Posted on 07/12/2023 5:59:06 PM PDT by nickcarraway
After 127 years in business, San Francisco's Anchor Brewing Company is shutting down.
According to a press release, the brewery has been facing challenging economic factors and declining sales since 2016.
"This was an extremely difficult decision that Anchor reached only after many months of careful evaluation," Anchor Brewing spokesperson Sam Singer said. "We recognize the importance and historic significance of Anchor to San Francisco and to the craft brewing industry, but the impacts of the pandemic, inflation, especially in San Francisco, and a highly competitive market left the company with no option but to make this sad decision to cease operations."
With roots dating back to the California Gold Rush, what's often referred to as America's first craft brewery is officially liquidating business.
"Right now, these are some tough economic times," Singer told ABC7 News. "And Anchor's demise is symbolic of that."
Anchor Brewing Company, the founding father of the craft beer movement, continues to lead the way in creating innovative beer.
Resident Elise Mackanych said, "It's sad to see such an institution go out of business."
The announcement was made after 1 a.m. on Wednesday. At this point, brewing has stopped. However, the crew will continue packaging and distributing the beer on hand while available or through the end of July.
This is certainly sad news for fans who have long loved Anchor's fleet of beer, including the flagship Anchor Steam, that started it all, and so much more.
"Anchor sales were centered in bars, taprooms. When the pandemic came along, those ended completely," Singer shared. "The company had switched to selling in grocery stores and markets and was late to the game to do that at a large level."
Singer said simply put, Anchor was out of cash and out of time.
He said there's hope another buyer might be able to keep the brewery anchored in San Francisco, but that hasn't happened yet.
The company's 61 employees were given a 60-day notice on Wednesday, and will be given transition support and separation packages.
Marin Brewing Company is calling it quits after three decades in business, citing rising rents and pandemic struggles.
"There's a lot of skill and care that goes into craft work and particular trades, and that's really important," SF resident Vicky Carrillo said. "And different types of labor are really important. And I think we need to be more conscious of how each individual is giving something to our society, whether it's beer or tech or whatever."
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.
A difficult decision after what Singer said is many months of careful evaluation.
Resident Andrew Strause told ABC7 News, "I don't even drink the beer, but I'm sad that they're leaving."
Anchor Public Taps will remain open temporarily. They'll sell remaining inventory, including a small volume of 2023 Anchor Christmas Ale, brewed prior to the company's recent decision to cancel the nationwide release.
Anchor was established in San Francisco in 1896 and was the country's first craft brewery.
The company's assets will be put up for sale as an alternative to bankruptcy. Anchor has had no luck in finding buyers for the brewery, but state in the press release that one may still come forward in the liquidation process.
"Anchor is grateful for its employees who exude so much passion for the Anchor brand," Singer said. "Anchor thanks them for their commitment and all that they have done to build and care for this beloved brewery."
I am waiting for the real estate prices to collapse. May be it will get so bad that the Giants will move to Oakland.
The Giants can go back to Tampa Bay.
So sad. Steam beer is a specialized lager fermented at a higher temperature due to the fact that there was no refrigeration on the west coast in the late 19th century. They made other wonderful beers, too. Their Liberty Ale was a fantastic pale ale. And their christmas beers were superb.
Sad. I only got to enjoy Anchor Steam on my too-rare business trips to CA in the ‘80s. Now I never will again.
My grandkids think I‘m an old fart when I speak of the old days growing up in San Francisco。I am one。There were many breweries in SF，lots of manufacturing going on， lots of blue-collar work。Much of it is gone。While walking to school I passed lots of businesses making brooms， furniture， bread， bottling milk， you name it， it was done in the City。Very little left，and the city “leaders” don’t seem to care。
Great beer.
:)
Ahh, give me back my 1980’s 😎
Yuh, sure they had all that, but I’ll bet if you wanted artisanal macaroni and cheese, or yoga for your dog, you were SOL.
You locked everything down because "Orange Man Bad" and now your once beloved cities are dystopian hellscapes.
Was it worth it?
Don’t have to close down...just relocate to the US.
When I grew up in Tampa in the sixties there were lots of little companies. There were a couple of plating shops where you get your chrome redone. When the gas stations on every corner went under because the government starting mandating what prices they could charge and when they were allowed to change them those corners became small companies making and selling all sorts of things. Then, along came the EPA. Most companies went out of business. Turns out if you owned an old gas station you had to pay a government certified company to come in and remediate the soil. That cost thousands more money than anyone could make off the company they owned. They all let the banks have the property and walked away. A Honeywell plant that made missiles just closed it down. Years later all the supposed bad soil tested clean but the EPA still wanted millions of dollars because, well they had a report that twenty years prior it was dirty, so somebody had to pay. Honeywell walked away.
Look at why companies aren’t here and you’ll find the government behind their absence.
A lot of companies could have been cleaner, but the EPA wanted them to use only EPA certified companies, and nobody could afford that. It was a giant money-making scheme.
I first read about steam beer in a Jack London story, so when I saw Anchor Steam on a restaurant’s beer menu, I had to try it. I liked it a lot, but it was hard to find around here.
Did my master’s thesis on the demise of small, regional one-of breweries (e.g . Olympia, Blitz...).
It was a tough show back then. I’m surprised Anchor hung on this long
I wonder if it became too expensive to keep cleaning the human excrement off of the floors after it got tracked in from the street?
Glad I figured out my homebrew clone recipe when I did...Will have to brew a batch this weekend.
Anchor Steam and Anchor Liberty got me started in homebrewing, 30 years ago.
Wow that is the end of an era and a sad day for sure. As a young man forty years ago, going from a steady diet of Bud, Coors, and Mickey’s Big Mouth to Anchor Steam was a real step up. Thought I was fancy when I drank Michelob but I had no idea how much better beer could be.
best beer ever.
Unionized in 2019.
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