Tag Archives: Anchor Brewing Company

Christmas Ales

The Book of Ecclesiastes wisely states that “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens”. Adapted to the world of craft beer the appropriate sentiment might read that “there is a time for everything, and a season for every beer under the heavens”. While the seemingly ubiquitous IPAs are enjoyed year round there are several styles of beer that are associated with particular periods on the calendar. While I am not a fan off pumpkin beers I know plenty of people who look forward to their appearance each fall. Oktoberfest Marzens, in contrast, is a style whose arrival I eagerly await. And as I write this we are a few weeks away from Christmas, and Christmas Ales are in abundance. I do enjoy Christmas Ales and currently have a six-pack of one from Bell’s Brewery of Comstock, MI sitting in my basement refrigerator.

Christmas Ale from a Bell’s Brewery in Comstock, MI

Earlier this week, I gave a talk on a Christmas Ales to alumni of the University of Toledo. With the Covid-19 pandemic in full swing it was a virtual talk. When I agreed to give the talk I knew a little bit about Christmas Ales, but learned more about them as I did some research. Christmas Ales have their origins in pre-Christian pagan rituals. Take Norway as an example. Long before Christianity, Norwegians celebrated the winter solstice by brewing and drinking beer to honor Odin, Frey, and other Norse gods. The period was known as Jul, and stretched from mid-November to mid-January. Indeed the brewing of Ale was one of the most important tasks of the early winter season, with the first brew often laid out or poured on a stone for the local gnomes and spirits. Peasants would travel to the local pagan temple, bringing along food and ale for a feast Everyone was expected to take part in the drinking of Ale The first toast was to be made to Odin, then the other gods. Additional toasts were then drunk to the memory of the departed. No Norwegian farm was complete without a brewhouse — the bryggehus – this was the case up until about 200 years ago.

King Hakon the Good, who ruled Norway from 934 to 961 made it illegal to celebrate Christmas without Ale. Those who didn’t have Ale at their Christmas feast were issued a fine. In the 13th century the Gulating, an annual parliamentary assembly that met in Gulen on Norway’s west coast, passed a law similar to the decree issued by Haakon the Good. According to the Gulating:

“Yet another beer brew we are required to make, man and wife from equal amounts of malts, and to bless it Christmas night in thanks to Christ and St. Mary, for a good year and peace.

If this is not done, three marks must be paid to the bishop. But if someone sits three winters without doing so, or cannot pay the fees that we have added for our religion, and this can be proven, then he has forfeited every penny of his worth. The king shall have half, and the bishop the other half. But he may confess his sins and make church penance and stay in Norway. If he will not he shall leave the realm of our king.”

Fines and possible banishment from the kingdom indicate how seriously Christmas Ale was taken in 13th century Norway.

King Hakan the Good issued a decree making it illegal to celebrate Christmas without Ale

12 Dogs of Christmas Ale contains honey, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg

After talking about Christmas Ales in Medieval Norway, I turned my attention to Christmas Ales in modern-day America. Interestingly enough, Christmas Ale is not a recognized beer style – at least not by the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) or the Brewers Association. The BJCP does include a Winter Seasonal Beer among its list of over 150 recognized styles. So what is a Winter Seasonal Beer and what are its defining characteristics? According to the BJCP Winter Seasonal Beers “suggest cold weather and the Christmas holiday season, and may include holiday spices, specialty sugars, and other products that are reminiscent of mulling spices or Christmas holiday desserts”, while “a wide range of aromatics is possible” including those “reminiscent of Christmas cookies, gingerbread, English-type Christmas pudding, evergreen trees, or mulling spices.” For example, 12 Dogs of Christmas Ale, brewed by Thirsty Dog Brewing Co. of Akron, OH includes honey, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. The flavor of a Christmas Ale will reflect the spices used in the brewing process. In terms of appearance, Christmas Ales tend to be generally medium amber to very dark brown, with darker versions being are more common.

While they have existed in Europe for over a thousand years, Christmas Ales first made their appearance in the United States in the early 1900s. Prohibition arrived in 1920 and lasted until 1933, making American Christmas Ale fairly short lived. They did not reappear in the aftermath Prohibition. Indeed, it was not until 1978 that Christmas Ales reappeared on the American brewing landscape. And we have Fritz Maytag and Anchor Brewing in San Francisco to thank for that. Founded in 1896, the brewery was on the verge of going out of business when Maytag purchased a 51% share in 1965. Maytag rejuvenated the brewery’s fortunes, partly by expanding its portfolio of beers to include IPAs, Barleywine, and Porters. In 1975 Maytag introduced the first Christmas Ale to be brewed in the United States since the end of Prohibition – Anchor’s Christmas Ale.

Anchor Brewing in San Francisco
Anchor Brewing was struggling until Fritz Maytag purchased a 51% share of the brewery in 1965

Each year Anchor’s Christmas Ale is brewed using a different recipe and over the years it has evolved from a Pale Ale to spiced Brown Ale. Not only does the recipe change from year to year, but so does the beer’s distinctive label. The label always features a tree, but a different tree each year. Between 1975 and 2019 (with the exception of 1976), the labels were all designed by the same artist – 93 year-old Jim Stitt. His decision to retire, however, meant that the 2019 label was the last one designed by Stitt. The 2020 label was designed by Nathan Yoder. Given the unique challenges that 2020 has presented Yoder opted for a label that featured The Three Graces, a trio of sequoia trees, which represent radiance, joy, and hope. After the year that we have all just experienced I think that it’s safe to say that we would welcome all three of these in abundance.

Each year Anchor’s Christmas Ale is adorned with a different label featuring a different tree. Labels from 1975-1982 are shown here
93 year old Jim Stitt, now retired, designed all the labels for Anchor Christmas Ale between 1975 and 2019. The only year Stitt did not design the label was 1976 (Photo credit: SFGate.com)

The three sequoia trees on the label of Anchor’s 2020 Christmas Ale represent radiance, joy, and hope

2019 Year In Review

As has been my tradition for the last couple of years, my final blog entry for the year reviews my brewery visits during the previous 12 months. This year I visited a total of 63 different breweries. That is an average of one brewery every 5.79 days. Overall, I visited three less breweries in 2019 than I did in 2018. Of the 63 breweries, 14 were in my home state of Ohio, 46 were in other parts of the United States (excluding Ohio), while three were outside of the United States. In addition to Ohio, I visited breweries in 10 different states – California, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Of the 63 breweries I visited, I had been to 15 before (indicated in italics in the lists below). Late in the year, I did manage to visit some breweries outside of the United States. A late-November trip to the Netherlands afforded me the opportunity to visit three breweries in Amsterdam, two of which I had been to before. The most breweries I visited in one day was six – when I participated in The Napa Beer Mile in Napa, CA in February. The city where I visited the most breweries was Charlotte, NC. During a trip there in October I visited nine breweries. At the start of 2019, I set myself a target of visiting 52 different breweries during the year. I easily hit that target. I will set myself an identical target for 2020.

Below you will find a list of all the craft breweries that I visited during 2019. Following this list, you will find one photograph from each of the places that I visited. I hope that you enjoy these. They are intended to capture the beauty and diversity of craft beer and the places that brew and sell it.

Ohio Breweries (14)

US Non-Ohio Breweries (46)

Non-US Breweries (3)

Downtown Joe’s Brewery & Restaurant, Napa, CA
Bierfabriek, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
St. Elmo Brewing Company, Austin, TX
Round Barn & Brewery Public House, Baroda, MI
Catawba Island Brewing Company, Port Clinton, OH
Lazarus Brewing Co., Austin, TX
Pilot Brewing Company, Charlotte, NC
Goodwood Brewing Co., Louisville, KY
Inside the Five Brewing Company, Sylvania, OH
Pavlov’s Brewing Company, Temperance, MI
Earnest Brew Works, Toledo, OH
Black Narrows Brewing Company, Chincoteague Island, VA
Carillon Brewing Co., Dayton, OH
Birdsong Brewing Company, Charlotte, NC
Oddwood Ales, Austin, TX
Tannery Bend Beerworks, Napa, CA
Wooden Robot Brewery – The Chamber, Charlotte, NC
Sonder Brewing, Mason, OH
Against the Grain Brewery, Louisville, KY
Working Draft Beer Company, Madison, WI
Springfield Manor Brewery, Thurmont, MD
Resident Culture Brewing, Charlotte, NC
Fifty West Brewing Company, Cincinnati, OH
Brouwerij de Prael, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Southern Tier Brewery, Pittsburgh, PA
Neon Groundhog Brewery, Grand Rapids, OH
Live Oak Brewing Company, Austin, TX
Corner Brewery, Ypsilanti, MI
Protagonist, Charlotte, NC
South Bend Brew Werks, South Bend, IN e
Atwater Brewery, Detroit, MI
RAR Brewing, Cambridge, MD
Draught House Pub & Brewery, Austin, TX
Brewers at 4001 Yancey, Charlotte, NC
Ghost Isle Brewery, New Buffalo, MI
Der Bekeerde Suster, Amsterdam. The Netherlands
Hillsboro Brewing Company, Hillsboro, WI
Austin Beer Garden Brewing Company, Austin, TX
Findlay Brewing Company, Findlay, OH
Two Bandits Brewing Co., Hicksville, OH
Stone Brewing, Napa, CA
Patron Saints Brewery, Toledo, OH
St. Clair Winery & Brewery, Napa, CA
Pinthouse Pizza, Austin, TX
Bluegrass Brewing Company, Louisville, KY
Heist Brewery, Charlotte, NC
Hops & Grain Brewing, Austin, TX
Beer Church Brewing Co., New Buffalo, MI
Great Dane Pub & Brewing Co., Madison, WI
Olde Mecklenburg Brewery, Charlotte, NC
Anchor Brewing Company, San Francisco, CA
Bait House Brewery, Sandusky, OH
4KD Crick Brewery, Defiance, OH
Napa Palisades Brewing, Napa, CA
Grainworks Brewing Company, West Chester Township, OH
Railroad City. Brewing Company, Altoona, PA
Tapistry Brewing Company, Bridgman, MI
Legion Brewing, Charlotte, NC
Dented Keg Brewing Company, Mars, PA
Maumee Bay Brewing Company, Toledo, OH
Haymarket Brewing, Bridgman, MI
Trade Brewing, Napa, CA

Flagship February

February has come and gone, and with it the inaugural Flagship February. Conceived by Canadian beer writer, Stephen Beaumont, the idea was simple enough – spend the month of February rediscovering and drinking the beers upon which breweries made their reputation – their so-called flagship beers. I must admit that I did not make any conscious effort to drink flagship beers throughout the month – maybe I will next year – but I did enjoy a few such brews during the twenty-eight days of February.

But before getting to the February flagships that I consumed, let’s think about what defines a flagship beer. In other words, what qualifies a beer as a flagship beer? The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines flagship as “the finest, largest, or most important one of a group of things”. So for a brewery, its flagship beer would be the one that the brewer considers to be his or her finest, or it could be the brewery’s best selling beer. To investigate this further I did an internet search and came across this page on the Beeradvocate.com website; where a number of brewers were asked to articulate their understanding of the term “flagship beer”. You can read the answers at the link above, but let me share a sample of them below.

According to Peter Egelston of Smuttynose Brewing Company in Hampton, NH, a brewery’s flagship beer “doesn’t necessarily have to be the biggest seller, but rather is the beer that best defines those qualities that a brewer wishes to be associated with. It is the one that embodies the culture and aspirations of a brewery, as opposed to being a brand that merely pays the bills”. For some breweries, however, paying the bills is key to identifying a flagship beer. For Jim Killeen of the now out-of-business Nutfield Brewing Company of Derry, NH their flagship beer was Nutfield Old Man Ale, for no other reason than it was the brewery’s best seller, accounting for two-thirds of its sales.

For some breweries, year-round availability is a key characteristic of a flagship beer. For example, David Wollner of Willimantic Brewing Co. in Williamantic, CT noted that Certified Gold is their “flagship because we always try to have it on tap. All of our other beers rotate throughout the year.” Finally, some breweries have more than one flagship beer. This is the case for Victory Brewing Company of Downington, PA. Brewer Bill Covaleski notes that Victory has four flagship brands, all of which are available throughout the year.

So the definition of ‘flagship beer’ varies from brewery to brewery. As I reflect on the beers that I enjoyed during the month of February, some were clearly flagships, with at least two of them being what I would term ‘iconic flagship’ beers. These are Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Anchor Steam, from Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and Anchor Brewing Company respectively. Every craft beer drinker in the United States is surely familiar with these beers. Indeed, in an article about flagship beers in the Post Bulletin (a Rochester, MN newspaper), Josh Noel suggests that Sierra Nevada is “light-years ahead of its time and arguably the most important American beer of the past 50 years.”

Two other flagship beers, not available nationally, that I had in February are Trumer Pils from Trumer Brewery in Berkeley, CA and Spotted Cow from New Glarus Brewing Company in New Glarus, WI. The Trumer Brewery in Berkeley was established in 2004 as a sister brewery to the Trumer Brauerei in Salzburg, Austria. Trumer Pils is the only beer brewed at the brewery – so it has to be its flagship, right? It is one of my all-time favorite pilsners. Despite not distributing their beers outside of Wisconsin, New Glarus Brewing Company are the sixteenth largest craft brewery in the United States. Spotted Cow is New Glarus’s best known and best selling beer. When I flew home from Madison, WI last month, I didn’t check a bag. This meant, of course, I could not bring any beer home with me. Fear not, for there they were, at one of the gift shops in the Dane County Airport – twelve packs of Spotted Cow.

The four beers mentioned above are undoubtedly flagship beers. Others that I had that may be considered flagship beers include Mallet Session IPA from Trade Brewing in Napa, CA. The beer is brewed year-round. Also on that list is Leaping Lemur Cream Ale, which Hillsboro Brewing Company of Hillsboro, WI identify on their website as one of three flagship beers. Likewise, South Shore Brewing Company of Washburn, WI list their WPA:Wisconsin Pale Ale as one of five flagship beers.

WPA:Wisconsin Pale Ale from South Shore Brewing Company

Finally, while having dinner at Celadon in Napa, CA last month, I noticed, on the menu, Arctic Pale Ale from Einstok Beer Company in Akureyri, Iceland. I’d never had any Icelandic beer before, so I ordered it. I am glad I did. As I researched it later, I learned that Arctic Pale Ale is part of Einstok’s “core portfolio” of beers.

Arctic Pale Ale, one of Einstock Beer Co’s flagship beers

Of the eight flagship beers I enjoyed during Flagship February, seven were consumed in the state in which they were brewed (the exception being Einstok’s Arctic Pale Ale). Two were actually consumed at the brewery where they were brewed – Anchor Steam at Anchor Brewery and Leaping Lemur Cream Ale at Hillsboro Brewing Co.

As February drew to a close, a story about a new brew from Smartmouth Brewing Company in Norfolk, VA started to appear on my newsfeed. The beer is called Saturday Morning and is an IPA brewed with toasted marshmallows and cereal marshmallows. It was inspired by Lucky Charms breakfast cereal. Now I have no objection to brewers utilizing unsusal and non-traditional ingredients in their recipes. In fact, I think that beers brewed with such ingredients make the world of craft beer more interesting, and they certainly create buzz and get people talking. For breweries producing such a beer, it can generate some media coverage and get a brewery’s name out there. I, for example, had never heard of Smartmouth Brewing before they hit the news over the last few weeks – but I now know who they are. But I doubt such beers will ever attain Flagship status.

As I reflect on the concept behind Flagship February, I have to say that I think it’s a good idea. While I drink my fair share of flagship beers throughout the year, it was good to have an entire month focused on beers which, in my opinion, play a critical role in the world of craft beer.

Norwalk This Way: Back To The Barley Future

In the 1840s, newspapers in Norwalk, Ohio, published numerous advertisements for breweries begging farmers to sell the beer makers more malting barley. Today, over 170 years later, Norwalk home brewers and craft brewers alike could make the same largely
unanswered request. In fact, in most places in the U.S., local malting barley production does meet the needs of beer makers. The same could be said for hops, but that is a story for another blog entry. Continue reading Norwalk This Way: Back To The Barley Future