Anchor Leg of Vacation Relay

Beer #215 Anchor Steam / Anchor Brewing, San Francisco, CA

Continuing to wind my way through the last few (and best) breweries from our vacation trip.  The beer of the day is Anchor Steam, from Anchor Brewing. This beer has long been a favorite of mine, since I first started to realize the awesomeness of craft beer.  I had this one on draft at the Eagle Cafe, a seafood restaurant at Fisherman's Wharf with a view of the sea lions on Pier 39.   Nice spot for food, beer, and people watching (and sea lion watching) if you're in the neighborhood. 

This beer has a dark amber hue with a creamy white head, and your nose picks up aromas of caramel malts.  You get an impressive meal of bread, malt, light citrus, caramel, and a bit of hop bitterness on the finish.  Very smooth, very easy drinking, very nice.  Without a doubt, Anchor has earned a spot in my Top 25 list, and it will take some enormously amazing beers to knock Anchor off the list.

You may be wondering what's with the name, and I can help you with that.  Steam refers to an old nickname for beer produced on the West Coast without the use of refrigeration.  In order to cool the beer, it was pumped to shallow containers on the roof of the brewery.  During this cooling process, steam would rise up from the warm containers as they cooled in the breeze.  Anchor lawyered up in 1981 and trademarked the name, so now other beers brewed in this same style as Anchor Steam (warmer fermentation in shallow open air vessels) are called "California Common" rather than steam beers.



Sooo tasty.



I desperately wanted to steal that glass.  Next time.  Anchor has a long tradition of brewing, as they trace their roots back to 1871 when a German settler bought a pool hall in San Francisco and started producing beer.  The brewery was sold to another German brewer in 1896 and renamed Anchor.  While it's changed owners and locations a number of times since then, they've carried the brand name forward.  I've drank a few of their other options, such as the Small Beer, Bock, Humming Ale, and Liberty Ale.  All great beers, but to me, the best of the bunch is still their flagship Steam beer.

Thing to Think About Today:
Anchors, boats, summer time.....boat drinks.  But Boat Drinks, the song, not some fruity mai tai nonsense.  Beer goes with boats, people.  Trust me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjPUiXWFtB4

Good Grief, Charlie Brown!

Beer #191 Drew's Steam / Six Rivers Brewery, McKinleyville, CA

Back on the road yesterday; made our way to Sonoma County to work in some wine tastings with our beer adventures.  We're all about equal opportunity at this blog.  Visited four wineries (Hop Kiln, Rochioli, Thomas George, and Potter Creek) before finishing the day at Russian River Brewing Company for dinner and beers.  You'll hear more about Russian River soon enough, but rest assured it was a religious experience.  The wines from today were good, too!

For today's beer, we'll go with a small brewery further up the California coast, Six Rivers Brewery.  This was another beer from our lunch at Slater's 50/50 - I tried the Drew's Steam, a California Common style (think Anchor Steam).  It poured a copper color with a thin head, and gave off earthy aromas (Marci says: "wet, unfinished wood").  When you drink it, you get caramel malts, an earthy, grassy flavor, and a hop bitterness on the finish.  Not bad at all.

This brewery should consider using the slogan "Six Rivers: Twice as Good as Pittsburgh!"  Although, when your brewery has a view of the Pacific Ocean, I guess you don't need to remind the people of Pittsburgh that they don't.

Thing to Think About Today:
We're posted up in Santa Rosa, in the middle of Sonoma County.  Without a doubt the most famous resident of Santa Rosa was the legendary Charles M. Schulz, who lived here for the last 31 years of his life.  I can't imagine a childhood that didn't include Snoopy, Charlie Brown, and the rest of the Peanuts gang.  So let's all take a moment and think about the greatest comic in the history of time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dox9nxa0Mzs

I could totally go for some buttered toast, popcorn, and jelly beans right now.

Bikes and Beers

Beer #176 Fusion / Amager Bryghus, Kastrup, Denmark

Great way to close the weekend - the 28th annual Philadelphia International Championship, more affectionately and simply known around these parts as "Bike Race Day."  We traditionally tailgate at a spot near Lemon Hill, which is a sharp right hand turn in the middle of a steep downhill stretch.  You get an appreciation for the skill it takes to navigate the course in close quarters, and you realize just how fast they're moving.  Also a great spot for people watching, which is occasionally as exciting as the race itself.

For a day out in the sun, we chose the Fusion from Amager Bryghus.  Can't tell you much about the color, as I drank it out of a blue cup (many thanks to the city of Philadelphia for not really caring about open container laws during Bike Race).  I can tell you it had a fluffy head that hung around while I drank it.  The aroma is a nice, lemony scent.  When you drink this beer, you get flavors of grain, lemon, and a touch of peppery spice.  Nice and easy drinking beer, as it's only 3.5% ABV.  Not a bad option for summertime.

It poured a blue hue, with a white lip. Oh wait, that's just the plastic cup.

Interesting fact about this brewery is that it's located in what used to be an air raid shelter.  Now you know.

Thing to Think About Today:
We'll close with the song that runs through my head every Bike Race.  Oh indeed, it's time for Bicycle Race by Queen.  I'm pretty sure the professional riders in the race sing this too.  Take it away, Freddie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt0V0_1MS0Q&ob=av2n

"I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike."

Beer 176: Amager Bryghus Fusion and Sunday in the Park

Today's beer was enjoyed at the 28th Annual Philadelphia International Cycling Championship. It's become a tradition of sorts for us to gather at the bottom of Lemon Hill with friends to cheer on the riders/wait for a spectacular crash...whether it be among the actual cyclists or the spectators moving any number of tailgate and party items. I also use the phrase "party items" loosely - we once saw a full suit of armor get rolled down the hill and hours later, rolled back up the hill!

Sadly this year only included the near death of an idiot spectator who absolutely did not understand course etiquette nor did she heed about 20 or so folks screaming at her to get off the course as the peloton came barreling at her. There's a lesson for everyone...pay attention when you're near a race course. People wandering out into the path was one of my big pet peeves when I was running.

I wish I could write that today's beer was drunk in celebration of a big Denmark victory, but the team from Denmark came in 33rd place. Instead I just drank a beer from Denmark because it was there.


I can't attest to the color of the Amager Bryghus Fusion. I don't know about the color since we were doing the "sneaky drinking in the park" thing but I can attest to its full white head.

The smell reminded me of light IPA hops. It was also kind of perfumey. The taste was light, clean and crisp. After a bit I started to notice a slight metallic taste mingling with a malty sweetness. This beer is a style I'm not at all familiar with...a steam beer. Actually I lied. Old Scratch by Flying Dog is a steam beer. So is Anchor Steam. I had no idea about Old Scratch and evidently I'm just unobservant on the latter.

A steam beer is fermented at a higher temperature. They are light amber to tawny in color, medium bodied and malty, and fruity with an assertive hop bitterness. I would say Amager delivered on those characteristics although I definitely thought it was a little lighter than "full bodied".

I think this is a great beer. Definitely drink it if you ever encounter it. Actually you could drink quite a few of them at 3.5% ABV. Cheers!