It's unfortunate, but operating in one of the most expensive places in the US isn't something that's compatible with being mediocre in a highly competitive market.
It's unfortunate, but operating in one of the most expensive places in the US isn't something that's compatible with being mediocre in a highly competitive market.
Do you also think that Pilsner Urquell, Jever, or Budvar are mediocre?
The steam beer process was literally created as a way to cheaply make a lot of beer.
The flavor of the beer is heavily influenced by the yeast strain and fermentation temperature, and the primary basis of what steam beer is, fundamentally, is lager that is fermented at relatively high temperature. The yeast strains that stand up these higher temperatures tend to produce lower quantities of the types of esters that produce lasting flavors in beer, and higher temperatures tend to result in a loss of important flavoring compounds which are types of volatile organic chemicals and tend to be temperature sensitive.
There's very specific, replicable, and well-understood reasons why high temperature lagers and steam beers don't taste as good as typical low temperature lagers. I do not think your representation of steam beer is accurate, and I feel I have some authority to that claim. I am a subject matter expert on beer, a certified cicerone, and an extensive home brewer.
I am not trying to diss Anchor, I'm simply stating a mere fact, which is that their beer is mediocre. Not bad, but it is certainly not a world class beer. It may have been in pre 1980s, but the current craft brewing culture has advanced far beyond most beer drinkers expectations. For the record, I am not a huge fan of IPAs, although I will drink them, and I don't think "craft beer" and "IPA" are analogous concepts. Your reply to me reveals your biases, and indicates you didn't critically engage with my prior comment.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchor_Brewing_Company#/media/...
Given I like Anchor & think almost all other lagers are absolutely vile piss water, I most strongly dispute this statement
I long ago put Anchor in the "meh, don't bother buying again" category.
There's a lot of new stuff to try, more all the time, and the bar for making it into the "buy again" category is damn high these days. Has been for years, really.
It's a sad that you can't just sell a Porter anymore. Have to throw banana and peanut butter in it or make it 15% alcohol to get accepted by the 'craft beer' aficionados.
The craft beer community mostly seems to hate beer that is actually beer.
[1]: https://www.deschutesbrewery.com/news-media/2021-02-08/how-i...
[2]: https://www.deschutesbrewery.com/news-media/2021-03-22/more-...