Posted on 08/05/2017 3:05:38 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Anchor’s aweigh, indeed.
An era came to an end Thursday when Anchor Brewing, the maker of the famous Anchor Steam beer that has slaked the thirsts of everyone from longshoremen and servicemen to tech industry wunderkinds since Grover Cleveland was president, sold itself to Japanese beer giant Sapporo.
Reports put the sale price at $85 million, but neither Anchor nor Sapporo confirmed that amount. The deal is expected to close Aug. 31.
But while Anchor will remain at its Mariposa Street location in San Francisco, the days of independence for what many call the original craft brewery are coming to an end. “They were an inspiration for me, no doubt,” said Dan Gordon, co-founder and chief operating officer of San Jose-based craft brewery Gordon Biersch. “When I was 16 years old and drinking their beer — under parental watch — I knew their beer was good, and it made me think about how I could do something like this.”
Founded in 1896, Anchor made its name as a San Francisco original, and the company’s beers are still best-known around the Bay Area. As such, even as Anchor’s name recognition spread, the company still remained in the category of small, or craft breweries, known for creating beers with richer, stronger flavors than those of macro breweries such as Anheuser-Busch InBev and MillerCoors.
According to a statement from Sapporo, Anchor sold 1.75 million cases of beer and generated $33 million in revenue during 2016.
Anchor will be joining a Japanese beer giant with a history even older than its own. Sapporo is the oldest brand of beer in Japan, and began brewing in 1876.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
So it took 70 years to have issei take over San Francisco’s favorite brew. pay backs!!
Back in the late 70’s Anchor Steam was a high end specialty Beer for us in So. Cal. Pretty bitter stuff for my pallett back then, less so now.
It was my go to back in the day when i wanted something a bit more hearty than Micholobe
So Cal also
Sapporo is good beer, one of my favorites.
Another American company swallowed up based on our bad tax laws. Now most of their profit will go overseas and they will pay little in taxes here. Great job congress.
CA and SF laws were the problem. Bet anchor will be moved to a new location.
Never a big company. Bummer.
Anchor’s beers weren’t bad. Not my favorites for sure, but would not refuse them if offered.
I lived and worked out in the bay area for a few years... Anchor was nothing special.
We have the best mass produced beers and some of the best microbrews in Japan. Our beer culture here is awesome.
Anchor is good, but I’d rather have Cigar City or Green Bench or Big Storm...
I did competition homebrewing in the ‘90’s when I lived in Hayward and even brewed at Buffalo Bill’s. Nothing wrong with Anchor back the.
Breweries? More like waste treatment plants.
Actually their beer was pretty good back in the day before micro-breweries caught on. You could walk into most bars in San Francisco and get something that actually tasted like beer - you know, water, malted barley, yeast and hops. Yes it could be improved on, but it was a really good start given the competition.
“Nothing wrong with Anchor back the(n)”
I did not state that there was anything wrong with Anchor Beer, but that there was nothing special about it. When I was working up in Northern Michigan Stroth’s beer was the beer highly favored (cost driven). Nothing special about that either. On east coast in the early 70’s Coors was very rare and was thought of as the ultimate in purity and flavor.
Marketing? Sure. Perception? Absolutely.
I’ve come to a personal conclusion which works for me. Beer is a process. Nothing more. But then, decades of eating spicy hot food both here and abroad has probably dulled my taste buds.
Ace beer from NC, in the gallon jug (circa 1973). Yuck! But it was cheap and we were college students with very lean budgets.
“Nothing wrong with Anchor back the(n)”
I did not state that there was anything wrong with Anchor Beer, but that there was nothing special about it. When I was working up in Northern Michigan Stroth’s beer was the beer highly favored (cost driven). Nothing special about that either. On east coast in the early 70’s Coors was very rare and was thought of as the ultimate in purity and flavor.
Marketing? Sure. Perception? Absolutely.
I’ve come to a personal conclusion which works for me. Beer is a process. Nothing more. But then, decades of eating spicy hot food both here and abroad has probably dulled my taste buds.
Ace beer from NC, in the gallon jug (circa 1973). Yuck! But it was cheap and we were college students with very lean budgets.
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