Anchor Steam Brewery sold

[Drunk Monk]

I'm sure you've heard as it was front page of the chron.  Tom had told me this might happen months ago.  He wasn't sure how it might affect his retirement plans.  I taught him the Japanese word for beer, which is Biru.  

Locals say Anchor beer sale sad but not earth shattering
By Jonathan Kauffman
 
Updated 9:49 am, Friday, August 4, 2017


Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle





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At Anchor Brewing at the Yard there are plans to make beers specific for the Giants and their fans Monday March 16, 2015. The Giants' Yard at Mission Rock bills itself as a pop-up shipping container village ... more

Resignation, rather than outrage, was the dominant tone of the reaction to Thursday morning’s news that San Francisco’s Anchor Brewing has been sold to Japan’s Sapporo Holdings Ltd.
“Wow, one of the first OG (original) craft brewers selling out,” Robby Lucido responded to The Chronicle’s tweet linking to the story. “Can't hate on capitalism but it's a smart move these days.”
Many in the beer industry look to Anchor Brewing as an icon and leader; Fritz Maytag, who purchased the company in 1965, transformed it into the first modern craft brewery in the United States. Several commented that a sale seemed a distinct possibility after Maytag sold it to the Griffin Group, a San Francisco investment firm, in 2010.

San Francisco's Anchor Brewing celebrates 120 years of the Steam
Media: Kev Demirjian
Regan Long, head brewer of Local Brewing Company in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood, said she was surprised but not shocked by the announcement. “I’m in this industry every day, and things are changing so rapidly and it’s so competitive. Anchor probably wants to bring their brand to the next level.”

For others, the sale seems like a sign of a changing of the guard, or at least a shift in trendiness.
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“If you go to the hip beer bars around the Bay Area, you never see Anchor anywhere,” said Collin McDonnell, co-founder of the Santa Rosa-based HenHouse Brewing. “Likely, the same people who would be annoyed with Anchor selling to Sapporo are the people who would go to those bars where they’re not giving money to Anchor.”

Will Anchor still be considered a local beer if the profits flow to Japan? Trac Le, alcohol buyer for Bi-Rite Market, which showcases local food and beverage producers, said he will continue stocking the shelves with Anchor’s flagship brew “unless the quality of the Anchor Steam goes down.”
“We understand that local people are still working on Anchor,” he added. “We want to support the people who work there.”