• Anchor Brewing Company

Anchor Steam Beer

deep amber color. distinctive flavor. rich history. anchor steam beer owes its deep amber color, thick, creamy head, and rich, distinctive flavor to a brewing process like none other.

Anchor Steam Beer samples for everyone before the tour.

  • Hercules, CA
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5.0 star rating

We had such a blast at the Anchor Brewing Company tour! My BIL had gotten us tix to celebrate the hubz' belated bday - touring a pioneer of the craft beer movement was high on his list! Upon arrival, our beer guide Thomas hits us with unlimited samples of their iconic Anchor Steam beer and then spouts out a ton of background of the brewery's origins and popularity today.  We then sample more beers (including Porter, Liberty Ale) before heading over to where the magic happens.   We got to see every step of the beer making process - the fermentation vessels, smell and feel the hops, walk through the production/canning/bottling machinery. Thomas was really great at explaining all of the details and answering all the questions being thrown at him. You definitely will need to use the bathroom a few times due to the high volume of beer intake - it's up a few flights of stairs so be prepared!  We ended at the tasting room and were able to sample more of the limited and seasonal beers - the fire and ice and local anesthetic were my favorites. We also got the beer glasses as a souvenir.  Definitely recommend this tour if you are a beer lover.  It's worth every penny!

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anchor steam beer tour

  • Jersey City, NJ
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Took the Anchor Brewing Company Tour on Tuesday afternoon. An insightful tour and tasting that will interest both beer lovers and history buffs. Quality: Having visited so many breweries at this point, I tend to turn down the tours as they feel quite repetitive. However, it is absolutely worth your time to opt for the Tour at Anchor Brewing Company. A craft brewery this steeped in history, which continues to utilize classic techniques is amazing to see up close. And the fact that the tour ends with a tasting of both their core beers and some limited release ones makes it all the better. The original Anchor Steam Beer and Old Foghorn Barleywine are not to be missed, but the first iteration of an IPA and their Christmas beers are great as well. Quantity: If you are efficient and have a partner you can definitely try all the samples in the 30 minutes following the Tour. Value: $25 for a Tour and Tasting. Ambiance: Anchor Brewing Company is located in a large warehouse in the Potrero Hill area of San Francisco. A taproom sits across the street, but if you have the time, you should visit the brewery. Most of the tour takes place on the second floor, where they have a tasting lounge and much of the equipment. The tour takes you through the operating brewery, providing wonderful insights into both the brewing and distribution process. You also learn a lot about the history and struggles of the brewery. It is a beautiful space and one that smells like delicious beer . Crowd: The Tuesday afternoon tour group was quite large at around thirty people. Yet they seemed prepared for the size with plenty of large spaces to gather groups and reinforcements ready when it came time for the tasting. Service: Even though he was new, our tour guide and bartender was fantastic. Personable, knowledgable, and funny. Parking: Decent street parking in the area around the brewery.

Kevin Z.

  • Encinitas, CA
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Anchor brewing was an awesome spot to visit for a good time and great beer . They had pop a shot basketball and and other games to go along with some tasty beer . I'd recommended the steam beer , it was delicious. This place is also huge with plenty of space for friends.

Shirley N.

  • San Francisco, CA
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Hubby & I finally got a chance to come last week during Anchor Steam week for a guided tour of the brewery.  As native San Franciscans, we've always wanted to come, and an opportunity presented itself recently. Our tour was on Wednesday at 2pm with Pedro as our guide.  You check in down in the lobby.  A wristband is given to you to show that you're on a tour.  Then head upstairs to the huge bar area where the tour will start. Prior to the start of the tour, you're given a 4 oz tasting of the original Anchor Steam beer .  Upon conclusion of the tour, we were able to taste all their various beers .  All you can sample.   As for the tour itself, Pedro provided the history of the brewery, explaining how it all began and who saved the brewery from going under.  After the verbal presentation, Pedro led us into the adjoining room where the brewery process begins.  Later we went downstairs to where the huge tanks are. Finally we returned upstairs where we were able to taste all their latest beers .  I'm not a huge fan of beers ; however, hubby really enjoyed the tastings. Our tour group was 7 people.  We were fortunate.  Small and intimate.

Parimal Z.

  • Pleasanton, CA
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35 yrs in the Bay Area, always enjoyed Anchor's beers , but only recently discovered about this tour. Decided to make it a family day in the city with our adult kids yesterday (March 2019). We thoroughly enjoyed the brewery tour and tasting. Tour guide / Historian Denny is awesome - funny, lots of historical anecdotes and amazing beer knowledge. The whole experience was top-notch right from the welcome half pints of the signature Anchor Steam Beer , tour of the brewery followed by a tasting of 7-8 different Anchor beers .

Emily S.

  • Milwaukee, WI
  • 267 reviews
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We visited Anchor Brewing as part of the 4PM tour on a Friday. Our tour guide Denny made it a fun and engaging experience, as was extremely knowledgeable about the history of the brewery and the unique brewing processes they utilize. The tour started with an overview Anchor's history provided by Denny - I realized how little I actually knew about Anchor ! We then went over of Anchor's brewing process near the very cool copper boil kettles. It's extremely impressive everything Anchor brews is done in just these three vessels! The hops room was very cool, as most breweries use pellets versus the actual hop cones. Being from Wisconsin, we've done our fair share of brewery tours, but this was new for us. Another unique feature to the brewery was the steam room, demonstrating the process that gave Anchor Steam Beer its name. We did a short tour in the lower level as well, and were able to check out the fermentation tanks. Denny concluded our tour with a nice overview of the current beers on tap, and we had the remainder of our time to sample whatever and as much as we wanted. The beers were all great, but the POG Kettle Sour really stood out for us. We had a great time at Anchor (thanks Denny!) and would highly recommend this tour. It was well worth the time on our visit to San Francisco. After you're done, don't forget to pop across the street to the taproom and take advantage of their $1 off beers for tour attendees. The tap room was also very cool.

Adrienne K.

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I have always been a fan of Anchor Steam beer . When visiting San Francisco for a trip my husband and I decided to do the tour. We were not disappointed. The history of this company and the heart and soul they put into making the best beer possible is the focal point of the tour. Also a plus you get to try a ton of free samples! Whether you just visit for a pint or the tour it is a must while in the city.

Cornelius P.

  • Cornelius P.
  • Atlanta, GA
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The tour seems expensive at $25, but it is pretty fun and comprehensive. If you've been on similar tours (which I have) you may think you've seen it all, but Anchor is unusual in that it uses a lot of traditional practices. Don't forget they pioneered the first truly American beet style-- Steam beer . Pur tour guide Denny was super enthusiastic and knowledgeable and really made the tour worthwhile. All the staff we saw seemed really happy and proud to make the beers they do. At the end of the tour we got to taste a couple of select beers with discussion of them and then got to try whatever they had on tap. Super cool. Not a lot of time to hang out but they have a pub across the street where your wristband gets $1 off pints.

Royce Y.

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I've been on the tour several times & will definitely come back because it just gets more interesting. Also visit their bar across the street this makes for a great experience! A must do especially if you have guests in town. Plan ahead, they will love learning about the steam beer process. A few words: the Porter with breakfast. Cheers!

Michael D.

  • Manteca, CA
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Company event at the brewery, awesome selection of Anchor Steam beers , some I had not known they brew.  Iconic SF beer

Andrew W.

  • Los Angeles, CA
  • 480 reviews
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I crossed a lot of things off my to-do list that have been lingering for a long time, but none were lingering as long as the Anchor Brewery Tour. On my first visits to San Francisco, the tour was free - and always booked up. Now the tour costs $25 per person, but I could get a spot. (They claim they began charging because they had so many no-shows when the tour was free.) For a tour of the nation's oldest craft brewer - the brewery that arguably began the craft brewing movement in America - I'd say $25 is a fair price, especially since they give visitors around forty minutes to drink to their hearts' (or livers') content. The brewery in Potrero Hill is in the old Art Déco Chase and Sanborn coffee roasting plant. Visitors are greeted with a four-ounce taster of their original, flagship product, Anchor Steam Beer , and get an overview of the company's history from its founding as Breckle's in the Gold Rush to its new ownership under Sapporo. The tour goes past the huge copper mash kettles, the fermentation room where the steam beer is fermented in open vats (in a controlled environment, unlike in the olden days), the hops room, the cellar, and the bottling facility. Antique brewing and bottling devices and beer memorabilia line the rooms, as well as flags and historic bottles from Anchor beers of yore. There are about ten beers on tap; we had some of the Anchor classics (Liberty Ale, Anchor Porter), some newer products (Mango Wheat, Brotherhood Steam ), and some unique things (unfiltered Anchor Steam , an experimental peach Berliner weisse). And then there was the most... infuriating thing - a delicious, chuggable Mexican-style lager, in a sweet spot between Pacifco/Corona and Modelo/Dos Equis, but better. Why infuriating? One, it's only sold in the Bay Area. Two, it's named "Los Gigantes" and decorated in the colors of San Francisco's loathsome, bile-inducing baseball team. Clearly a beer this refreshing should be named "Los Doyers" - and I told them just that.

E O.

  • San Diego, CA
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Had an excellent tour with John- loved seeing the ins and outs of the unique steam beer making process and even trying the malts as they were steeping. They are incredibly generous with their beer pours so come ready to drink! Highly recommend the tour and the experience!

Benjamin F.

  • Benjamin F.
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This past weekend I finally got to experience my first official tour at Anchor Brewing Company and it was everything I hoped for! I've been a huge fan of these beers for as long as I can remember, feel like this place is an institution of SF and it sure made me happy to be inside the hallowed walls. The tour starts in the tap room with a taste of their famous/trademarked style of steam beer and it sets the tone for a great time. The guide changes based on the time of the tour but, none of them disappoint. You're led to the underbelly of the brewery where you get to see the inner workings and process of these delicious brews. The conclusion of the tour ends back in the tap room where you get to sample another 8 beers , so you leave with a little buzz. Reservations can be a bit tough to come by on the weekends but, try mid week if you're in San Francisco. Props and thanks to our guides Steven, Stephen and Joao. My buds and I had a blast and are continued lifelong supporters of these beers !

Art H.

  • Bayside, NY
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We took the early tour and had a great time. We started in the bar area with a quick glass of steam beer (yes, steam beer ) and then we were on our way. We toured the working brewery, pretty standard but cool. The tour lasted about 40 mins and the tasting at the end lasted about 15 mins or so. The tour guide was informative and there is plenty of great beer varieties to try at the end. Unfortunately there was no food or snacks so don't come hungry. Highly rated!

Patrick L.

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Did the brewery tour and was very pleasantly surprised.  Fun, informative, and very generous with the tasters. A bit pricey at $25 but worth it for the experience. First you'll assemble in their tasting room, here some jokes (canned but good!), get a taste of that steam beer and off you'll go.  The mash tun and kettles are made of solid brass.  I believe this is only one of two west coast breweries with this classic German setup (alesmith being the other).  You'll learn about the open (risky!) Primary fermentation process, how they lager vs make ales, then head to the conditioning areas, and then bottling. Finally youl head back to the tasting room for a couple of pints worth of tasters.  They'll help you understand the differences, the brewing processes, and what flavor to look for. I've done a lot of brewery tours ... What stand out here is that it's a great, large, local brewery that has maintained its craft attitude. Well done Anchor !  I left a bigger fan than i entered.

Chris H.

  • Sunnyvale, CA
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Went on the $25 "Happy Hour Tour" over the weekend. Buying the tickets online was very easy, but make sure to book in advance--tickets seem to be limited due to popularity. Usually parking options are quite poor around SF, but there was an abundance of parking around the area. We were able to park right across the street in front of the entrance. By the time we arrived, I thought we were going to be late, but check-in was a breeze, and we were quickly up in the tasting room in no time. Upon arriving in the tasting room, you can grab your first sample of their beer . Then, they go over some of the rich history of the company. After that you do a walk through of their beer brewing process. Finally, you're back in the tasting room, to try about 6 more beer samples. Since this is where they brew all their beer , they have some experimental versions of their beer on tap here. See if you can try some of those (if you've had the main variants of Anchor Steam beer before). I highly recommend stopping by this place, especially with such a rich SF history! *Tasting room is for people on tours only*

Daniel C.

  • Danville, CA
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4.0 star rating

A brewery tour to learn more about the process of making beer in one of San Francisco's most historic breweries for just $20?  Count me in!  Goes well with my educational background in chemical engineering! Our group arrived at 10am to start the tour.  The guide, Delia was super-passionate about beer and gave us a nice history of the Anchor Steam Brewery, and how being located in San Francisco had certain advantages in the old days. The brewery is 100+ years old and went through ups and downs. The tour then took us to see some pretty impressive process equipment for making the beer from its four basic ingredients (malt, yeast, water, and hops) to the bottling facility.   Finally, we got to the tasting.  The whole tour group was maybe 30-40 people, and each got to try 6 beers .  My personal favorites were the Brown Ale and the regular Anchor Steam Beer , which was served before the tour.  My least favorite was the Mango Beer - everyone in my group agreed it was pretty yucky. Definitely recommend coming for the brewery tour.  It definitely made me a fan of Steam Beer .

Kristina Nichole D.

  • Kristina Nichole D.
  • Navarre, FL
  • 100 reviews
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Best beer for your buck! This tour was so interesting and that is not just the beer talking ;). Braden was our tour guide and we toured on Wednesday 8/1/16 at 1 PM. The tour lasts 1:30 minutes, but a good portion of that is drinking beer . You start off with their staple beer , Anchor Steam and while you are sipping on that, or chugging ;) the history of the Steam beer is told before you. Then, you are led through their facility (3 floors), witnessing the step-by-step process that Anchor uses to make it's beers . Afterwards, you are brought back into the main room and given additional beers starting with light to dark. After the 5 or so beers , you can ask to try the ones of tap that they didn't offer, if time permitting. Braden had no problem whatsoever letting my try different ones. I had the Mango wheat, the Meyer Lemon Lager, the Liberty Ale, Old Foghorn, Porter, and the IPA. Not to mention the Steam at the beginning. I was feeling a little bit buzzed leaving the place to say the least. And the $20 was a steal in my opinion. On the way out feel free to check out the gift shop. My husband purchased a $50 bottle of their brandy barrel aged stout (tour exclusive). The deals of the shop are less expensive (by a landslide) compared to other stores along the Pier that sell their merchandise. End tip: Make the reservation, pay the $20 and drink as many beers as you can :)

Maya S.

  • San Bruno, CA
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I booked an 11am tour on a Saturday. I was slightly peeved that there was a $20 charge per person as I recall when the tours used to be free and were made via phone but it was so hard snag a reservation since the tours have always been very popular. I do like the ease of now being able to book the tour online. After the tour and learning about the history of Anchor Brewing, I didn't feel bad about the $20 -- Anchor Brewing is a company that has persevered through many of history's events, it produces delicious steam beer (which will be explained in the tour), and it's native to San Francisco. The tour is about 2 hours long, with the first hour focused on learning about the history and future, and then a walk around the brewery which is quite small. Our tour guide was super knowledgeable and had great energy, however I felt that she was talking really fast about the history so it was a bit hard for me to follow. The second hour is dedicated to relaxed tasting of 6 of their beers in the taproom. The beers are delicious! I've had bottled and canned Anchor beers and getting them on tap, fresh from the site it's made, nothing beats this! I really enjoyed the Brotherhood Steam and the Mango Wheat is pretty special. Anchor Brewing is working on expanding to Pier 48 which will include a museum, restaurant and taproom. In the meantime, check out this tour or visit The Yard at AT&T Park where you can get Anchor beers that are exclusively sold there, nowhere else!

Christina G.

  • Christina G.
  • Pleasant Hill, CA
  • 203 friends
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Yay, it appears Anchor now offers weekend tours!  I snagged a spot for 2 at 2 p.m. on a Sunday, when it was scorching hot (aka 75 degrees) in the city.  Such a perfect day for a beer tasting.  The tour ranged from warm on the taproom floor, to very chilly in the lower areas (but you are only in the cold for 5-10 minutes).  The tour itself was very interesting and informative, and you don't walk too much but do have to go up and down some stairs.  The tasting is six beers , time permitting: original Anchor Steam beer , light ipa, brown ale, saison, mango wheat, barley wine.  We were there for two hours total, when they kicked us out at 4.  Braden was a great tour guide, fun and very knowledgeable!

Menu may not be up to date. Submit corrections.

Anchor Brewing Company Menu

anchor steam beer tour

Liberty Ale

anchor steam beer tour

Anchor Porter

anchor steam beer tour

Old Foghorn Ale

Anchor small beer, brekles brown, anchor bock beer, summer beer, humming ale.

anchor steam beer tour

Christmas Ale

anchor steam beer tour

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$15 Anchor Brewery Tours

Throughout Anchor Steam Week, save $10 on admission to Anchor’s historic brewery tour .

For just $15 per person, enjoy a 90-minute brewery tour at their Potrero Hill facility. Your experience will wrap up in their taproom where you will have the opportunity to sample 12 Anchor brews on draught during a generous open tasting session .

Anchor Steam Week: $15 Brewery Tours August 11-18, 2019 Anchor Brewing Company, 1705 Mariposa St., SF $15 $25 – $10 off during Anchor Steam Week – use code STEAMWEEK2019 at checkout Typical tour times Fri-Sun – Noon, 2pm and 4pm Mon-Thu – 2pm and 4pm View available tours
Anchor Steam Week 2019 Events Full List of Events | August 11-18 Anchor Steam Week is a celebration of San Francisco’s most historic beer: Anchor Steam. This is the beer that ignited the craft beer movement. Enjoy special promotions and events during Anchor Steam Week in San Francisco. August 11-18: Celebrate Anchor Steam Week at Public Taps Location: Anchor Public Taps & Anchor Brewing Company To celebrate Anchor Steam Week, honoring the heritage and legacy of Anchor Steam Beer, Anchor Public Taps will offer $3 pints all week . Get a taste of true San Francisco history with $15 tours (a $25 value) of the historic brewery. Simply book ahead and use the code STEAMWEEK2019 at checkout. August 13: Trivia Tuesday – Beer Geek Edition Location: Anchor Public Taps Timeframe: 6:30-8:30pm Round up the beer geeks in your life and head to Anchor Public Taps for a special edition of their weekly Trivia Tuesday. Anchor brewers will be leading beer trivia rounds covering everything from brewing processes, craft beer history, beer styles, and more. Trivia is free to play and great prizes are on deck for the winners. Enjoy 19 Anchor beers on tap, including classic brews and limited releases. Culinary pop-up Frank Grizzly’s will be on-site with delicious Mexi-Cali offerings. August 15: Anchor Brewing x Frank Grizzly’s Guided Tasting Location: Anchor Public Taps Timeframe: 7pm Cost: $30 Join pilot brewery Dane Volek and the Frank Grizzly’s team for a seriously tasty guided beer and food pairing. The Mexi-Cali culinary pop-up will create an array of small bites to pair with a variety of Anchor brews. August 16: Anchor Brewing & BeMusical Present Galaxy of Funk Location: Anchor Brewing Company Timeframe: 7-10pm Cost: $39 Celebrate the release of Brewers’ Pale Ale Galaxy Hop Blend with an exclusive concert in the halls of Anchor’s historic brewery. Enjoy live music, cheers Anchor brews, and learn about Anchor’s history as they set out on a journey to the depths of funk. August 16: Family Dog Rescue Adoption Happy Hour Location: Anchor Public Taps Timeframe: 5-8pm Come meet the awesome team from Family Dog Rescue and meet the sweet pups looking for their forever homes. Pints for humans are $3 . August 18: Anchor Steam Week Wrap Party with Bandwagon Location: Anchor Public Taps Timeframe: 12-5pm Cost: Free Celebrate with Anchor Brewing one more time as they bid adieu to Anchor Steam Week Bandwagon presents three local bands

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Anchor Steam Brewery Tour - Anchor Brewing Company

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  • Anchor Brewing Company

Do not miss this tour of the historic Anchor Brewery. Anchor Steam beer is as quintessentially San... read more

anchor steam beer tour

Who likes Anchor Beer??? It's a great history lesson told by a young, charismatic dude who is... read more

anchor steam beer tour

Anchor Steam Brewery Tour

Been thinking to do this one for a few decades & we found ourselves in SF on a rainy day.... so why not? There are tours at 2p and 4p- the guide will tell you the only limit on how much great beer you could sample is TIME. There were about 8 or 9 beers to sample including two of the Christmas Ales. This is really Ground Zero for the Craft Beer movement. Everything they’ve used for brewing here since their 1969 rebirth is the finest German equipment. An admirable business & an example of passion at work in business too. The end of shift drink for employees kind of sums it up! I enjoyed sampling a few of the (other) A-B brews is missed!

anchor steam beer tour

Really enjoyed learning the history. Winsor is fabulous. The tasting is amazing. Great experience. Make reservation in advance to ensure a slot.

Knowledgeable friendly tour guide. Smallish brewery still using manual controls. Great after tour tastings of legacy and special small batch brews

anchor steam beer tour

Great place to come with family and/or friends to get away. Variety of drink options, a couple of food options, and games!

Here lies the birthplace of Craft Beer..... before it was cool. Come for beer , learn some interesting history. Definitely stay for the beer, you will not be disappointed. We enjoyed several types of rare and unique brews.

Excellant time. Highly recommend. Big fan of the beers since the 80s. Learned alot and enjoyed the tasting

anchor steam beer tour

Restaurants, Food and Drink | Is it all over for Anchor Brewing or does hope…

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Subscriber only, restaurants, food and drink | is it all over for anchor brewing or does hope still remain.

A farewell tour of San Francisco's historic Anchor Brewing, from its burnished copper brewing vessels to its stash of hops, proves bittersweet. (Courtesy Jay R. Brooks)

A correction has been appended at the end of this story.

Sapporo USA’s decision to shut down San Francisco’s Anchor Brewing has been the talk of the beer world for weeks now. The news had been rumored, but the reality of it hit on July 12. Soon after, I had the opportunity to visit the historic brewery for a farewell tour organized by one of Anchor’s local sales reps, who invited Bay Area industry veterans for the impromptu event on Potrero Hill.

A coffee roastery when it opened in 1937, the building is a majestic sight, with a corner tower topped with a flag pole reaching to the sky. Stepping inside was like going back in time. Brewing had already ceased, although there was still beer in the tanks waiting to be packaged. But the copper brewing vessels and the coolships were all empty, with only a skeleton crew on hand, making it unusually quiet as we walked the empty corridors.

While I was grateful to have a last look around and commiserate with colleagues, it was ultimately bittersweet. Steam beer has been synonymous with San Francisco since long before I moved here, almost 40 years ago. It would be a sad thing for it to disappear entirely from the Bay Area landscape. That has happened before — briefly — on three distinct occasions, but like the city itself, risen from the ashes like a phoenix.

A farewell tour of San Francisco's historic Anchor Brewing, from its burnished copper brewing vessels to its stash of hops, proves bittersweet. (Courtesy Jay R. Brooks)

The big question is, is Anchor really gone? Sapporo’s intends to liquidate the brewery, but a white knight — like Fritz Maytag in 1965, for example — has swooped in to save the company before.

One potential savior is Anchor’s own employees. The brewery’s union sent a letter to Sapporo USA on July 19 saying they intended to make a bid to purchase the brewery. Sapporo was open to that, as long as funding, of course, was in place. But the union’s latest announcement, delivered by union spokesman Pedro Sa last week, indicates they’ve run up against issues of time and access to Sapporo’s financial information. Sapporo told them on July 27 that they could not share their financial information because, Sa said, it was now “too close to the date when they would hand over control of their assets.”

When I spoke last week to packaging lead Patrick Machel, who’s active in the union negotiations, he was still cautiously optimistic, but noted that there were major hurdles to overcome. But he has been impressed by the outpouring of support for Anchor since the announcement. The sense of history at the brewery and the feeling of being part of the Anchor family is palpable, he said, and workers hope they’ll be able to create a “new generation of workers that respect the brand they’re a part of.”

It’s hard to overstate the brewery’s importance to today’s vibrant beer scene. The fact that you can walk into almost any local bar and drink a unique beer from one of almost 10,000 American breweries is due in no small measure to Anchor and its resurrection at the hands of Fritz Maytag, who bought the then-failing brewery in 1965.

Between the brewery’s founding in 1896 and the 1960s, it struggled through the 1906 earthquake and fire, Prohibition, multiple owners and several locations. In 1959, then-brewmaster Joe Allen announced he was closing the brewery, one of the last to brew steam beer in California. A white knight arrived from Marin in the form of Minnesota-born Lawrence Steese and his partners, who bought the equipment, moved the brewery again and by 1960, were making Anchor Steam Beer once more. But by 1965, with big national beer brands gaining traction with younger drinkers, Steese was struggling.

A farewell tour of San Francisco's historic Anchor Brewing, from its burnished copper brewing vessels to its stash of hops, proves bittersweet. (Courtesy Jay R. Brooks)

One of Anchor Steam’s most ardent fans was Fred Kuh, who owned the Old Spaghetti Factory in North Beach. One night, he told one of his regulars, recent Stanford grad and fellow Anchor Steam fan Fritz Maytag, that the brewery was about to close, so he should go take a look around before then. Maytag did. By August, Maytag had purchased a controlling interest in the brewery.

The brewing scene in 1965 was a far cry from what it is today. Back then, it was dominated by just a handful of large national companies with a few older regional breweries hanging on by a thread. By 1980, there were fewer than 100 breweries left.

Of course, Maytag didn’t know he was going to change that trajectory. In 1965, he was trying to figuring out how to make steam beer the old-fashioned way. Steam beer was common throughout the American West in the 19th century and early 20th, but it died out thanks to Prohibition. After repeal, Anchor was the only brewery making anything like it, but it took several years of research and experimentation to re-create the original — and then bottle it for market beginning in 1971.

There were side projects, such as Ninkasi Ale. Using an ancient Sumerian text known as the Hymn to Ninkasi, they re-created a beer using the same methods and ingredients used in 1800 B.C.E. Ninkasi was the Sumerian goddess of beer, and the hymn is essentially the earliest known recipe for beer.

And then there was the mentorship. Jack McAuliffe, who founded Sonoma’s New Albion Brewery, visited Anchor seeking advice before starting what is considered the first microbrewery built from scratch in 1976. So did Ken Grossman, before he launched Sierra Nevada Brewing in 1979.

Maytag made Anchor Brewery an inspiration for almost all that’s come since in the brewing world.

Correction, Aug. 7, 2023: An earlier version of this story referred to an ancient Egyptian text. The Hymn to Ninkasi was a Sumerian text.

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  • Anchor Steam Brewery

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By  Karen

Updated January 23, 2024.

The Anchor Steam Brewery

San Francisco's Gold Rush Beer

Sad development! Anchor Steam Brewery has closed after 127 years in operation, as of July 2023. The brewery tours are not running at the moment.

The first of the craft beer companies in the U.S. is going out of business due to financial problems. Anchor Steam Beer will be sorely missed (but is it really the end?)!

See SFgate.com article for more information.

The buildings were put on the market for sale in October 2023.

But there are still some hopeful signs ; some locals are bidding on it, with the idea of continuing the old traditions. The sale is to be announced later in January, 2024. See  SF Chronicle article.

Fingers crossed!

There is still a beer community of microbreweries in San Francisco.

You can explore them on a couple of popular tours.

Explore More San Francisco Microbreweries

(Note: I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase through the links below, at no extra cost to you. This helps me provide all the free information I post on this website. Thank you for your support!)

Here are several 5-star rated, guided, beer-tasting tours to check out:

Beer tasting tour in North Beach & Fisherman's Wharf. Guided walking tour of both neighborhoods with tasting at three craft beer spots. Good reviews. $109. 

See North Beach & Fisherman's Wharf beer tour for info and booking.

SOMA beer tasting tour. Explore the South of Market neighborhood and do beer tasting at three micro breweries or craft beer spots with a guide. Small group, snacks included. Highly rated. $109.

See SOMA beer tour for info and booking.

Sonoma County Beer & Wine tour. Make a day of it and go farther afield to explore the wine and beer of Sonoma County. Do wine and beer tasting at some famous venues with a small group. Full day tour, group rates. Hotel pickup.

See Sonoma beer & wine tour  for info and booking.

Private group San Francisco Brewery tour. Half-day tour for a small group (up to 4). Visit 3 or 4 breweries and sample their brews. Hotel pick-up included.

See Private SF Breweries tour for info and booking.

History of Anchor Brewing downturn...

  • In August, 2017, Anchor Steam was purchased by the Japanese beer company,  Sapporo . There were no plans to move the brewery from its current location, or change its traditional brewing process, as long as it can keep up with the demand (according to the new owners). But who knows what the future holds for Anchor Steam? Now is a good time to visit!
  • The plan for the big expansion of the brewery at Pier 48 seems to have disappeared following the sale.
  • Anchor Steam also had a  distillery  (not purchased by Sapporo) which became Hotaling & Co  in 2018. They chose that name because of the whiskey storehouse that survived the 1906 earthquake made famous by the rhyme, "If, as they say, God spanked the town for being over frisky, why did He burn His churches down and spare Hotaling's whiskey?" Now located at Pier 50. They will continue operation and have allied with the Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits company to expand their distribution network as of January, 2023.
  • Anchor Steam opened a pub next door,  Anchor Public Taps , serving many of their beers on tap, plus some new ones brewed on the premises. It has also closed as of July 2023. 495 De Haro Street.
  • Anchor Steam filed for bankruptcy in July 2023. There was a last ditch effort by some employees to purchase it, but it doesn't look like it was successful.
  • The Anchor Steam Brewing building was put up for sale in October 2023.

Down memory lane: what the brewery and tour were like.

Treat yourself to a tour and tasting at San Francisco's oldest traditional brewery.

This is a really fun San Francisco thing to do. The charming Anchor Steam Brewery hosts tours twice a day and escorts you through the three floors of their operation, finishing off with an opportunity to taste about 7 of their beer varieties.

Filling Beer Cans, Anchor Steam Brewery assembly line

The Anchor Steam Brewery goes all the way back to the Gold Rush era, when founder Gottlieb Brekle arrived in San Francisco.

Founded by German immigrants in 1896, this brewery still makes its beer in essentially the same way as it was done in the old country a hundred years ago.

Anchor Steam Brewery Building, Potrero Hill, SF

The tour guide fills you in on the turbulent history of Anchor Steam in San Francisco, while taking you through all the stages of the beer-making process.

Anchor Steam Brewery tour guide

This is one of the original "artisanal" breweries, existing long before microbreweries became trendy. It had such a rocky history, it's almost a miracle it's still here: owners run over by street cars, building destroyed in the 1906 earthquake, shut down for 13 years during Prohibition, etc.!

It almost went under again when American tastes shifted to cans of Budweiser and Pabst Blue Ribbon, but it came back big time in the 1970's, when a demand for flavor and variety reappeared.

Their brewing process is very natural one. Only four ingredients go into their beers; malted barley, hops, water and yeast (with some malted wheat added to their wheat beers). The cooling of the boiling malt and hops mixture is done by the cool, San Francisco air (hence "steam beer", as the steam rises from the cooling tanks).

Copper Kettles, Anchor Steam Brewery, San Francisco

The brewery is small and has a friendly, family feel to it. You tag along behind the guide, up and down stairs, peering at vats of soupy malt, sacks of feathery hops and beautiful copper kettles boiling the mixture.

Even their office has old-fashioned wooden desks and bookcases, transporting you back to the 1940's.

Sacks of hops at the Anchor Steam Brewery, SF

Only the dried flowers of the female hops plant are used.

Vat of fermenting malt, Anchor Steam Brewery

And then the grand finale. Back to the cozy taproom to taste about 12 of their varied brews.

Beer Tasting at the Anchor Steam Brewery

They are generous with their tastings. And there is no rushing you out the door. We found it very relaxing and hung out there probably an hour or more after the tour.

Tasting dark beers at the Anchor Steam Brewery

Brewery Tour Hours and Prices

Tours are no longer running.

Waiting for Anchor Steam Tour

Anchor Steam Varieties

Anchor Steam has a stable of current beers, some year-round and others produced seasonally and available for just a few months a year. In addition, they produce some interesting, one-time, specialty beers from time to time, like Sumerian Beer (based on a 4000-year-old recipe) and Earthquake Beer, after the 1989 quake.

I tried their  Anchor Saison Spring Ale , available in February, March and April each year. It's a Belgian-style ale made with a type of yeast that gives it what they describe as a peppery flavor, plus they add in an interesting mixture of ginger, lemongrass and lemon peel. Has a refreshing bite to it, very nice.

Anchor Steam Saison Spring Ale"

Anchor Steam Location

The Anchor Steam Brewery is located at  1705 Mariposa Street , in the Potrero Hill neighborhood. The  entrance is on De Haro Street , at the corner of Mariposa.

415 863-8350.

Map of Anchor Steam Brewery

Use their address, 1705 Mariposa Street, for navigation.

There is no parking lot, but you can park on the street. You may have to walk a block or two, but it's usually pretty easy to find a place nearby.

Even though it's in a totally different part of San Francisco, it's actually pretty easy to get over there from either Fisherman's Wharf or Union Square.

From Fisherman's Wharf:  Catch the 19-Polk/Hunter's Point Bus on Bay Street near Polk Street (near Aquatic Park on the Wharf.)

The  19 Bus  will take you within one block of the brewery. Get off at Rhode Island Street and Mariposa Street, then walk one block downhill (east) along Mariposa Street to the brewery at the corner of Mariposa and De Haro Streets.

From Union Square , walk down Powell Street to Market Street and take the Muni Streetcar (underground) one stop to Civic Center. Go back up to Market Street and catch the 19-Polk/Hunter's Point Bus at Market and 8th Street (where the Civic Center stop is). Follow directions above.

Here's a link to the Muni 19-Polk map and schedule.

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The Story Behind Anchor Brewing Company’s 2022 Christmas Ale Label

Monsieur Sponsor

The iconic Anchor Christmas Ale is back!

The most wonderful time of year has arrived in San Francisco, and with it, the city’s seasonal icons. The tree is shining in Union Square, Tom & Jerry’s house is glowing bright atop Castro Hill, Ghirardelli Square is sparkling, and Anchor Christmas Ale is on shelves (find out how you can tour the brewery and get a magnum of Anchor Christmas Ale right here ) .

anchor steam beer tour

The annual Anchor Christmas Ale label is a tradition going back to 1975.  Every year has a secret, unique recipe.

Anchor Christmas Ale has brought cheer to San Franciscans each and every holiday season since 1975 when the brewery, which was founded in 1896, released one of the first-holiday beers in America since Prohibition. Every year since, Anchor creates a new, secret recipe with a unique hand-drawn label featuring a symbolic tree.

2022 marks the 48th annual release of this Anchor holiday tradition, a seasonal release available October to January. Fans in San Francisco and around the country patiently await each year’s limited-edition brew, released in six-packs of 12-ounce bottles, and festive magnums.

photo by @alexmaksf christmas beer anchor brewing

The Christmas Ale bottles, magnums and pint glasses are available at Anchor Public Taps.

This year’s Christmas Ale showcases notes of orange, honeysuckle, toasted malts, and eucalyptus. Well-structured with botanicals and pleasantly herbaceous hops, this rye-forward brew finishes with a touch of spice like the warming bitter-sweet notes of Amaro, an Italian herbal liqueur often enjoyed as an after-dinner digestif. The 7.2% ale pairs well with hearty winter fare such as Roasted Achiote Chicken with Mole or a sweet treat like Chocolate Bundt Cake.

anchor steam beer tour

Old Bell Home, January 1925. The house dates to about 1870.  The Eucalyptus are on the left! Photo: Jesse Brown Cook collection,  online archive of California

The new Christmas Ale label features a hand-drawn Eucalyptus, a nod to Mary Ellen Pleasant , the mother of civil rights in California.

anchor steam beer tour

The artist of the 2022 Christmas Ale label is Steven Noble .

Best known as an abolitionist and entrepreneur, Pleasant expanded the Underground Railroad westward during the California Gold Rush. Born into slavery in the early 1800s, she was the first self-made millionaire of African American heritage.

anchor steam beer tour

Mary Ellen Pleasant (1815–1904) a civil rights activist and abolitionist

Pleasant arrived in San Francisco in 1852 and quickly built a respected reputation as one of the city’s most shrewd and trusted businesswomen. Pleasant was able to create an empire of boarding houses, restaurants, laundromats, and flour stores. She used her money to support the underground railroad and fund abolitionists.

Shortly before her death, Pleasant planted six Eucalyptus trees outside her mansion. The home no longer exists, but the trees continue to tower above Bush and Octavia Streets in Mary Ellen Pleasant Memorial Park – the smallest park in San Francisco. In 1974 – just one year before the first annual Christmas Ale was released – the city designated the trees as a Structure of Merit.

photo by @alexmaksf christmas beer anchor brewing

Anchor Christmas Ale is available now at grocery and liquor retailers and for delivery via Instacart .

Get an anchor christmas ale magnum with your brewery tour.

Weekends in December│Anchor Brewing Company, 1705 Mariposa Street

See the history, taste the beers, smell the hops, and take home a magnum of 2022 Christmas Ale! Tours begin in the festive tasting room with a taste of Steam Beer, the brew that started it all. Anchor’s awesome tour guides will take you through the brewery, its amazing history, so you can drink in the beautiful copper kettle brewhouse. This holiday tour also includes a tasting of 2018, 2019, and 2022 Christmas Ale paired with a seasonal cookie.

Book your tour and tasting   here!  

photo by @alexmaksf christmas beer anchor brewing

This article is sponsored by Anchor Brewing,   Stuart’s Christmas sweater, scarf and of course the iconic Christmas Ale Magnum can all be found at anchorbeertogo.com

anchor steam beer tour

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Here’s Everything You Need to Know About Anchor Brewing Shutting Down

The historic San Francisco brewery has already stopped production — but there may still be hope for its future

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Beer from Anchor Brewing

It has been a wild ride since San Francisco’s Anchor Brewing announced its closure on July 12. But, as fans may know, this isn’t the first time the more-than-a-century-old company has come close to extinction. In 2017 Japanese multinational corporation Sapporo acquired and subsequently rebranded the company, including canning the famously bottled beer in 2020. Then in June 2023 came the announcement the 127-year-old company would quit making its Anchor Christmas Ale and limit distribution to California, which raised concerns from both customers and employees.

What’s important to know right now is that according to workers, Anchor Brewing stopped production on July 27. Now, in tandem with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 6 (ILWU) and nonprofit Project Equity, Anchor workers have joined a suite of other would-be buyers hoping to purchase the company’s assets. It’s unclear who, if anyone, will end up owning the company — and whether or not the future owner will resume beer-making once again.

For now, here’s what to know about the past, present, and future of San Francisco’s most beloved local brewery.

Is Anchor Brewing really shutting down?

Yes, for now, though there’s a chance it could get purchased and brought back. Throughout its history, the company has changed hands a handful of times; in 1965, Fritz Maytag bought the business, then sold it in 2010 to Griffin Group, a local beverage company, before Sapporo took the reins in 2017. But even though the company has been rescued from the brink of extinction several times before, it’s not a done deal the company will be revived this time.

So, can I still get Anchor Steam beer?

For now — though stock is probably pretty hard to find at this point. Since the business has stopped brewing for the foreseeable future, Anchor and its various products may still be available at the usual outlets — Anchor workers say BevMo has seen something like a 200 percent increase in sales, for instance — but supply will run out eventually if nothing changes. In any case, there likely won’t be more steam beer brewed anytime soon; if more beer is produced from the company’s legendary Potrero Hill plant, it will have to be after a new owner gets things started again.

How is Sapporo related to all this?

Sapporo USA, an arm of Japanese beverage behemoth Sapporo Holdings Ltd., bought Anchor Brewing in 2017 for $85 million. Sapporo was founded two decades before Anchor, and, at the time, it was seen as a company that could uphold the San Francisco business’ values and products. That said, workers and fans began to see the acquisition as a kind of death knell for Anchor, with current staff outright blaming the company’s mismanagement for the company’s shuttering.

How is the company being sold?

The process through which Sapporo aims to sell Anchor Brewing is called Assignments for the Benefit of Creditors (ABC), and it’s the same way Anchor was sold in 1965 and in 2017. Rather than filing for bankruptcy, this process allows a company to be dissolved and sold, bit by bit or in its entirety, to recoup lost money to investors as quickly as possible.

Who’s going to buy the company?

That’s unclear. There aren’t any known front runners at this point as the assets will be turned over to an Assignee for the Benefit of Creditors, or a liquidator, at the beginning of August. “Once the liquidator is in place the union and other interested parties can gain access after signing a non-disclosure agreement to business information to inform their bids for Anchor Brewing Co. either in whole or in part,” Anchor wrote in a press release .

Sam Singer, a legal representative retained by Anchor during this process, told the Chronicle that “two dozen investors and individuals have expressed interest in acquiring some or all of the brewery.” Liquidators will consider all their offers. The unionized workers hoped to get their bid in before this process began, but now claim Sapporo didn’t provide adequate financial information for them to do so. As of the last week of July, KRON4 reports workers are asking Sapporo to give them another month to rally efforts from the community; the company says it’s too late.

Why do San Franciscans care so much about Anchor Brewing anyway?

It’s one of those “heart and soul of San Francisco” kind of things. The company was founded in San Francisco in 1896 and invented California’s common style of beer, which the company branded as steam beer. Ardent fans including Tablehopper’s Marcia Gagliardi , local food enthusiast Andy Samwick , and Chronicle columnists Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight have taken their chances to wax nostalgic about the brewery. Anchor’s production workers report lines down the block at Anchor’s Public Taps taproom and sales exceeding yearly expectations in a matter of weeks after the July 12 announcement. “People bleed Anchor,” former Anchor Brewing president Keith Greggor told SFGATE . “They’re passionate about it.”

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Makers of San Francisco's famed Anchor Steam beer are going out of business

Bottles of Anchor Steam beer on Aug. 3, 2017 in San Anselmo, Calif.

San Francisco-based Anchor Brewing will turn off the taps and draw a close to the century-old brewery whose contribution to "American beer history cannot be overstated," it said Wednesday.

The company — one of the country's oldest craft breweries, founded in 1896 — "will cease operations and liquidate the business following a combination of challenging economic factors and declining sales since 2016," it said in a statement.

"Like many breweries and brew pubs, Anchor has been dramatically impacted by economic pressure that have made the business no longer sustainable," it said.

Wednesday's announcement triggered a 60-day period for operations to completely cease and the company to pay "separation packages" to eligible employees, officials said.

Brewing operations have already been halted, but the company will continue to package and distribute the beer that's left in a process that's likely to go through the end of this month.

Anchor Steam fans probably knew bad news was on tap a few weeks ago when the brewer announced it wouldn't be producing its popular Christmas Ale this year.

“This was an extremely difficult decision that Anchor reached only after many months of careful evaluation,” company spokesman Sam Singer said in a statement.

“We recognize the importance and historic significance of Anchor to San Francisco and to the craft brewing industry, but the impacts of the pandemic, inflation, especially in San Francisco, and a highly competitive market left the company with no option but to make this sad decision to cease operations.” 

It’s still possible that the company’s plant in the Potrero Hill neighborhood of San Francisco and its recipes and other assets could be purchased in a liquidation sale, with a new buyer continuing the operation, Singer said.

“The Anchor team is hopeful that somebody sees the value, the history and the benefit of buying a 127-year-old historic brewery and keeping it alive,” he told NBC News on Wednesday.

“But that’s really up in the cards and in the hands of the liquidators to see if someone steps forward to make a bid,” he said.

A spokesperson for the Brewers Association, which represents more than 5,400 brewers, distributors and craft beer retailers, said the trade group doesn't normally, by policy, comment on the opening or closing of any beer company.

But the impending closure of Anchor Brewing — an iconic San Francisco staple as famous as sourdough bread , Ghirardelli Chocolate  or Rice-A-Roni — prompted it to offer a heartfelt eulogy.

"Anchor’s contributions to craft brewing and American beer history cannot be overstated," chief economist Bart Watson said in a statement.

In the growing, fast-changing landscape of craft brewing, not even the most beloved brands, such as Anchor, have free passage into the future of brewing, Watson said.

"While the longevity of the brand is a testament to its innovation, the craft brewing market has radically grown and shifted over recent decades, with that change only accelerating in recent years," he said.

"A competitive distribution market and rising costs mean that even strong brands may be struggling to find growth in a slow growth environment that now includes nearly 10,000 breweries nationwide. Anchor’s announcement partially reflects this new maturing era for craft and should be taken in the context of the large and competitive market that Anchor helped create," he said.

Anchor Brewing was purchased in 2017 by Sapporo U.S.A. A representative for the company couldn't immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.

anchor steam beer tour

David K. Li is a senior breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.

San Francisco Chronicle

As Anchor Brewing closes down, is its steam beer still good?

When Anchor Brewing Company changed labels in 2021, it sent beer drinkers into a frothing, pouty tantrum .

How dare they jettison the hand-drawn labels for something more corporate? It seemed to cement the notion that the local craft brew hero’s takeover by international beer giant Sapporo was a mistake.

  • More on Anchor : What led to Anchor Brewing’s downfall? Sapporo, some workers say

But for most, the first sip of Anchor steam beer out of that new and simpler blue-and-yellow label quelled any fears. The beer, brewed in San Francisco for the entirety of its 127-year existence, was exactly the same. Purely from a taste point of view, Anchor was still Anchor.

That’s perhaps the biggest tragedy among the many micro-aggressions surrounding Tuesday’s breaking news that Anchor would be closing , probably forever. The taste of the brew itself, and the local spirit that surrounded it, has never been better.

Anchor was once a cheap bar beer and tasted like it. By the time it reached its last near-death experience in 1959 , it was brewed using substandard equipment and ingredients, and often sour or flat before it reached the glass. But the 1965 arrival of Fritz Maytag — who bought the label and brought new equipment and higher standards — became an ideology for the workers at 1705 Mariposa St. 

There are still employees at Anchor Brewing, including current brewmaster Dane Volek, who learned under Maytag. And until the end, they have continued to seek perfection.

The beauty of Anchor steam beer is that it tastes like San Francisco. More specifically, it tastes like a cold foggy day, with notes of a sourdough factory, and a hint of the metallic rail of a cable car.

Anchor was designed out of necessity, brewed at a time when San Francisco had no refrigeration. To the end, they fermented lager yeast at warmer-than-normal temperatures, and “krausened” the beer, adding fermenting wort to create natural carbonation. Also unique to San Francisco: While almost every other beer in the world treats its water, Anchor took advantage of the city’s startlingly good Hetch Hetchy reservoir water , adding no chemicals.

The result was a beer with strong caramel and malt flavors, with hints of lightly toasted bread, and a strong, hoppy finish that has cedar-chips-on-a-forest-floor vibes and a hint of metal that seems to reflect the enormous copper vats used to make the brew. On the coolest S.F. days, I can almost taste coffee — ghosts of the java roasting that took place in the Anchor building in the 1950s and 1960s before Maytag moved in. 

The beer’s sharpness was more novel before the IPA craze, when Anchor steam beer and Sam Adams were usually the hoppiest beers on tap. (The first time I drank an IPA, I thought “This tastes like someone burned an Anchor steam in a fire” …) 

And Anchor tasted best on draft, with bottles a close second and cans a distant third. The beer became synonymous with San Francisco Giants games, where you could buy two large cups in the stand behind center field, walk to your bleacher seats, then hold it up to the light and marvel at the orange/caramel coloring.

It was the only time I never thought to complain about beer prices, and it was always hard to drink just one.

The Sapporo buyout made us worry, and probably for good reason. While a full Anchor autopsy is required, Sapporo’s attempt to take the beer to wider markets certainly didn’t help its longevity. Anchor spokesman Sam Singer said the brewery was losing money even before Sapporo bought it, and the brewery’s restaurant and bar-focused business model was exposed during the pandemic. But we’re left to wonder what might have happened if it stayed under local ownership.

The Sapporo years were also marked by progress. Anchor unionized in 2019, and continued to make new beer, including Liberty Ale, Anchor Porter and the malty Old Foghorn. The latest release, the Mexican-themed San Pancho, was a winner with a crisp lime flavor that provided a summer-y counterpoint to Anchor steam’s wintry flavors.  

And in 2017 Anchor Brewing opened Anchor Public Taps across the street, filling the warehouse space with art, local sports signage and — best of all — brewing equipment, creating a clubhouse for Anchor’s mad scientists to test their experiments on beer lovers who could wander in and watch a game.

But now, barring a miracle, the San Francisco institution is gone.

(I should note that 2023 isn’t the first time Anchor was declared dead on the front page of The Chronicle. It was also written off in 1959 , and survived existential crises caused by an earthquake, fires and Prohibition. Fingers crossed for a beer-loving angel to arrive.)

My lasting Anchor memory will always be the time I wanted one the most and came up empty.

Heather Knight and I were at the end of our Total Muni 2018 adventure , where we rode every Muni line in the city on one 15.5-hour day. We pulled into Oracle Park on an N-Judah during the seventh-inning stretch, just after beer sales had closed.

As we walked into the luxury suite that served as our finish line, we discovered that the beer we had been dreaming about was gone. Our friends, family and colleagues had drunk all the Anchor, leaving us several aluminum bottles of Coors Light. 

Heather and I still joke about that moment. But the memory became a little more bittersweet this week. 

Reach Peter Hartlaub: [email protected]; Twitter: @PeterHartlaub

The beer taps at Anchor Public Taps in San Francisco. The brewery is closing down after 127 years in the city. 

Public Taps

Anchor Public Taps

Private Party

Anchor Public Taps and Anchor Brewing Company is closed and not accepting reservations.

Public Taps Event

Anchor Brewing Company is closed and there are no more events.

Location & Contact Info

Anchor Public Taps was open to everyone from everywhere, October 21, 2017 through July 30, 2023.

Thank you to the people of San Francisco and to travelers from all over the world for stopping by and letting us pour a pint of steam beer for you.

Long live Anchor Steam!

Frank Grizzly’s food truck

Frank Grizzly’s will be opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant in 2023. Follow them on Instagram for updates.

Food Truck Schedule

Thank you to all of our wonderful food vendors throughout the years. Follow Corazon Maya &  Frank Grizzly’s to see where they pop-up next.

Order some Anchor Beer 
to Go

Near us in San Francisco and want to swing by and grab a case? Just select “Pick Up” at check out!

anchor steam beer tour

Anchors Aweigh & Setting Sail

Introducing the 2020 Christmas Ale (Our Special Ale)

Are you over 21 years of age?

Visit us for one last Anchor.

Anchor Public Taps is open for business through July 31st.

Monday: 4pm-9pm Tuesday: closed Wednesday to Saturday: 12-10pm Sunday: 11am-8pm

At this time, we are only able to fulfill online beer orders in the San Francisco area.

I'm in San Francisco, CA

I'm outside of San Francisco, CA

IMAGES

  1. Anchor Steam Brewery is one of the very best things to do in San Francisco

    anchor steam beer tour

  2. Anchor Steam Brewery. No more tours of the famous SF brewery

    anchor steam beer tour

  3. Anchor Steam Beer Video

    anchor steam beer tour

  4. Anchor Steam Brewery. No more tours of the famous SF brewery

    anchor steam beer tour

  5. Discover Where To Find Anchor Steam Beer: A Classic American Craft Beer

    anchor steam beer tour

  6. Anchor Steam

    anchor steam beer tour

COMMENTS

  1. San Francisco's Best Brewery Tour

    Tour San Francisco's iconic Anchor Brewing, see centuries-old brewing traditions and taste a flight of Anchor beers. We offer guided public tours and tastings every day. ... Tour the Birthplace of Craft Beer. Explore centuries-old craft brewing traditions, a taste of San Francisco history, and enjoy innovative Anchor beers.

  2. Anchor Steam

    The Beer That Started It All. A true San Francisco icon, Steam Beer® is America's original craft beer, named for the 19th century practice of fermenting beer outdoors due to the lack of refrigeration. As legend has it, the chilly San Francisco night air naturally cooled the fermenting beer, creating the visual of steam rising from the ...

  3. Our Beer

    Porter. Rich. Refined. Splendidly Smooth. Made from a blend of pale, caramel, chocolate, and black malts, this beer is deep and layered. Kind of like a good book or that one show you like. Just kick back, take a sip, and let the rich, delicious flavor take you away. This iconic American Porter has been the gold standard of the style since 1972.

  4. Anchor Brewing Company

    Anchor Public Taps, our pilot brewery and bar, has 19 Anchor beers on tap and serves pints, flights and growlers. It's open Monday through Wednesday, 12pm - 9 pm, Thursday through Saturday from 12pm - 10pm and Sunday 12pm - 8pm and is located at 495 De Haro Street, just across from the main brewery. Duration: 1-2 hours.

  5. Anchor Steam Beer

    We thoroughly enjoyed the brewery tour and tasting. Tour guide / Historian Denny is awesome - funny, lots of historical anecdotes and amazing beer knowledge. The whole experience was top-notch right from the welcome half pints of the signature Anchor Steam Beer, tour of the brewery followed by a tasting of 7-8 different Anchor beers.

  6. $15 Anchor Brewery Tours

    Throughout Anchor Steam Week, save $10 on admission to Anchor's historic brewery tour. For just $15 per person, enjoy a 90-minute brewery tour at their Potrero Hill facility. Your experience will wrap up in their taproom where you will have the opportunity to sample 12 Anchor brews on draught during a generous open tasting session.. Anchor Steam Week: $15 Brewery Tours

  7. Anchor Steam Brewery Tour

    There are tours at 2p and 4p- the guide will tell you the only limit on how much great beer you could sample is TIME. There were about 8 or 9 beers to sample including two of the Christmas Ales. This is really Ground Zero for the Craft Beer movement. Everything they've used for brewing here since their 1969 rebirth is the finest German equipment.

  8. Is it all over for Anchor Brewing or does hope still remain?

    Soon after, I had the opportunity to visit the historic brewery for a farewell tour organized by one of Anchor's local sales reps, who invited Bay Area industry veterans for the impromptu event ...

  9. Anchor Brewing Company Unveils New West Coast IPA

    Anchor Steam's $20 brewery tour is definitely worth the visit, because within one hour you will not only be immersed in the rich and bubbly history of the company's development led by the most knowledgeable and courteous guide, but also get to witness the century-old immense copper kettles, or tuns, still utilized today. ...

  10. Discover Where To Find Anchor Steam Beer: A Classic American Craft Beer

    March 3, 2023. By Monika. Anchor Steam beer is a classic American craft beer that has been brewed in San Francisco since 1896. It is a unique beer that is produced using a traditional brewing process that dates back to the California Gold Rush era. It is a light-bodied, yet full-flavored beer that is beer-lovers' favorite.

  11. Steam Beer

    Visit us for one last Anchor. Anchor Public Taps is open for business through July 31st. Monday: 4pm-9pm Tuesday: closed Wednesday to Saturday: 12-10pm Sunday: 11am-8pm

  12. America's First Craft Brewery is in San Francisco

    If you're wondering where America's first craft brewery is, look no further than San Francisco, CA. Not only is Anchor Brewing Co. widely credited with starting the craft beer revolution in the 1960s, they are also the brewers of America's oldest, indigenous beer style; Steam Beer®. While there are plenty of other uniquely American styles of beers today, San Francisco's Steam Beer ...

  13. The Making of a Classic: Anchor Steam

    Anchor Brewing. Anchor wasn't one of the founding breweries of the steam beer era—it dates "only" to 1896. It survived prohibition and passed through the hands of a few different owners over the decades. By 1965, however, it was in brewery hospice, just weeks from death. Consolidation and the commodification of beer had reduced the ...

  14. Anchor Steam Brewery. No more tours of the famous SF brewery

    The Anchor Steam Brewery is located at 1705 Mariposa Street, in the Potrero Hill neighborhood. The entrance is on De Haro Street, at the corner of Mariposa. 415 863-8350. Anchor Steam Brewery. Map data (c) OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA.

  15. The Story Behind Anchor Brewing Company's 2022 Christmas Ale Label

    Tours begin in the festive tasting room with a taste of Steam Beer, the brew that started it all. Anchor's awesome tour guides will take you through the brewery, its amazing history, so you can drink in the beautiful copper kettle brewhouse. This holiday tour also includes a tasting of 2018, 2019, and 2022 Christmas Ale paired with a seasonal ...

  16. Anchor Steam Beer Rated 93

    Anchor Steam® Beer derives its unusual name from the 19th century when "steam" was a nickname for beer brewed on the West Coast of America under primitive conditions and without ice. While the origin of the name remains shrouded in mystery, it likely relates to the original practice of fermenting the beer on San Francisco's rooftops in a cool climate. In lieu of ice, the foggy night air ...

  17. Welcome to Drink Steam

    Welcome to Drink Steam. It's a little known fact that Anchor Steam® Beer is America's First Craft Beer dating back to a fateful moment in 1965 that changed the course of American brewing history. But, before we get ahead of ourselves, let's go back over 100 years to our San Francisco roots. During the California Gold Rush, local ...

  18. Everything You Need to Know About Anchor Brewing Shutting Down

    Anchor Brewing. Paolo Bicchieri is a reporter at Eater SF writing about Bay Area restaurant and bar trends, coffee and cafes, and pop-ups. It has been a wild ride since San Francisco's Anchor ...

  19. Makers of San Francisco's famed Anchor Steam beer are going out of business

    July 12, 2023, 7:40 PM UTC. By David K. Li. San Francisco-based Anchor Brewing will turn off the taps and draw a close to the century-old brewery whose contribution to "American beer history ...

  20. As Anchor Brewing closes down, is its steam beer still good?

    But for most, the first sip of Anchor steam beer out of that new and simpler blue-and-yellow label quelled any fears. The beer, brewed in San Francisco for the entirety of its 127-year existence ...

  21. The Anchor Story

    1959: The Era of Mass Production. Kraus and Allen valiantly and lovingly kept Anchor afloat until Kraus's death in 1952. By 1959, American tastes had changed, with mass-produced, lighter beers driving consumer demand. This took a toll on Anchor's sales. In July of 1959, at the age of 71, Joe Allen shut down Anchor for what would, thankfully ...

  22. Farewell to Anchor Brewing : r/TheBrewery

    Farewell to Anchor Brewing. Whoa. This is the craft beer I grew up on. This is a brewery that defines a beer style and a yeast (Steam or "California Common"). Anchor will be sorely missed by millions.

  23. Visit Public Taps

    Anchor Public Taps was open to everyone from everywhere, October 21, 2017 through July 30, 2023. Thank you to the people of San Francisco and to travelers from all over the world for stopping by and letting us pour a pint of steam beer for you. Long live Anchor Steam!