Anchor Brewing is an old and iconic brewery in San Francisco. “Steam Beer” seems to be a name given to early beers brewed on the West Coast of the USA, and Anchor’s version is textbook.
Poured from a 355ml bottle with a freshness date on the back label. Anchor has some of my favourite labels, not overly artistic, but very traditional mariner imagery, piratey if you like.
The beer is dark honey-yellow, with a thick foamy head that dissaptes to a thin covering that leaves a gentle lacing.
The aroma has a wonderful caramel malt sweetness to it, with some resinous hop to it. Much more hop in the taste, very American. Bitter with hints of citrus peel, without actually tasting of citrus. Malt is sweet and grainy, but acts more as a balance to the hops. Such a good balance, smooth finish, a touch of lingering sweetness, but with a nice cleansing hop.
The beer is nearly silky smooth in the mouth, with a nice carbonation. It’s hard to figure out, but I think it has a medium body, but again, the hop seems to keep it from being dense. It is remarkably smooth and easy drinking, the kind of beer you want to keep a stock of in the fridge, just so it’s always on hand. It’s the Liam Neeson of beer, complex, yet accessible, exotic, yet familiar, and totally reliable.
I could probably look this up, but I have no idea whether it is a lager of an ale. It’s very complex, with assertive flavours, which harkens to an ale, but the balance and mouthfeel is lager, like Creemore, or Big Wheel. Given the primitive history of the beer, the lack of refridgeration, I must presume it is indeed at top-fermenting ale. But really, I don’t care, it’s just a lovely beer.
