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The 127-year-old maker of the influential beer Anchor Steam files for a form of bankruptcy amid a prolonged pandemic impact in San FranciscoAnchor Brewing Co., the self-proclaimed first craft brewery in the U.S., said it will “cease operations and liquidate the business,” about 127 years after being incorporated. “This was an extremely difficult decision that Anchor reached only after many months of careful evaluation,” said Anchor Brewing Spokesperson Sam Singer. Anchor, whose beer lineup includes Anchor Steam, Old Foghorn and West Coast IPA, has decided to begin the assignment for the benefit of creditors, or ABC, process, which is a...

Former liberal Prime Minister of Italy Matteo Renzi has dismissed alarmist claims in the global media that incoming Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is a “danger to democracy”, telling CNN “the idea that now there is a risk of fascism in Italy is absolutely fake news.” “Personally, I was against Giorgia Meloni. I’m not her best friend. We grew up together in politics, but we are, and will be, rivals, always,” said Renzi, who served as Prime Minister of Italy for nearly three years until December 2016, and is the leader of the liberal “Italia Viva” party.

Martin Isark, a professional food and drink taster has revealed the most common mistake we're all making when it comes to making a classic brew - and it's so easily fixedWhen you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they’ll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. OurPrivacy Noticeexplains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. If there's one thing Brits are passionate about, it's a cup of tea. Although the amount of milk and sugar varies from person to person,...

Microscopic signatures of malting could help reveal which prehistoric people had a taste for beer. Ancient beer is difficult to trace, because many of beer’s chemical ingredients, like alcohol, don’t preserve well (SN: 9/28/04). But a new analysis of modern and ancient malted grain indicates that malting’s effects on grain cell structure can last millennia. This microscopic evidence could help fill in the archaeological record of beer consumption, providing insight into the social, ritual and dietary roles this drink played in prehistoric cultures, researchers report online May 7 in PLOS ONE. Malting, the first step in brewing beer, erodes cell...

Israeli researchers raised a glass Wednesday to celebrate a long-brewing project of making beer and mead using yeasts extracted from ancient clay vessels —some over 5,000 years old. Archaeologists and microbiologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority and four Israeli universities teamed up to study yeast colonies found in microscopic pores in pottery fragments. The shards were found at Egyptian, Philistine and Judean archaeological sites in Israel spanning from 3,000 BC to the 4th century BC. The scientists are touting the brews made from "resurrected" yeasts as an important step in experimental archaeology, a field that seeks to reconstruct the past...

Scientists conducted tests on ancient pottery jars and funnels found at the Mijiaya archaeological site in China’s Shaanxi province. The analyses revealed traces of oxalate — a beer-making byproduct that forms a scale called “beerstone” in brewing equipment — as well as residues from a variety of ancient grains and plants. These grains included broomcorn millets, an Asian wild grain known as “Job’s tears,” tubers from plant roots, and barley. Barley is used to make beer because it has high levels of amylase enzymes that promote the conversion of starches into sugars during the fermenting process. It was first cultivated...

Back in the day - we're talking WAY back in the day - beer was brewed with malt, and bread, and honey and wine . . . and just about anything that could be fermented. How the ancients brewed - and how you can too! Archaeology and beer seem to go together, and it’s not just because a cold brew helps wash the dust from your teeth after a long day on the digs. I’m an archaeologist by profession and a homebrewer by avocation. Lots of archaeologists brew their own, and those who don’t often have a passion for more...

Egypt's minister of antiquities says Japanese archeologists have unearthed the tomb of an ancient beer brewer in the city of Luxor that is more than 3,000 years old. Mohammed Ibrahim says Friday the tomb dates back to the Ramesside period and belongs to the chief "maker of beer for gods of the dead" who was also the head of a warehouse. He added that the walls of the tomb's chambers contain "fabulous designs and colors, reflecting details of daily life ... along with their religious rituals." The head of the Japanese team, Jiro Kondo, says the tomb was discovered during...

<p>Beer brewers are objecting to a proposed federal rule that would make it harder for breweries to sell leftover grains as animal feed instead of throwing them away.</p> <p>The Food and Drug Administration rule change would mean brewers would have to meet the same standards as livestock and pet-food manufacturers, imposing new sanitary handling procedures, record keeping and other food safety processes on brewers.</p>

A Polish archaeologist at the Jagiellonian University Institute of Archaeology has made a 3D reconstruction of a 5,500-year-old brewing installation which was found at Tell el-Farcha, an archaeological site in Egypt dating back to approximately 3700 BC when it functioned as a centre of local Lower Egyptian Culture. The virtual reconstruction has brought to life the ancient scene in which Egyptians practiced a traditional form of beer making. The reconstruction was created based on preserved structures of similar analogous buildings at both Tell el-Farcha and other brewing centres in Upper Egypt. The Tell el-Farcha brewery, the oldest ever brewery found...

Amidst a flooding crisis in Louisiana that has left thousands seeking help in emergency shelters and thousands more lined up seeking necessities, and in the midst of the longest period of sustained unemployment since World War II, with an administration that recently claimed the President has "a lot on his plate", so much so that he can't meet with his jobs council that hasn't convened since January, the over-worked President had time to release this - his recipe for making home-brewed beer. From the official White House website: Ed. Note: There's been a lot of buzz online recently about the...

In the 15th century, when Europeans first began moving people and goods across the Atlantic, a microscopic stowaway somehow made its way to the caves and monasteries of Bavaria. The stowaway, a yeast that may have been transported from a distant shore on a piece of wood or in the stomach of a fruit fly, was destined for great things. In the dank caves and monastery cellars where 15th century brewmeisters stored their product, the newly arrived yeast fused with a distant relative, the domesticated yeast used for millennia to make leavened bread and ferment wine and ale. The resulting...

The First Lady’s office confirms that the White House chefs made one batch of beer using about a pound of honey from the First Lady’s honey hive, on the South Lawn of the White House. The chefs used the traditional methods to brew the beer, and the First Lady’s office confirms that the Obamas paid for the equipment. The batch was made so that the nearly 200 Super Bowl guests – from members of Congress to celebrities like J-Lo -- could sample the new beer.

On Jan. 16, 1920, the United States went dry. On that day 90 years ago, the 18th Amendment went into effect, making the buying and selling of alcohol illegal. This period of Prohibition lasted for nearly 14 years in the United States. Then, in 1933, America's dry spell ended when the 21st Amendment repealed the 18th and the United States was able to once again legally pursue its love affair with alcohol -- including beer. As America marks the 90th anniversary of the start of Prohibition, its affection for beer is still strong. But while many drink the beverage, how...

Nic Henke is a home-brewer, just as his German-American grandparents were two generations ago. You could say that beer is in his blood. "Yeah, and it's probably measurable some days," jokes Henke, whose love of the craft is evidenced in the several-thousand-dollar home-brewing room in the basement of his Mendota Heights home. Henke, who brews two or three styles of beer each month, is a member of the St. Paul Homebrewers Club, which meets monthly to talk beer and critique their brews. Members then pit their beers against others from across the nation. Tonight, they'll find out whether they keep...

MUNSTER, Ind. - The Indiana brewers of Dark Lord, a thick stout available only once a year, said tickets allowing holders to purchase bottles have already sold out for 2010. Three Floyds Brewing Co. said the brew would only be sold April 24, "Dark Lord Day," and only holders of "Golden Tickets" offered online would be allowed to purchase a 22-ounce bottle for $15, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Tuesday. Officials with the company said the tickets sold out less than half an hour after they were released. The officials said "Dark Lord Day" draws beer fans from across the country,...

Twin Cities breweries are being flooded with demand for locally made beers — but they're certainly not complaining.

California's smallest beer makers, including Stockton's Valley Brew, have become engaged in a political fight against industry giant Anheuser-Busch Co. The battle is being waged over souvenirs - specifically, the amount of money California law allows beer companies to spend on the trinkets they give away at bars and festivals. Anheuser-Busch is backing Assembly Bill 1245, authored by Rep. Alberto Torrico, D-Fremont, which would allow beer companies to spend as much as $5 each on the promotional items they give away. The current law puts a 25-cent cap on the items, known in the industry as swag. A statewide coalition...

This is one of those things that seems to have fallen under the radar screen of most beer history geeks, a real shame, especially in a history-laden city like Chicago. The John Crerar Library at the University of Chicago is holding a special exhibit that “…explores the development of brewing, from the ancient Sumerians’ rice-based beverages to the rise and fall of the Chicago brewing industry.” The exhibit runs through March 31.

WASHINGTON - A battle is shaping up between conservatives who want to cut government spending and moderates seeking to protect education and health programs as House Republicans start acting on President Bush's proposed budget for next year. The conservative-dominated House Budget Committee was expected to act favorably Wednesday on a $2.8 trillion budget blueprint for the budget year that begins Oct. 1. Moderates already are demanding a rewrite to boost popular domestic programs. "I will not vote for a House budget resolution that would result in real cuts to critical federal investments in education, health care, housing veterans' services, social...