Anchor Brewing Company's Porter

I’d crank this while you read, your call though.

So Anchor Brewing Company is based out of San Francisco, the most masculine capital of all the states not counting Sacramento. Anchor Brewery only enforces my opinion that the best beers in the States come from California. That being said I don’t get into Green Flash or Stone Brewery but there are plenty of other fine Californian breweries and wineries. Anchor started during the gold rush in 1896 from a toothless 49’er named Gottlieb Brekle and later sold to Freddy Maytag, the founder of Maytag dishwashers, stoves, whatever Maytag makes. It doesn’t matter because I made that part up regardless. Actually, I just got scared that it might be true, but turns out this Maytag bought this brewery but also made a lot of Blue cheese and is actually considered the father of modern microbreweries, which means I want to shake this man’s dead old hand. Shit. He’s still alive. Well, I’m not gonna visit him! I picture him like the Big Lebowski, the millionaire. “His name’s Lebowski? That’s your name Dude.” I’m totally going to watch that movie now.

Anchor Brewery itself was in turmoil in the 60’s because of the hard sells of lighter beer for macrobreweries, which is why the ownership changed a zillion times. These cats also had a problem is cleanliness, which lead to an eventual non-uniformity of their booze, which caused them to close down back in the day, but don’t sweat it. Freddy moved them to a better place, so you’re still drinking ill shit (in a good way). Then these cats actually started making whiskey and gin, so it seems like everything was going good, right? Well, that old sack of bones sold Anchor for some ex-execs from Skyy in 2010. No reason to hate though.

Anchor has five main brews; 4 beers and a barleywine. The porter has an ABV of 5.63% and goes great with cookies. They also have 4 seasonal beers; Bock in the first 3 months, then, in order, Summer Beer, Humming Ale, and Christmas Ale. So between all the shit, you can find a handful of good beers from these guys at any time. I picked up this double-deuce for $4, which is better than a kick to the rear end you turkey. This brewery really pushes my hippy buttons with their all natural ingredients and their bullshit home-like care they put into their products but I’ll be damned if it isn’t delicious. But anyone that knows anything about beer respects Anchor. Showing up with a few bottles of Anchor is sure to boost you're street cred.

The beer itself was first brewed in 1972, later bottled and sold in 1974. The taste itself has a strong hint of toffee, coffee, moffee, loffee, and cocoa. As you can see, the beer itself is darker than Satan’s asshole and the head on it is darker than most beer reviewed on this blog. This stuff is tough. If you like dark beers, definitely try it out. What Anchor Steam does to ale, their porter does to porters. This is probably the best porter I’ve ever had. I’ve also had a tall scotch before this but trust me, if you love dark beers, try this out. It’s bitter, don’t get me wrong. Let’s put it this way; if you prefer Starbucks coffee over Dunkin Donuts…get this beer. This is, like all porters, not for chugging, but a delicious expression of Anchor's dark side. The force is strong with this one.<--This video is actually AMAZING!

Drinkability: 6/10

Taste : 8/10
Value: 7/10
Curb Appeal: 7/10

Overall: 7.0/10