Anchor steams away over the horizon

This story is a couple of weeks old now, but that doesn’t stop it from being both topical, poignant and, above all, relevant, especially as it highlights much of what is wrong with today’s beer and brewing scene. The story is of course, the recently announced closure of iconic Anchor Brewing in San Francisco, acquired by Japanese brewing giant, Sapporo, and now thrown on the scrapheap. In doing so, Sapporo are discarding a century and a quarter’s history, as well as the love and devotion of the man who saved the brewery, and its unique style of beer from a previous threat of closure.

That threat occurred back in the mid 1960’s, and the knight in shining armour was Fritz Maytag. The story of how and why Fritz bought Anchor Brewing is well known to those of us who witnessed the development of the phenomenon that is today’s global brewing scene, but for those who weren’t around during those heady days, here’s a brief synopsis of what happened.

Anchor was regarded as the last speciality brewery of any kind in America, but set against a tide of often insipid, heavily promoted nations brands – think Budweiser, Coors, Miller, Schlitz, Pabst, and a handful of other behemoths that dominated US brewing, it was sinking fast, and almost without trace. What happened next passed into legend amongst American beer lovers, so it is doubly upsetting seeing Anchor, once again under threat of vanishing from the North American beer scene.

It was 1965, and Fritz Maytag, whose family owned one of the USA's principal washing machine companies, was a student at Stanford University. The laundry connection comes into play shortly, other wise I wouldn’t have mentioned it, but during his student days, Fritz was a regular at a San Francisco bar and restaurant, where Anchor Steam Beer was stocked. One day, whilst sitting at the bar, and ordering an Anchor Steam, he was told that the brewery was due to close at the end of the week.

Fritz was horrified but was determined not to allow his favourite beer to disappear. At first, he thought his family connections might be able to provide some business experience to help the brewery. Instead, he found himself selling some shares in the family's business in order to become a partner and subsequent owner at Anchor Steam. Most observers thought he was crazy. The brewery was seriously underfunded, was situated underneath the freeway and employed only one person. Baker's yeast was used for the fermentation, and in the absence of a bottling line, only draught beer was produced.

Undeterred, Fritz put everything he could in the brewery, including making sales calls and doing his own deliveries. He also learned as much as he could about the brewing process, making improvements wherever he could. Slowly, but surely Fritz began turning the business around, although it took him 10 years before Anchor was turning in a profit. Soon afterwards he moved the operation into a stylish 1930s building that formerly housed a coffee roasting company. This was located in the fashionable, San Francisco district of Potrero Hill.

Maytag’s philosophy was the company should always remain in touch with what they were about i.e., brewing a first-class beer. In order to achieve this, he designed the new Anchor brewery so that all the officers faced directly onto the copper kettles, and other brewing vessels. As a further reminder of the ethos behind the business, the brewery included a tap room, complete with a traditional, bar decorated with memorabilia, where workers could relax over a few, after work beers. In addition, once a year, Fritz would take a party from the brewery, to the far north of California, in order to see the barley being harvested. Other years, he would take the staff to watch the hops, used in the brewery, being picked.

Maytag’s determination and drive, combined with his insistence of top-quality ingredients, that turned Anchor’s flagship product, into a renowned classic, acknowledged by beer lovers, the world over. Anchor Steam beer was produced from pale and crystal malts and hopped three times throughout the brewing process with Northern Brewer hops. Fermentation took place in a series of uniquely shallow fermentation vessels, each just two foot deep. This produced a beer with an alcohol content of around 5%.

Fermentation was followed by three-week’s warm conditioning, and dry-hopping, before the beer was pasteurised, bottled, or kegged. Anchor Steam beer had the roundness and cleanness of a lager but some of the complexity of an ale. It was bronze in colour, with a pleasing natural carbonation, that was a good match for its clean, and pleasing fruitiness. Although the term “steam beer” had been known for decades, it was the time, effort, and sheer dedication put in by Fritz and his team, that fostered and saved this unique way of brewing.

As well as Steam Beer, Anchor also produced the famous Liberty Ale, along with Old Foghorn Barleywine. Fritz’s rescue of Anchor preceded the micro-brewery movement in North America by 10 or 12 years, and whilst he never intended to spend his life as a brewer, what he achieved during his years at the helm of the company, proved inspirational to a host of other aspiring brewers, both in the United States and further afield.

 As one industry commentator put it, “Fritz not only saved Anchor in 1965, but he also essentially laid the tracks for others to follow. Anchor Steam was recreated in a vacuum because there were no drinkable examples and few who remembered it. Fritz may have "simply" Americanized dead, unpopular, or under-appreciated English styles like Pale Ale, IPA, Porter, Barley-wine, and Holiday beer, but he was very inspirational to the first small craft breweries in Northern California.”

Unfortunately, despite Maytag’s legacy, the iconic role he played at Anchor in bringing diversity, character, and style to the American brewing scene, was slowly buried over by the years, as brewers in that part of the world began trying to out-compete one another by producing increasingly extreme beers. West Coast IPA Double IPA, New England IPA, and a plethora of  other different beer styles left Anchor Beer as a refugee in its own homeland.  Ticking apps, such as Rate Beer and Untappd, spawned a whole generation of drinkers more interested in chasing the latest fad, than appreciating what they already had.

This is a lesson I feel all beer lovers should take note of, and I have seen several American beer commentators making similar points. "Smoothie Pastry Hazy Juicy Dessert IPAs have destroyed classic beers. But we’re all to blame. I don’t understand why Sapporo would buy the brewery and shut it down so quickly. Not only does that make no sense with regard to their investment, but they have made a lot of enemies, too. But as fickle craft beer drinkers we are all to blame. We are more focused on the latest fad and in the process let this classic brewery die a slow death. And that’s a shame of epic proportions."

For my part I am extremely sorry to see Anchor disappear, because like many people who grew up witnessing the micro-brewery revolution as it developed into a global phenomenon, iconic beers, such as Anchor, which played such a pivotal role will always have a special place in my heart. When we had our off licence, Anchor Steam, Porter, and Liberty Ale from San Francisco were regular staples on our shelves. We obtained them through an importer called James Clay & Sons, who are still trading today. That was 17 years ago, and since that time I have rarely seen Anchor beers on sale anywhere in the UK.

Let’s leave the final words of this sorry saga to Chuck Magerl, proprietor of Free State Brewing in Kansas. Fritz Maytag and his crew created the amazing beer world in America today. “When we opened Free State in early spring of 1989, the initial response quickly outstripped our capacity to release new batches. We bought in the only keg of Anchor beer available in Kansas, as a way to offer a like-minded beer for our guests.”

“Others played a role, but Fritz was the key. While the news of Anchor’s closing may yet unfold with another chapter, what is certain is the importance of what this Iowa guy achieved as he guided the historic San Francisco brewery into the new age. Wherever you have a beer this week, whatever flavour you enjoy, please join us in raising an appreciative toast to the world Fritz Maytag enhanced with his devotion at Anchor Brewing”.