Anchor Small Beer

Brewed by Anchor Brewing Company
Style: Bitter
San Francisco, California USA

Serve in English pint

On tap at Tylers in Carrboro, pours a dark yellow, nice cream lacing, a little hoppy aroma, this is interesting, nice little session.

Pours a pale, hazy golden color with adequate head that laces averagely, and doesn’t retain well at all. Smells like crisp malt, some sort of bread and a bit of hops, not very complex at all. Taste is strange, with the initial meld of hops and citrus creating a nice bitterness, but then after that...it’s like the whole thing disappeared. I get NOTHING for the entire middle of the sip, and only in the very end/after taste do I get a weird cheap malt taste to go with some mineral character. It’s not entirely unpleasant, but could be quite a bit better. Mouthfeel is pretty smooth and crisp, but suffers at the end as it becomes sort of coarse. Drinkability is good due to the 3.3% abv and dryness, but is hurt by the weird middle absence of anything. Good way to preserve tradition, just happens to not be my cup of tea I guess.

Bottle. Pours gold with an off white head. Grainy pale malty aroma with some grassy hops. The flavor has a pale and graint base with light hoppy notes. Low sweetness. Not bad.

Bottle. Poured clear honey yellow with thick lasting head. Pleasant but faint aroma, a little hoppy. A little malt, a little hop in the flavour, not bad, but too slim bodied to be a good bitter, Some unpleasant wateriness in the finish. This is low enough in alcohol to be a session beer, and is usually not expensive.

22oz bottle. Pours a light orange opaque color with a one inch head that fades to a small cap. Moderate bready aroma with some light floral hops. The flavor begins with grainy malt which gives way to hoppy bitterness. A little earthiness appears just after halfway. This is not a complex beer, but is drinkable and a solid session beer.

Bottle from Once Upon a Vine, Richmond, VA, opened 9/23/10. Pours a clear amber color with a large foamy offwhite head. Decent head retention and lacing. Aroma of caramel, apple, nutty notes, floral hops. The taste is biscuity malts and strong bitter hops as well as a bit of green apple. Medium bodied. Somewhat disappointing.

22oz?. Pours a clear honey gold color with a healthy, fluffy, white head with good retention and big webby lace. Aroma is honey, sweet malt, orange juice. Taste is soapy saaz hops, some metallic hoppiness/bitterness, lots of diacetyl on a thin body creating a melted butter mouthfeel is too high for the abv level. Spritzy, near seltzer carbonation. Not enough character really from the second runnings of Old Foghorn.

Bottle. Poured a clear golden-copper color with an inch thick, fluffy, dense off-white head that slowly receded to a bubbly layer and left some spotty lacing. Aroma of lightly toasted grain, cracker, a light fruitiness (apple), some soft caramel, and a dash of earthy hops. Smooth, crisp entry with some light cracker sweetness that transitions into so light caramel maltiness that slowly gives way to a moderately bitter, earthy hoppiness that lingers for a while on the finish before soft undertones of apple fruitiness and a light toasted graininess make themselves known. Moderate carbonation and crisp, light mouth feel. Overall, this beer is pretty much exactly what they advertise: a small beer with a crisp, simple flavor profile. I wish more brewers would do beers like this.