A ray of beer in gold fever
In 1849, while the madness for gold in California reached its zenith, a German brewery landed in San Francisco. His name was Gottlieb Brekle, who, with his family in hand, was planted in golden lands with a dream: create good beers. In 1871, taking advantage of an irresistible offer, bought a pool bar in Pacific Street for only $ 3,500 and transformed it in what we know today as Anchor Brewing.
The first Anchor Brewing sips
For several decades, the Gottlieb brewery served beers to the neighborhood bars. It was in 1896 that the story took a new turn, when he sold his dream to two compatriots, Ernst Baruth and Otto Schinkel Jr., who renamed the company as Anchor Brewing Company. It is rumored that the name could refer to the bustling port that hugged San Francisco.
The uniqueness of the Anchor Steam
That same year, they released their first and only barrel beer: the Anchor Steam. This peculiar style, known as ‘Steam Beer’. A curious detail is that the name could derive from the steam cloud that was formed on the ceiling of the brewery due to the cooling of the outdoor must.
The ups and downs of the brewery throughout the twentieth century
The last century brought both challenges and achievements for Anchor. At the beginning of the 20th century, the fateful earthquake of San Francisco made the foundations of the brewery tremble and the tragedy continued with the death of its owners. However, the resilience of a new brewer team showed that the best beers are often born from adversities.
Crossing the ban
The prohibition was a dark parenthesis in the history of Anchor. However, in 1933, when the beer was legalized again, the Renación brewery located in the 13th Street and Harrison neighborhood, only to face another disaster: a fire that destroyed the facilities. Despite these setbacks, the tenacity of its owners was key to their continuity.
Fritz Maytag: El Salvador de Anchor
A young man from Stanford, Fritz Maytag, became the unexpected hero of this saga. At the moment when the brewery was about to close, Fritz decided to take the reins, buying 51% of the company and immediately proposed to change Anchor’s perception. With an focus on producing less but with greater quality, it began to reform everything, from the ingredients to the elaboration techniques.
Innovation and recognition
Maytag, with his ‘Make Better mantra, not more’, forever changed the direction of Anchor. The brewery went from being a forgotten name to becoming a quality symbol, receiving the ‘Rolls Royce’ label from American beers. In 1975, finally, Anchor Porter and other classics began leaving the production lines and conquering hearts, first in San Francisco, then beyond.
Anchor’s legacy and its new stages
The history of Anchor Brewing does not end here. In 2010, after more than four decades of innovations and successful sales, Fritz decided to pass the torch. And so, Anchor changed hands again, this time under the direction of the Griffin Group and later, in 2017, the brewery found a new home inside the Japanese Sapporo conglomerate.
The special connection with San Francisco
Despite all the changes, Anchor is still synonymous with quality and tradition in the beer world. His spirit of innovation, combined with a deep respect for his roots, says that, regardless of who is in command, the beers continue to flow through the streets of San Francisco and beyond, keeping the legacy of Gottlieb Brekle alive and of all those who have made this story possible.
