I haven’t had an Anchor Steam in 20 years. Which is a fairly common occurrence among beer drinkers, which accounts for the closure, unfortunately. There are just so many good beers out there now that a classic has to be very good to hang on, and Anchor Steam was only pretty good. In my book.
But I hope someone buys the rights to the beer/recipe and hires one or two of the brewmasters and carries on the tradition at another brewery.
I think I will call a few beer stores and get a 6 pack if they have any left in stock.
Hello LA by Highland Park Brewery (Los Angeles, CA) - IPA
Mainly tangerine and a little bit of mango upfront followed by some light floral notes which switch over to some piney bitterness in the finish. Nice, classical west coast IPA
2 Likes
The problem is that there are so many bad beers out there i.e., badly brewed and/or of stilted, unbalanced, faddy style, that even middle-sized craft brewers of very high quality and repute get starved out. One has only to scroll through the preceding 1320 responses to understand what I’m writing about. It’s not hard to brew beer, and not much harder than that to market beer that will dilute market share. By the time these outlets fail, venerable, quality classics are gone–or merged into oblivion.
The same thing has happened with indie and small chain restaurants. As with the case of beer (!) it’s easy to open a food truck or slide into a foreclosed B&M space. Most will fail, and most in short order (!).
Both are, IMO, examples of a downside of frenzied competition. Lemmings come to mind.
Yes, there are significant number of bad beers but breweries with a high quality standard tend to be well recognized. If you are only brewing 1-2 decent or even good beers with today’s competition that will not be enough but that isn’t different with restaurants, bars etc. And it is also necessary to maintain the high quality standards - so I am not sure if I agree that very high quality brewers can’t survive
1 Like
Not really. I think the recognition can be as stilted and buzzy as the beers themselves. It’s the same with wines.
Riddle me this: Pick a well-recognized modern Pils that is equal or superior to Veltins or Radeburger. Where you live, can you get all three on draft, and would you choose against those two?
Where I live, there are many brewers who must think they’ve mastered Belgian and German styles when they’ve never set foot there, much less had real peasant sours or regional/seasonal beers in situ. I find it arrogant in the extreme, not too different from the worship of molecular gastronomy and its deprecation of traditions.
Overall, brew quality in USA hasn’t really gone up in the last 50 years, IMO. You just see more choices on supermarket shelves and read about the next great things because people profit by it.
Being from Germany I would consider these not even average pilsener in Germany or here in the US. And yes, there are many much better pilsener available where I live in the US which are far superior to a pilsener like Veltins (which mediocre at best - a step above Heineken which is just mass produced tasteless yellow water).
I don’t know where you live but I have lived over the last 20 years mainly in California which is one of the starting points of craft breweries in the US and the steady increase of quality during that time is impressive and is in many aspects superior to what is done in Europe, including Germany and Belgium.
3 Likes
XV by Mayflower Brewing Company (Plymouth, MA) - Belgian Strong Dark Ale
Bold and complex Belgian ale which starts with an interesting malt profile and some very slight sweetness before intense flavors of dried figs and raisins taking over with some molasses notes in the background. Yeasty aromas with hoppy notes finish this great sipping beer.
1 Like
Interesting that you haven’t named any. The only CA pils I’ve had that’s any good is Trumer, and I don’t consider it the equal of Veltins.
I’ve lived mostly in the PNW for 65 years, which I think has been a more foundational region for craft than CA. In CA and Europe, too. But local pride aside, people can make good beer anywhere.
What I commonly see is brewers wanting to jump to the front of the line with strange, faddy beers without first mastering traditional beers. The parallels with gastronomy and art abound–chefs who can’t make an omelet, but flail about making cucumber foam, and painters who couldn’t do a passable landscape to save their ass.
Ok I’ll bite. I usually go for an IPA over a lager, but I would take Moonlight Reality Czeck over Radeberger. Have had both on tap locally. Haven’t tried Veltins.
1 Like
I’ll try to find the Reality Czek on tap to compare. I see the brewer says it’s been in business since 1992. How long have they been making this Pils? Any awards?
Reality Czech is a really nice example. Few others are Edel-Pils (Enegren but Enegren in general has some great Pilsner style beers, e.g. Zwickelbier), Rheinhardt (Gamecraft), Timbo Pils (more an IPL from Highland Park), Hellish (Monkish), if you like dark lager than there is if course Death & Taxes. There are so many more but I don’t have to time now to go through my notes.
And if we open up to some east coast breweries, like Lamplighter you will find many more great examples which are much better than something like Veltins.
1 Like
Hmm it was added to BeerAdvocate in 2005, so I’m guessing around then? https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/763/22173/
West Coast Best Coast by Breakside Brewery (Portland, OR) - IPA
Classical west coast IPA with a strong dank profile which is supported (and balanced) by some tropical and grapefruit notes and a healthy dose of bitterness in the dry finish.
2 Likes
What score do you give it for clarity?
I could see through it, so probably “mostly clear” 
3 Likes
Boom or Bust by Dionysus Brewing Company (Bakersfield, CA) - Imperial Stout
Quite coffee forward with some chocolate and vanilla flavors and light touches of cinnamon. The malts are quite hidden by the coffee and chocolate. Medium bitterness. Feels quite thin and light for 10.5% ABV. Overall a bit unbalanced.
1 Like
Moonlight Brewing petite saison from the source. Also tried and took
Home some of their rice lager. These guys are pros, I don’t think I’ve had a clunker from them.
2 Likes
Part of the Light by Radiant Beer Company (Anaheim, CA) - IPA
Nice WCIPA with all the expected components - citrus (grapefruit), some hints of tropical (mango), late some piney flavors (but not overly strong) and a dry, medium bitter finish. Nothing really outstanding and unusual but also a very enjoyable IPA.
2 Likes
