anchor brewing

New Beer Blog Anchor Saison Spring Ale

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In this spring seasonal beer blog, we are going to get into another beer from Anchor Brewery.  It is their Saison Spring Ale.  If you read my earlier beer blog posts on their beers, you know the history of this west coast craft brewery.  If you have not, please, read them to get to know this California base craft brewery.  Let us get into this saison ale.

It has a slightly cloudy golden color with a white constant head. The smell has a fruity to lemon notes. The taste has a heavy lemon to farm and earthly notes. The aftertaste has a lemon note finish. It is extremely drinkable beer.

Here is a description from their website (www.anchorbrewing.com):

Anchor Saison

Saisons originated with the rustic farmhouse ales of Wallonia, a mostly French-speaking region of Belgium. Bière de saison was brewed during the saison froide (cold season) for consumption during the warmer months. Today saisons are made and enjoyed year-round. As brewers, we were drawn to this beer style’s enigmatic history, the freedom it offers, and the creativity it demands.

Anchor Saison™ Spring Ale is a traditional Belgian-style saison with a California twist. The distinctiveness of roasted Belgian wheat malt is enhanced by the peppery, clove-like flavors of a locally cultured saison-style yeast. And, for this release, we chose three California ingredients—lemongrass, lemon peel, and ginger—whose synergy adds a tangy crispness and herbal spiciness to this sharply refreshing, uniquely Californian saison.

The completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 and the Southern Pacific’s “Sunset Route” in 1883, coupled with the advent of refrigerated railcars, made it possible for California brewers and farmers to ship their products out of state. Local artists and lithographers were engaged to create imaginative labels for bottles of beer and crates of fruit. Many of the latter featured colorful vignettes of California scenery framed by mouthwatering images of fresh citrus.

Inspired by those early fruit-crate labels and the ingredients in this release of Anchor Saison™ Spring Ale, our label features an original hand-colored 1873 lithograph of the Golden Gate as seen from Telegraph Hill. Our saison’s California ingredients—hand-drawn by our label artist Jim Stitt—adorn it, creating a uniquely Anchor label for a uniquely Anchor brew.

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website:  www.anchorbrewing.com

Twitter:  @anchorbrewing

In the end, I will say this that all saison or farmhouse ales are not all the same.  They are all different and it is by design.  The only thing that is the same is the funkiest from the yeast strain.  It has a heavy lemon notes. It is different like all saisons are on the market. I like it.  It is not my favorite but it is a good version of saison ale.  I love Goose Island Sofie and that is my standard for farmhouse ales.  I do recommend this beer.  Go get some!  Drink it!  Enjoy it!  Metal it!  \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email:  djweiser16@gmail.com

Twitter:  @djweiser

Instagram:  @djweiser13

New Beer Blog Anchor Brewery Christmas Ale (2015)

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In this winter beer blog, we are going to get into another beer from Anchor Brewery.  It is this year’s version of their Christmas Ale.  If you read my earlier beer blog posts on their beers, you know the history of this West Coast craft brewery.  If you have not, please, read them to get to know this California craft brewery.  Let us get into this Winter Ale.

It has a black color with constant tan color head. The smell has a sweet malty to light alcohol with a hint of chocolate to coffee notes. The taste of this medium body beer has a dry malty to slight coffee notes. The aftertaste has a dry malty with a hint of alcohol notes. It is a sipping beer

Here is a description from their website (www.anchorbrewing.com):

This is the forty-first annual Christmas Ale from the brewers at Anchor. It is sold only from early November to mid–January. The Ale’s recipe is different every year—as is the tree on the label—but the intent with which we offer it remains the same: joy and celebration of the newness of life. Since ancient times, trees have symbolized the winter solstice when the earth, with its seasons, appears born anew.

Our tree for 2015 is the Deodar Cedar (Cedrus deodara), better known as the California Christmas Tree. Native of the Himalayas, it takes its name from the ancient Sanskrit devadaru, meaning timber of the gods. This coniferous evergreen, with its gracefully droopy branches and blue-green needles, has been a San Francisco favorite for over 150 years.

The annual search for the perfect tree for our Christmas Ale label usually takes us far afield. This one began and ended with the search for a parking space near the Brewery! Getting out of the car, we couldn’t help but notice the way the late-afternoon sun danced amid the branches of two lovely Deodars just half a block from Anchor’s front door.

Our longtime label artist Jim Stitt—who has been drawing trees for us since 1975—loved “our” Deodars and, like us, was amused that they were about as local as local gets! His charming illustration evokes the radiant beauty of our arboreal neighbors as well as the spirit of the season. Cheers from the Anchor brewers!

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website:  www.anchorbrewing.com

Twitter:  @anchorbrewing

In the end, this beer is like a tradition of going home for the holiday.  I always pick up a six pack of this beer every year.  I will be honest right now.  I was not a fan of the last few years.  I love this years. This year’s just blew me out of my mind.  It is very well balance.  I love the how it is pretty dry.  I highly recommend this beer.  Go get some!  Drink it!  Enjoy it!  Metal it!  \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email:  djweiser16@gmail.com

Twitter:  @djweiser

Instagram:  @djweiser13

New Beer Blog Anchor Brewing Our Special Ale (2014)

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In this winter beer blog, we are going to get into one of the first and original christmas beer of the modern era.  It is from Anchor Brewing and it is their Our Special Ale.  If you read my earlier beer blog posts on their beers, you know the history of this west coast craft brewery.  If you have not, please, read them to get to know Anchor Brewery.  Let us get into this Christmas Ale.

It has a dark brown color with non constant light brown color head. The smell has roasted malt to toffee and nutty notes. The taste has a roasted to burn malt notes with a burn malt aftertaste. It is a kind of drinkable beer.

Here is a description from the beer bottle:

This is the fortieth annual “Our Special Ale”  from the brewers at Anchor.  It is sold only from early November to mid-January.  The Ale’s recipe is different every year, as is the tree on the label, but the intent with which we offer it remains the same; joy and celebration of the newness of life.  Since ancient times, trees have symbolized the winter solstice when the earth, with its seasons, appears born anew.

Here is a description from their website (www.anchorbrewing.com):

This is the fortieth annual Christmas Ale from the Anchor brewers. It is sold only from early November to mid–January. The Ale’s recipe is different every year, as is the tree on the label, but the intent with which we offer it remains the same: joy and celebration of the newness of life. Our tree for 2014 is the Giant Sequoia. It was hand-drawn by James Stitt—who has been creating Christmas Ale labels for us since 1975—to look as a “Big Tree” planted in 1975 might look today.

“The Big Tree is Nature’s forest masterpiece, and…keeps its youth far longer than any of its neighbors. Most silver firs are old in their second or third century, pines in their fourth or fifth, while the Big Tree growing beside them is still in the bloom of its youth, juvenile in every feature at the age of old pines, and cannot be said to attain anything like prime size and beauty before its fifteen hundredth year, or under favorable circumstances become old before its three thousandth.”–John Muir

We chose the Giant Sequoia for our fortieth Christmas Ale in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Yosemite Act. Signed into law by President Lincoln during the Civil War, it granted the Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Big Tree Grove to the State of California “for public use, resort, and recreation.” The first such land grant in American history, it marked the beginning of the California State Parks.

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website:  www.anchorbrewing.com

Twitter:  @anchorbrewing

Ending, winter and fall seasonal beers are my favorite of all the seasons.  I love the spring and summer for motorcycle riding.  I am finding out that the winter seasonals this year are so much better than last years.  It was the same case for the fall seasonal brews.  I had a hard time liking this beer every year but at end of season, it always ends in my top five. I love burn from the roasted malts. This is a great beer.  It is a nice sipping brew to get you through the winter cold days.  I highly recommend this beer.  Go get some!  Drink it!  Enjoy it!  Metal it!  \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email:  djweiser16@gmail.com

Tiwtter:  @djweiser

Instagram:  @djweiser13

New Beer Blog Anchor Brewery Big Leaf Maple Autumn Red Ale (2014)

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In this fall beer blog, we are going to get into Big Leaf Maple Autumn Red Ale from Anchor Brewery.  If you read my earlier beer blog posts on their Anchor Brewing IPA post, you know the history of this craft brewery.  If you have not, please, read it to get to know this west coast craft brewery.  Let us get into this fall beer.

It has a nice clear red to amber color with a white head.  The aroma has a sweet malt to hints of maple syrup.  The taste has a carbonated malty to slight nutty notes.  The aftertaste is a dry slight burned maple syrup to malty notes.  It is pretty drinkable beer.

Here is a desecration from the beer bottle and website (www.anchorbrewing.com):

Our fall seasonal, BigLeaf Maple Autumn Red™, was inspired by a native California tree, its incredible leaves, its delicious syrup, and the best colors of fall. Bigleaf maple thrives along the banks of California’s mountain streams. Native Californians once made rope and baskets from its bark. Today, artisans handcraft its wood and burl into custom guitars. In autumn its huge leaves, up to a foot across, can display a full range of color as they slowly turn from green to gold to red. Bigleaf maple sugaring in California dates to the 1800s; yet this tree’s unusually flavorful syrup remains the product of a small group of hobbyists. A hint of maple—including bigleaf maple—syrup in every brew perfectly complements the malty complexity, balanced hoppiness, and rich fall hue of BigLeaf Maple Autumn Red™, a red ale like no other.

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website:  www.anchorbrewing.com

Twitter:  @anchorbrewing

In closing, I was looking forward to trying this beer.  I was pretty interested on how the maple syrup would go over with the red ale.  I liked it.  The aftertaste is pretty dry aftertaste.  There is some nice flavor and some complex notes.  I enjoyed drinking this beer.  I might be picking up some more before the end of the season.  There is so many fall seasonals that I want to get into.  I like this beer if it was for dessert or a late night beer. I know there are some people that can drink this while they are tailgating.  This is a great beer.  I recommend it.  Go get some!  Drink it!  Enjoy it!  Metal it!  \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email:  djweiser16@gmail.com

Twitter:  @djweiser

Instagram:  @djweiser13

New Beer Blog Anchor Brewing Anchor IPA

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In this beer blog, we are going to get into our first brew from Anchor Brewing.  It is one of their two new beer, which is Anchor IPA.  Anchor Brewery started brewing in 1896 in San Francisco.  Ernst F. Baruth and Otto Schinkel, Jr brought the brewery from Gottlieb Brekle, who came over from Germany.  The brewery struggled throughout the 1950’s and finally in 1965 Frederick Louis Maytag III brought about 50% shares in the brewery to save it from closing.  He later brought the rest of the shares in the company and moved in to its current location in 1979.  In 2010, Maytag sold the brewery to Keith Greggor and Tony Foglio.  They kept on pushing the brewery forward.  Today, they brew several different beer styles.  They released two new beers in the last two years.  They are California Lager and this one Anchor IPA.  Let us get into this IPA.

It has a clear bright copper color with a white constant head.  The aroma has floral and earthy notes.  The taste is an earthy with hints of malt.  The aftertaste has a dry hop finish.  It is kind of drinkable beer to drinkable.

Here is a description from the beer bottle:

The California Gold Rush lured thousands went to “see the elephant,” a 19th-century metaphor for the hopeful but risky pursuit of  happiness, adventure, and fortune.  As early as 1849, India Pale Ale prepared by British brewers for export to India by adding dry hops to barrels of hoppy ale – was also heading west, from England around the Horn to San Francisco.  Thirsty ’49ers savored imported IPAs, but it wasn’t until 1975 that Anchor, America’s original craft brewery, pioneered the revival of dry-hopped handmade ales.  Now, that tradition fast-forwards to an adventurous new brew: Anchor IPA.  Made with 2-row barley malt and fresh whole-cone hops, its bright amber color, distinctively complex aroma, spiky bitterness, malty depth, and clean finish unite to create a uniquely flavorful, memorable, and timeless IPA.

Here is a description from their website (www.anchorbrewing.com):

The California Gold Rush lured thousands west to “see the elephant,” a 19th-century metaphor for the hopeful but risky pursuit of happiness, adventure, and fortune. As early as 1849, India Pale Ale – prepared by British brewers for export to India by adding dry hops to barrels of hoppy ale – was also heading west, from England around the Horn to San Francisco. Thirsty ‘49ers savored the best imported IPAs, but it wasn’t until 1975 that Anchor, Americas’ original craft brewery, pioneered the revival of dry-hopped handmade ales. Now, that tradition fast-forwards to an adventurous new brew: Anchor IPA™.

Anchor IPA™ is made with 2-row barley malt and fresh whole-cone hops, its bright amber color, distinctively complex aroma, spiky bitterness, malty depth, and clean finish unite to create a uniquely flavorful, memorable, and timeless craft IPA.

The elephant you see on Anchor IPA™ was hand-drawn by our label artist, James Stitt. To “see the elephant” was a popular 19th-century expression that originated with a tale that predates the California Gold Rush.

There once lived a farmer who had heard of elephants but had never seen one. He longed for the day when he might catch a glimpse of this rare, exotic creature. When the circus came to town, he loaded his wagon with fresh produce and headed to market. On the way, just as he’d hoped, he came across the circus parade, nobly led by an enormous elephant. The farmer was ecstatic, but his horses were terrified. They reared and bucked, overturning his wagon and scattering its precious contents in the road. “I don’t give a hoot,” exclaimed the farmer. “I have seen the elephant!”

The elephant became the universal symbol of the Gold Rush, as evidenced by the journals, letters, and sketchbooks of the forty-niners. Whether or not they struck it rich in the diggings, those plucky pioneers would forever treasure their California adventure as the defining moment of their lives. Have you seen the elephant?

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website:  www.anchorbrewing.com

Twitter:  @AnchorBrewing

In closing, I am always interested in what Anchor Brewery puts out in the beer world.  I have a problem living in Michigan.  It is hard to find Anchor Beers.  I have to always ask for it.  I could not find this beer so I had to go to Chicago.  Their Wholesaler here in Michigan is not very good.  They worry about Michigan craft beers, which is fine, as long as they are good.  Most of them are not very good.  I am a huge hophead so this beer was on my radar.  This beer lives up to the IPA’s.  I would not say this IPA is an American.  I look at it as English IPA.  It is right in the middle between the two beer styles.  I get why it is American IPA because they use American hops or yeast.  There is a ton of Malty depth.  It is pretty complex there and then add the hops on top of it.  The hop selection takes this beer to another level of complex flavors.  I do enjoy it and I hope to try this IPA and their Liberty Ale side by side.  Of course, if I can find them in my market, I might have to ask for both of them at my local beer store.  I recommend this beer.  Go get some!  Drink it!  Enjoy it!  Metal it!  \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email:  djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter: @djweiser

Instagram:  @djweiser13