The tour was led by a very handsome local guy (who played college football at a local Pac-12 university- quarterback, if I remember correctly) who exuded the cool and confidence of the lucky few that got to be on the Anchor Steam premises and got paid for it! His knowledge of the brewery history and delivery of ancient tales was compelling and enthralling for a group of beerists like us. (The group on the tour was comprised of mostly tourists. We were the only locals.) We were able to access all levels of the brewery, from the literally chilled basement through the staff break room to where all the mashing, lautering, and sparging occur plus the state-of-the-art bottling area.
Some of the highlights of the tour were hearing the possible origins of the Anchor Steam name (take the tour to find out, I am not a story-buster!), learning about the production of their whiskey (which is distilled across the street but not sold at that site nor anywhere near San Francisco) and watching the Beer Folks doing their duties as if we weren’t there. Every single one of us beerists wanted to be one of them!
The Tap Room was the ultimate conclusion to the tour as we were allowed to sample quite a few types of beer, including some rare brews. All us beerists would receive a tasting glass of a single type of beer. Once that was poured, our fearless guide would start pouring the next. As a gal of “low volume” (I coined this term at the Anchor Steam Tap Room: “Guys, I am “low volume”, so someone will have to help finish this beer for me because Dude is already onto the next one.”), it was hard for me to keep up. Luckily I had a little (ahem, a lot) of help from my friends and I was able to taste everything!
The only drawback of the tour was that we were unable to buy any merchandise, and you know how much I love me a good beer shirt. Just with my party alone, we estimated that they missed out on purchases totaling about $150 of their Steam Gear. We could buy it online but who has that kind of follow-through?! I would strongly suggest to Beer Folks that they allow their patrons to shop while in a beer-haze. That is just good economics.
Bottom line: if you dig beer and you are anywhere near San Francisco, go on this tour! It is so worth it and “the beer flows like wine”. The Anchor Brewery Tour may have ruined me for future brewery tours as every subsequent tour will be compared to this one!
Bottoms up!
-The Beer Dietitian
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