RateBeer
Score
2213
OVERALLStyle
Serve in English pint

bottled
common

on tap
available

Broad Distribution

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RATINGS: 544   WEIGHTED AVG: 2.68   EST. CALORIES: 99   ABV: 3.3%
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COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION
The tradition of brewing two distinct beers from one mash has existed for thousands of years, and for centuries the term "small beer" was used in English to describe the lighter and weaker second beer. We make our Old Foghorn Barleywine Style Ale from the rich first runnings of an all-malt mash, and Anchor Small Beer is our attempt to duplicate the "small beers" of old by sparging that same mash: sprinkling warm water over the Old Foghorn mash after the first wort has run off, thereby creating a second, lighter brew from the resulting thinner wort. We believe you will find Anchor Small Beer delicious—similar to what modern brewers call a "bitter"—and we hope you will also enjoy the idea of reviving an ancient brewing tradition, which is something of great importance.


top raters

3.1
   AROMA 6/10   APPEARANCE 3/5   TASTE 7/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 12/20
madsberg (8790) - Søborg, DENMARK - APR 17, 2006
Bottled: Golden coloured. LIght dusty. Medium sized off white ehad. Aroma and flavour is sweet and fruity with light herbal notes. Quite smooth and easy to drink. I medium bodied. Ends on a light bitter and rather fresh note. Surprisingly good for the low ABV.

3.2
   AROMA 6/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 6/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 13/20
Tmoney99 (8778) - Cincinnati, Ohio, USA - FEB 21, 2007
Bottle. Poured clear amber with medium white head that diminished slowly with good lacing. Medium sweet malty aroma. Medium body. Well balanced flavor with a medium bitter finish of moderate duration. Good brew.

1.7
   AROMA 6/10   APPEARANCE 3/5   TASTE 2/10   PALATE 2/5   OVERALL 4/20
hopscotch (8215) - Vero Beach, Florida, USA - JUL 1, 2003
UPDATED: MAY 19, 2009 This beer was my first small beer. It was my first "drain-pour" in quite sometime. Horrible, thin and bitter from start to finish. Maybe my bottle was off. I don’t even want to give it another chance. Bought it at Sam’s in Chicago, IL. Horrible!

2.2
   AROMA 5/10   APPEARANCE 3/5   TASTE 4/10   PALATE 2/5   OVERALL 8/20
hopdog (7652) - Lansdale, Pennsylvania, USA - FEB 3, 2007
Bottle. Poured a medium and clear amber color with an averaged sized off white head. Husky aromas with some earthiness and caramel. Tastes of caramel, grainy, and a trace of citrus. Thin body.

2.9
   AROMA 7/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 5/10   PALATE 2/5   OVERALL 11/20
JoeMcPhee (7621) - Toronto, ON, Ontario, CANADA - DEC 30, 2008
Bottle. Pale amber colour with a creamy white head. Aroma is pretty decent. Soft and fruity with alot of orange marmalade character. EKG and Fuggles gives a fairly prominent hoppy aroma. Malts smell lightly crackery. The flavour comes across a bit muddled however. Fairly watery palate. There are a lot of good components in this beer, but it just never really comes together all that well. It’s pretty authentic, not terrible but not great either.

2.9
   AROMA 6/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 5/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 11/20
Ratman197 (7614) - Arvada, Colorado, USA - FEB 11, 2007
Bottle @ Falling Rock Barlywine dinner poured a clear light amber with a small lasting off white head. Aromas of sweet malt, biscuits and earthiness. Palate was light bodied and crisp. Flavors of biscuits and some earthiness with a lingering bitter finish.

2.5
   AROMA 6/10   APPEARANCE 3/5   TASTE 1/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 12/20
BMan1113VR (7377) - Los Angeles, California, USA - NOV 21, 2009
Bottle. Pours with a large, off-white head and a clear amber brown body. Aroma of grain, honey biscuit and caramel. Taste is off...sour, lactic, with biscuit malt, a strong astringent bitterness, and just overall, quite weird. Medium bubbles, dry mouthfeel.

2.3
   AROMA 4/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 4/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 8/20
daknole (7204) - Scottsdale, Arizona, USA - FEB 2, 2010
Orange/gold pour, nice white head. Barely any aroma. A watery malt and caramel smell barely escapes the glass. Flavor is watery as hell. I am guessing this would only be good on a hot as hell day when you just finished mowing the lawn. Meh.

3.2
   AROMA 6/10   APPEARANCE 3/5   TASTE 6/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 14/20
leaparsons (7069) - Leicester, Leicestershire, ENGLAND - JAN 27, 2009
Bottle. Golden with a small white head. Aromas are spicy pine with grapefruit and dusty malts. Flavours are dry tea with resinous bitter grapefruit. Has some nutty Alt character. Bitter and woody on the finish. Lots of taste for its strength.

2
   AROMA 4/10   APPEARANCE 2/5   TASTE 4/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 7/20
3fourths (6943) - Straßgiech, Bavaria, GERMANY - JAN 22, 2004
Clear light orange with a small white head. Smells like a lager... burnt corn and hay. Biting bitterness hits the mouth immediately, and smooths a little bit into a corn and hay flavor. Finish is a little bitter... can't tell if it's a different hop effect for the finish or if it's the lingering bite that I got on the first sip.


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