenter.
Roughly, for 10l of beer, 250g will add .5% additional ABV. So 1kg will add roughly 2%.
There are calculators available online that can give more precise figures but I usually work with that. -
Add either Dry Malt Extract (DME) or Liquid Malt Extract (LME)
Similar to the above but don't add the DME to very hot water or it will go into clumps and may even caramelize (yes, I know this one from experience). So 1kg DME added to 1.5l of water will do the trick, just make sure you stir constantly until it all dissolves.
For LME, you heat up the can by placing it in water and just pour the liquid into your fermenter as you do the other Mangrove Jacks ingredients.
Honestly, for me I would go down the Dextrose or DME route which I've done for beers that don't for whatever reason meet their expected Starting Gravity (amount of sugar in water) before fermentation starts.
Another thing, since you are getting into this, invest in a Hydrometer. All local home brew shops (LHBS) will have a hydrometer. Measure the liquid from the fermenter before you pitch the yeast and then measure again once fermentation is complete (Final Gravity) and then using one of the online calculators, you will have your ABV. And they really are simple to use.
To add, Dextrose, DME and LME will also be found at your LHBS.
Yeah the kit I’ve got comes with a hydrometer. No dramas there.
Excellent post, some great food for thought.
I remember close to 20 years ago when Monteiths Winter first came out and we all went, “whoa, a 6% beer, steady on”. Now that’s pretty much the norm ( or maybe late 5% or so ) as drinkers we’re so conditioned to the stronger beers now and it can be dangerous trying something new when you have to drive and realising it’s 8% or so !
My brewing partner and I popped into the shop on Friday avo and the guy was a great source of info ( much like yourself ). He suggested warming up the pouches in hot water to make them pour easier. Genius. So much easier today.
We were going to pick the Sabro single hop IPA but instead went for this…….
Pink Grapefruit IPA with Dry Hops
Inspired by Brew Dog's Elvis Juice Citrus IPA, this contains great citrus hop notes combined with grapefruit aroma to give an abundance of fruit on the nose. Sharp and tangy, the grapefruit complements and enhances the citrus character of the hops, making it refreshing, clean and crisp on the...
Really excited to see how it turns out, a bit of Vitamin C for winter perhaps.
You can’t fault the price, this, Malt extract, 12 more glass bottles, extra sanitiser and a little pouch for the hops for $56 each split down the middle. SOOOOOO good !
Can confirm we sanitised the shit out of everything too.
Happy to report this turned out fucken outstanding. Seriously good, my brewing partner, two different mates and the old man all confirmed it was excellent and a massive step up from the first rather boring generic brew.
The issue we have now is whether we go for another one and run the risk that it won’t be as good or if we go for the same one but add a few brew enhancers to it. I’d still like it around 6.5% if at all possible.
-
-
Seriously think about a 'house beer' that you like to drink. Then repeat the brew on that - it is the way to refine your system, make sure you have repeatability and incrementally improve. If your process isn't repeatable, you will brew the same recipe twice and get two outcomes - and hten you don't know what to do to improve.
Obvoiusly doesn't have to be every beer you brew, but if you want to get better, you have to have a process that you understand
-
-
-
@MN5 said in Beer thread:
@nzzp said in Beer thread:
Sad. sad news
Jeepers……really sad.
That Hop Zombie was an amazing drop.
I think Armageddon was their best beer. Just superb.
-
-
@Bovidae Coping with getting 'big' is one of the biggest challenges for a craft business of any type though.
Personally while I can see the attraction I think craft breweries should avoid the supermarket trade. Screws their margins and cash flow completely.
-
-
@Tim dont think that is restricted to craft beers, it is across the range of products they sell, which is largely down to 2 main suppliers in NZ, whereas at least alcohol there are other retailers as well, but people will go where it is cheaper, which is invariably the supermarket (although this post skirting close to stuff in the political now)
-
Very sad news, one of the OGs.
I was first introduced to Epic in a visit in the late 2000's and what an eye opener that was.
Coming from Aus where the beer scene was all Tooheys New, VB and other absolute dross. The only decent beers at this time were Coopers & Little Creatures with a odd local find.
Epic haven't always been easy to find here in Aus but sometimes in good/specialty bottle shops. When you did it was to be savored even though they were often months old.
A very sad moment in craft beer. On of the few times I would hope that a big brewer comes in a purchases them. What are the thoughts on this happening over in NZ?
-
Ironically the last week or so I have been drinking their Jump Joose at my local.
Last night I said I would have it while I still could. Then it ran out halfway through the pour, which meant a freebie.
Be interesting to read the liquidators report and see if it can be salvaged, but at this early stage I'd say it's unlikely Lion or DB pick it up
-
In happier beer related news I can report we’ve put this down as the latest brew…
We’re brewing 20 as opposed to 23 litres to take the ABV to 6.5%…….opened the lid to chuck the dry hops in and it sounded like a kettle boiling ! Loads of action in there.
Bottling tonight, drinking some of the previous beers then watching the Rugby after.
Brewing is AWESOME !!!!!!!
-
@RoninWC said in Beer thread:
Over the long weekend just passed here in Sydney, it was my birthday and had brewed up a storm in May all aimed at the weekend previous when I was in Melbourne for the Fei Ile Islay Whisky Show and this long weekend.
Got 3 beers on tap, including 2 NEIPAs that I literally just finished in late May fermenting one immediately after the other and the other is a clone of the famous Russian River Pliny the Elder West Coast IPA.
Saturday was messy so didn't get to do a side by side tasting so yesterday, decided that a breakfast beer or two was definitely the go so at around 0930 I poured one each of the NEIPAs to taste side by side.
On the left is the "no-boil" Aurora House DDH NEIPA at 8.25% and on the right the Aurora DDH Double NEIPA at 9%.
No-boil is a new technique in all grain brewing where you do not boil your wort instead, after completing the mash and mash out, you raise the temperature of the wort to 80°C and hold for 30 minutes. At the same time you do your hop whirlpool. It worked a treat as I saved a good hour or so in the brew day not having to wait for the wort to get to the boil, boil for 30-60 minutes (30 is common for Hazys and NEIPAs) and then drop the temperature down to 70-80°C for a whirlpool.
One interesting thing is that I used the exact same grain bill for each of these but the no-boil ended up lower ABV due to not concentrating the wort prior to fermentation.
I then stuffed things up by using different yeast as one of the yeast packages I was planning to use was clearly expired (why liquid yeasts are so temperamental) and different hops so couldn't really say this was a side by side comparison of the two techniques.
Also had the three Hard Seltzers ready for the weekends as well.
From left to right:
Left to right...
Rugby red grapefruit at 9%
Strawberry punch at 14%
And the Tropical Torpedo at 17%
I love everything about this post except for the precariousness of that first photo!
No, don't perch good booze on a balustrade! -
Is Sapporo beer as good as it used to be? I loved it 30 years ago in Japan but haven't found anything as tasty since (including in Japan, but mostly I only drank it overseas). Must go back and this time to Hokkaido. I dare say there are some fine local drops even if not Sapporo.
6 Popular Hokkaido Drinks You Must Try - Beers, Whisky, Wine, Shochu — My Eastern Hokkaido
Here are 6 popular alcoholic drinks locally made in Hokkaido - 1. Sapporo Beer, 2. Nikka Whisky, 3. Okhotsk Beer (Japan's first craft beer), 4. Abashiri Beer, 5. Kiyosato Potato Shochu!
-
@nostrildamus said in Beer thread:
Is Sapporo beer as good as it used to be? I loved it 30 years ago in Japan but haven't found anything as tasty since (including in Japan, but mostly I only drank it overseas). Must go back and this time to Hokkaido. I dare say there are some fine local drops even if not Sapporo.
Here are 6 popular alcoholic drinks locally made in Hokkaido - 1. Sapporo Beer, 2. Nikka Whisky, 3. Okhotsk Beer (Japan's first craft beer), 4. Abashiri Beer, 5. Kiyosato Potato Shochu!
Pretty similar to Asahi isn’t it ?
Just a good solid lager, nothing spectacular but definitely does the job.
Apparently it’s the perfect beer to pair with “any meal or any occasion”
-
I used to prefer Sapporo to Asahi, but no, no more. Asahi is ok-ish.
There is however a special beer from Asahi I tried in Australia from a guy who is fanatical about Japanese beer (I think he runs a Japanese restaurant in Bunbury) but it was so good I can no longer remember its name. -
We live in a world of black IPAs and White Stouts so perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised……..
But surely at THIRTY ONE percent this ceased to be a beer long ago……
-
-
@Machpants said in Beer thread:
Yeah nah, once beer is into double figures (even 8 or more) the flavour def goes well beyond what I like in a beer
I had one of those urbanaught ones, 14 or 16% and only came in a small can. That was strong as fuck.
I do really like a good stout close to double figures though. Anything under 5% is a bit of a waste of time though I reckon.
