Anchor Brewery Tour

Way back in January, we went on a tour of the Anchor Brewery which is a San Francisco based brewery that has been making beer since 1896. They also make whiskey and gin, holler. Their steam beer is wildly popular in the Bay Area, so popular that I had to call in October to get a spot on the tour for January!

We learned that they make beer in a pretty old fashioned way, although I can no longer tell you details of the process (it's been a while since we went). I do know that they do everything in one small factory from the brewing to the fermenting to the bottling. The woman leading our tour was very knowledgeable, and gave us lots of statistics that I swore to remember to put in this very blog entry, but alas, I have forgotten them. The one I do remember is that Budweiser produces more beer in one DAY than Anchor Brewing produces in an entire year. Quality over quantity people.

After the tour, we got to do a tasting, which I was really happy about. While I like the Anchor Steam beer (most popular variety they make), I got to try several other smaller production varieties that I really enjoyed. They make a liberty ale, a porter, a holiday ale, and a barley wine style ale which is sweet - an after dinner beer. I'm a big fan. We've been on the lookout in stores but we haven't found any yet. I think a trip to BevMo is in our future.

Beer anyone? They are tasty!

Hops.