Anchor Brewing discontinuing national distribution

[Kira]

The glut of soft drinks and even mildly alcoholic ones is cited when the investors on "Shark Tank" decline involvement.
To me, it seems there is an ever growing selection of small batch beers.
If gas / diesel prices go up a cent, I can imagine some of the many fading away.

Do we even know if a closed brewery's capacity wasn't just switched to some other product line, possibly an export we'll never know about?

My aunt sent me an Anchor Steam Beer tee shirt in '75. It was the only one I ever saw.

 

[DBMaster]

The glut of soft drinks and even mildly alcoholic ones is cited when the investors on "Shark Tank" decline involvement.
To me, it seems there is an ever growing selection of small batch beers.
If gas / diesel prices go up a cent, I can imagine some of the many fading away.

Do we even know if a closed brewery's capacity wasn't just switched to some other product line, possibly an export we'll never know about?

My aunt sent me an Anchor Steam Beer tee shirt in '75. It was the only one I ever saw.

I was thinking along similar lines. I tried Anchor Steam beer in 1988 on a trip to San Francisco. The "microbrew revolution" was in its early stages and there weren't a huge number of options made in the U.S. that were sold outside the breweries' specific regions. Anchor was in the right place at the right time to be able to say they were a founding member of said revolution. As Kira mentions, we are awash now with specialty beers and a myriad of other alcoholic choices. Those who like Anchor's beers will miss them, but the market segment won't even feel the loss. It's the times, I guess.

 

[y_p_w]

I was thinking along similar lines. I tried Anchor Steam beer in 1988 on a trip to San Francisco. The "microbrew revolution" was in its early stages and there weren't a huge number of options made in the U.S. that were sold outside the breweries' specific regions. Anchor was in the right place at the right time to be able to say they were a founding member of said revolution. As Kira mentions, we are awash now with specialty beers and a myriad of other alcoholic choices. Those who like Anchor's beers will miss them, but the market segment won't even feel the loss. It's the times, I guess.

Anchor Brewing always made the claim that they started the modern craft brewing industry after Fritz Maytag bought them in the 60s at a time when their quality was poor and the brewery was on the way to closing down.

I don't recall them ever being big on variety. Just a few select beers, made well. Sapporo seems to have tried to turn them into a maker of way too much, and the label redesign really messed with the customer base. There really was no need to resign the label - at least not so drastically. And they managed Anchor really poorly.

 

[DBMaster]

That sounds similar to what happened to Celis Brewery in Austin after they sold to Miller.

 

[Cropduster172]

They used to have these gigantic "chalices" of Anchor Steam drafts at the bar Mutt Lynches in Newport Beach. Had some sort of sign behind the bar warning yout be careful how many you had...this was late 90's.

 

[zray1]

I’ll miss them (after my stockpile is gone)

Z