Anchor Summer Beer - Anchor Brewing Company

Anchor Summer Beer
American Wheat Beer
Anchor Brewing Company
San Francisco, CA

As I type this, I'm in my boxers trying to keep cool. An obnoxiously premature July-spell popped up in May, and it's be around 85-90 for a day or two. Here inside my sauna, I've been presented a great opportunity to enjoy a new summer beer in the appropriate context.

Wheat beers are a strange breed of brew. Almost every wheat beer I've ever experienced has been a version of a German Wheat beer, which typically are flowery tasting, like Hoegaarden. According to the Hoegaarden site, actual dried orange peels and coriander are used in the brewing process to give it the flavor explosion that has typically turned me off. Substituting hops in favor of malts, in my opinion, leaves a lot of room to experiment with the flavor of the beer - but why fix that which is not broken?

Ah San Francisco, home of the 49ers, Golden Gate Bridge, and the incredible car chase from "Bullit." I've never made it to the West Coast, but Anchor Brewing would be on my list of stops if I ever do. Anchor Steam didn't wow me at first sip, but after reading about the company, I'm intrigued. They have been around since forever ago and have a real appreciation for the tradition and craft of beer making. All eight brews in their line start with a malt-mash.

This particular drink claims to be the FIRST American Wheat Beer in Modern times. Having been first brewed and Bottled in the summer of 1984, it is a recipe that is just about as young as I am.

Leaving the flowers out, Anchor Brewing has created a summer drink that speaks to ME! It's light, clean tasting, and crisp. The initial taste is full, with just a hint of citrus and honey. A little tart on the way down, the aftertaste is earthy and almost ... biscuit-y? It it lacks in strength it makes up for in freshness.

I could kill a 6'er of these happily and easily. First off, its really hot here, and the beer is cold. But more importantly it doesn't really upset my tastes. The flavor is so agreeable and understated that you could kick back a few with out noticing how many are going down. Probably in my top five wheat beers I've had, which isn't really saying much. But still!

--Joe

(As per request)
Work Cited:
anchorbrewing.com
hoegaarden.com