Anchor California Lager – a tasty historic American Lager

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by JackHorzempa, Jul 15, 2013.

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  1. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,181) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    “I think that late summer early fall time is perfect.” Perfect time for Oktoberfest Lagers too!:slight_smile:

    Cheers!
     
  2. palmdalethriller

    palmdalethriller Initiate (0) Dec 26, 2007 California


    I find this a little amusing. Not sure I've heard anybody bash Anchor on this site ever. I guess you don't hear a lot of outright gushing over them either, but that's not really surprising considering they aren't the kind of tiny limited-release-producing brewery that typically garners such gushing.
     
  3. Orca

    Orca Grand Pooh-Bah (4,441) Sep 18, 2010 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Society

    I don't think the OP said anyone bashes Anchor on BA; he just said (correctly) that they don't get a lot of love/respect here (and I'd insert attention at all, really). You've hit on the main reason, but it's unfortunate that one of the vanguards of the craft beer movement in America has been overshadowed by all the up-and-comers merely because they've decided to keep cranking out tasty, well-crafted beer year after year without subscribing to some of the gimmicks other breweries use (quite successfully, I'd add) to attract attention.
     
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  4. palmdalethriller

    palmdalethriller Initiate (0) Dec 26, 2007 California

    I enjoyed the beer the few times I've had it. However, I find it to be fairly similar to Anchor Steam. Both are pre-pro style lagers (I suppose that's a point of contention with Anchor Steam, but it's close enough to the truth for the sake of my point) with a balanced hop-malt character. Both are easy to drink in the way you'd like a summer beer to be, but have enough caramel notes to make them desirable in the cooler seasons (or as it is known in SF, "summer").

    It's a good beer, but the only time I will choose it over Anchor Steam is if the place I'm at doesn't have Anchor Steam (ya know, in a hypothetical situation where a bar only serves Anchor products). In other words, what's the point? Why brew a beer so similar to the flagship?

    To me, and this is pure speculation, it feels as though this beer is a blatant attempt to grab new customers because of the big Golden Bear on the label. We love that damn extinct bear. With the word "lager" in big letters on the label and that bear, this feels like a stab at the non craft crowd (or at least the non beer-obsessive/geek/advocate crowd).

    Now that I've written it all, I suppose that's not a bad thing, it's just not an exciting thing. This feels like the kind of business-minded move our friendly millionaire brewer Jim Koch might make, and not what our friendly millionaire brewer Fritz Maytag would have done. Oh well. The times they are a changin.

    /ramble.
     
  5. palmdalethriller

    palmdalethriller Initiate (0) Dec 26, 2007 California

    You're right. He didn't mention bashing at all.

    But to say they don't get love/respect is not accurate. It's essentially all they get, they just don't get "gushing." Nobody (until now) goes out of their way to write something extraordinary about them (except very rarely), but it's probably because the brewery hasn't gone out of its way to do anything extraordinary.

    A big part of this site is breaking down new releases and discussing breaking news. Anchor doesn't do much of those. That's not to say Anchor isn't respected or loved on this site, just that they aren't a constant topic of discussion. I guess in the modern era and 24-hour news cycles if you aren't praised effusively ever so often then you aren't loved or respected.
     
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  6. Orca

    Orca Grand Pooh-Bah (4,441) Sep 18, 2010 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Eh, I guess I'll split the difference somewhere between respect and love. They certainly get respect, but I have yet to see someone say they "love" Anchor.
     
  7. palmdalethriller

    palmdalethriller Initiate (0) Dec 26, 2007 California

    I did a forums search to provide plenty of evidence that people love anchor on here when they get the chance, but just that the chance doesn't come up that often. But each thread that I found (at least on the first page of results... i'm lazy) was either very short or very ho-hum in its praise of Anchor (e.g. "It's available at xx" - which I suppose is only better than "It's available at xx, but why bother?")...
    So yeah, I guess you're right - Anchor doesn't get much love here... but I LOVE Anchor!
     
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  8. Orca

    Orca Grand Pooh-Bah (4,441) Sep 18, 2010 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Maybe they should try developing the world's most refreshing can.
     
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  9. IrishKevin

    IrishKevin Initiate (0) Apr 11, 2013 Massachusetts

    I Love Anchor!!
     
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  10. JamesQuaff

    JamesQuaff Initiate (0) Jun 30, 2010 California

    CA Lager is definitely one of my absolute favorite hot weather beers. Been triple-flip-flopping amongst it, Prima Pils and Bitter American this summer. A little pricey to be my everyday jam (homebrew and lots of Hamm's keepin' our whistles whetted), but it goes into my level-up beer purchase lineup pretty often these days.
     
  11. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,181) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Here is a great video on the making of California Lager:

     
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  12. UCLABrewN84

    UCLABrewN84 Initiate (0) Mar 18, 2010 California

    Definitely a solid beer from Anchor.
     
  13. joeebbs

    joeebbs Initiate (0) Apr 29, 2009 Pennsylvania

    Got a six pack of this yesterday and had a couple. Great tasting beer. Nothing like Steam at all and it tastes kind of like a Bitburger. Which is a great beer to be compared to!
     
  14. premierpro

    premierpro Savant (1,060) Mar 21, 2009 Michigan

    This sounds like my kind of beer! I have a friend in Ohio to call to hook me up with a case!
     
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  15. AlcahueteJ

    AlcahueteJ Grand Pooh-Bah (3,088) Dec 4, 2004 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah Society


    If it's anything like the various American Pale Lagers I've had, I would imagine it wouldn't be similar to Anchor Steam.

    To your other point, do you mean it's a "safe" beer for them to brew, or gimmicky? Either way, I don't see a regular pale lager as either. Typically lagers are not something you brew for the mainstream crowd, and it's certainly not something that will peak interest from the craft crowd (unless it's an IPL). I applaud them for brewing a simple lager.
     
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  16. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,181) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    I personally would not characterize California Lager as being similar to Anchor Steam. For my palate, Anchor Steam is more malt (caramel) forward with the hop flavors playing ‘second fiddle’. The California Lager is more balanced and the Cluster hops add an interesting ‘twist’.

    As regards the topic of “exciting”, it is true that California Lager is not a DIPA, a RIS, or a coconut something beer. It is a solid American Pale Lager. If a beer drinker is looking for ‘sexy’ than perhaps California Lager is not the beer for them. If a beer drinker is looking for a well-made and balanced lager than I would suggest that they give California Lager a try.

    Cheers!
     
  17. palmdalethriller

    palmdalethriller Initiate (0) Dec 26, 2007 California

    really? You don't brew lagers for the mainstream crowd?!

    I think it's both safe and gimmicky. I also think it's a pretty good beer, I just prefer Anchor Steam.
     
  18. palmdalethriller

    palmdalethriller Initiate (0) Dec 26, 2007 California

    That's all fair. I just feel that Anchor Steam does the well-made balanced beer thing better than California Lager. I agree it's a good beer, I agree it's balanced (and I agree that Steam is maltier and more caramel-y) - I just find them to be relatively similar (obviously not identical) in concept and execution, and I prefer Steam. Cheers!
     
  19. FutureJack

    FutureJack Initiate (0) Oct 30, 2007 California


    This made me laugh.
     
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  20. AnchorBaby

    AnchorBaby Initiate (0) Oct 12, 2010 California

    I love Anchor Brewing. I'm not biased.
     
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