Beer of the Vacation: Anchor Summer Beer

Note to self: when on vacation, pack a bottle opener.

Tonight I’m in San Francisco. I love this city. It’s an incredible place, which I haven’t been to since attending a high school journalism convention here in April 2001. This time I have my car, which is both a headache and blessing. I drove across the Bay Bridge into the city, then crossed the Golden Gate Bridge twice: once to do it, and then a second time because I needed to go back. It was fogged out, so it didn’t feel like driving on a bridge; all I could see were the cables as they swooped down at the anchorages and mid-span, and the lower portions of the towers. If it’s clear tomorrow I may do it again for the hell of it. It’s definitely worth the $6 toll.

When in San Francisco, drink Anchor Steam — especially varieties you’re unable to get elsewhere. That’s what I’m doing tonight. After having an actual Anchor Steam for dinner, I bought a sixer of Anchor Summer Beer brewed by the Anchor Brewing Company of — you guessed it — San Francisco, California.


This is not your average tasting. First, I don’t have a bottle opener. I had to jimmy the cap off on the edge of the kitchenette counter. (When back in Huntington, I’ll put my little key fob opener in my backpack for emergencies like this.) Second, I don’t have a pint glass. I only have the complimentary drinking cups that come wrapped in plastic, and like hell am I going to commit that sin. What is this? A fucking house party? So I’m going to forgo my usual style of tasting because I can’t see or smell the beer. Sure, I get a little aroma from the neck, but it’s nothing like the vivacious scents after a proper pour into a glass. Some day I’ll give ASB the real sampling treatment, but not today.

ASB is advertised as a wheat beer, but it’s nothing like a hefeweizen. Its reminds me of Millstream’s Windmill Wheat, a filtered wheat brew. The taste is crisp and malty; it’s bready with a hint of hops. The aroma (what I get) has a slightly yeasty scent, very reminiscent of hefeweizen, only much more subdued. ASB is very drinkable, but I’m going to refrain from grading it since this was not an official tasting it. It was just a casual tasting.

Oh, and last night in Yosemite I had a Newcastle Brown Ale — The One and Only for The One and Only.

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