Anchor Brewing is Shutting Down
Photo of Anchor Steam with its old logo from Anchor Brewing’s Instagram
Ugh…this one hurts. After 127 years, San Francisco’s most famous brewery is closing down. The Chronicle broke the news Wednesday morning and now dear reader, it’s my sad duty to share the news with you.
Founded in 1896, Anchor Brewing was America’s first craft brewery. By 1965 the brewery was about to shut down, but Fritz Maytag stepped in and bought the outfit, paving the way for the craft brew revolution that would happen in California later on.
Check out the great video we made about the brewery and its history. If you can’t see it, you can watch it here:
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In recent years, Anchor Brewing made the news when it was bought by Sapporo in 2017, and when its workers unionized in 2019. Things seemed a bit questionable though when it was announced last month that Anchor was ending its national distribution and that it would no longer be brewing its famous annual Christmas Ale.
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You know things are bad when Sam Singer is brought in to handle your PR. As it says on PR News Singer is known for “his ability to turn the news around when things look dire for his clients.” And that’s exactly who the Chronicle is quoting as the spokesperson for Anchor Brewing.
Singer told the Chronicle that the brewery was “losing millions of dollars a year,” and that “Economic pressures have made the business no longer sustainable.”
Apparently the final beer has been brewed and Anchor Public Taps, the brewery’s tap room, will be open until August 1st and maybe for awhile after that.
Jess Lander at the Chronicle reports that, “When Japanese beer giant Sapporo purchased Anchor in 2017, the company was already ‘in the red,’ according to Singer, who said that revenue is down by two-thirds since 2016. The pandemic was especially challenging for the brewery, added Singer, as it typically sells most of its beer through bars and restaurants. The brewery attempted to expand its retail distribution but was ‘unable to break through in a big enough way.'”
Out of all the many closures we’ve seen over the past years, this one probably hits hardest for the widest swath of people. For many generations, Anchor Brewing’s beer is what the Bay Area, and California in general, tastes like. This is a sad day, not just for beer lovers, but for anyone who loves California and its rich and wild history.
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