[reverseapachemaster]

I've read a number of articles about Anchor closing since becoming aware of this situation. One common problem, mentioned in a number of the articles, were increased labor costs. The labor costs combined with other factors are what led Sapporo to "let go". In other words, Anchor just wasn't profitable anymore.

I've seen several of these stories, too, mostly advancing a particular political position about Anchor's unionized workforce. Sapporo's Japanese facilities are all unionized so that wasn't exactly something Sapporo didn't know how to handle from a financial perspective. More to the point, Anchor collapsed under poor sales which began before unionization and before the sale to Sapporo in 2017. Several other regional craft breweries bought out at the peak of craft beer at inflated prices are seeing the same exactly demise despite no unionization of their workforces (e.g. Alpine/Green Flash, Ballast Point) and many others acquired during that period are struggling assets for the buyers.

Bottom line here is Sapporo bought a struggling business and failed to turn it around. Unlike buyers who acquired breweries at the top of their game and didn't plan for the craft beer market to ease, Sapporo knew it was buying a business on the downslope in an industry on the downslope. Bad bets rarely pay off.

[denny]

Your last paragraph is exactly on point.

[hopfenundmalz]

Many articles have pointed out costs that don't stand up to scrutiny. Did the workers get a big pay raise when they unionized, or were they after better working conditions? As stated above, Sapporo is union in Japan.

  I've seen the high inflation in San Francisco as a reason, but I'd you do a Google search you find that SF is slightly less than the Nation average inflation (2.9 vs 3% national).
I'm surprised that my metro area is so high, but no midsized breweries are closing around Detroit. Same for Florida.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2023/06/10/us-cities-inflation-still-rising-miami-detroit-phoenix.html

The reporters don't know the beer business. They haven't seen the books. No reports on ingredient costs increasing, or the shipping in and out of an urban location increasing. Some urban breweries have to pay for spent grain disposal as farms are too far away for the farmers. Nothing about a crap rebranding. No words about a legacy style(s) in a changing market. No words on what the plans are for the property, which will be worth more to developers than as a brewery, see the fate of Young's Ram Brewery in London as to what will happen.

Rant over.

[jeffy]

Many articles have pointed out costs that don't stand up to scrutiny. Did the workers get a big pay raise when they unionized, or were they after better working conditions? As stated above, Sapporo is union in Japan.

  I've seen the high inflation in San Francisco as a reason, but I'd you do a Google search you find that SF is slightly less than the Nation average inflation (2.9 vs 3% national).
I'm surprised that my metro area is so high, but no midsized breweries are closing around Detroit. Same for Florida.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2023/06/10/us-cities-inflation-still-rising-miami-detroit-phoenix.html

The reporters don't know the beer business. They haven't seen the books. No reports on ingredient costs increasing, or the shipping in and out of an urban location increasing. Some urban breweries have to pay for spent grain disposal as farms are too far away for the farmers. Nothing about a crap rebranding. No words about a legacy style(s) in a changing market. No words on what the plans are for the property, which will be worth more to developers than as a brewery, see the fate of Young's Ram Brewery in London as to what will happen.

Rant over.

Excellent points.

[hopfenundmalz]

The press. Blame the Union. Blame woke San Francisco. Blame inflation.

Here is the first article that digs into what may have been the actual problem- Bad Management.

https://vinepair.com/articles/sapporo-usa-anchor-brewing-liquidation-analysis/?fbclid=IwAR3zolXholXAxytyuw3yAraC5ZClaRSkxQBt_7fQOG_lQ_hNkzZg5uPuSBA

[Big_Eight]

The press. Blame the Union. Blame woke San Francisco. Blame inflation.

Here is the first article that digs into what may have been the actual problem- Bad Management.

https://vinepair.com/articles/sapporo-usa-anchor-brewing-liquidation-analysis/?fbclid=IwAR3zolXholXAxytyuw3yAraC5ZClaRSkxQBt_7fQOG_lQ_hNkzZg5uPuSBA

Weren't they already losing money before Sapporo acquired them? I'm not saying that Sapporo did a good job by any means but the ship was already sinking possibly.

[hopfenundmalz]

The press. Blame the Union. Blame woke San Francisco. Blame inflation.

Here is the first article that digs into what may have been the actual problem- Bad Management.

https://vinepair.com/articles/sapporo-usa-anchor-brewing-liquidation-analysis/?fbclid=IwAR3zolXholXAxytyuw3yAraC5ZClaRSkxQBt_7fQOG_lQ_hNkzZg5uPuSBA

Weren't they already losing money before Sapporo acquired them? I'm not saying that Sapporo did a good job by any means but the ship was already sinking possibly.

Then they ran it aground.

[Big_Eight]

Yeah, pulled up the ol' anchor and came on in.

[erockrph]

Well someone is at least interested. I’m sure there will be others..

https://www.forbes.com/sites/dontse/2023/07/15/narragansett-beer-spearheads-efforts-to-save-anchor-brewing/?sh=195ce9ce49ae

They did a great job bringing back the Narragansett brand using the lager as their main brand, and then piggybacking their craft brewery off of it. I just don't see anyone being able to get enough steam behind the Anchor brand (see what I did there) to get it back off the ground. Anchor Steam beer just doesn't have the same mass-market appeal as 'Gansett lager.

I'd feel good about the quality of the beer with the brewery in their hands, though. The Narragansett taproom is just a couple of miles from where I work and the beers they put out are top-notch.

[reverseapachemaster]

I just saw this story. https://vinepair.com/articles/sapporo-usa-anchor-brewing-liquidation-analysis/

While I don't think of vinepair as the benchmark of journalism, it is an inside look I haven't seen reported elsewhere. If true, it paints an extremely poor picture of Sapporo's management of Anchor. If true that Sapporo thought they could brew their lagers at Anchor, it makes a lot of sense that they looked to abandon it after buying out Stone which has plenty of modern and closed fermentation equipment capable of brewing Sapporo's other brands.

[dbeechum]

Looks like several local investor groups are interested - https://www.ktvu.com/news/local-interest-now-on-tap-to-buy-iconic-anchor-brewery

[Andy Farke]

Anchor Steam was good years ago. Absolute crap recently.

after sapporro bought them they contracted out the brewing of most of their beers and the character and quality suffered greatly. Most of the anchor steam that was purchased post 2017 was brewed by a pretty crappy contract brewery based out of San Jose, CA

I really, really wanted to like Anchor products (and could get them fairly easily here in SoCal), but was disappointed more than once over the years. The bottles frequently had oxidation issues, which just shouldn't have been the situation for local-ish beer that was in the fridge case.


It's a bummer from a nostalgia/historical perspective, but from a business and beer quality perspective I'm just not terribly surprised at all. The beer market has changed so much in the past 20 years that I imagine a resurrection of Anchor would be an uphill battle. Aging homebrewers who have a fondness for the mythology of steam beer (that includes me) aren't enough to keep a brewery afloat, as much as it pains me to say it!


I'm glad to have the clone recipes...I did an Anchor Steam clone a few years back, and was quite pleased with it. I'll probably brew it again (and Liberty Ale...and others) from time to time. As styles of beers I enjoy get harder to find in the beer cases at the store (amber ales, classic American pale ales and IPAs, etc.), I only see more homebrewing opportunities in my future!

[denny]

Latest rumor is that employees want to buy it.

[allenhuerta]

Latest rumor is that employees want to buy it.

I'm not saying it can't be done but I audibly laughed when I read your comment.

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