Anchor Steam Beer: 16

Taste: 4 Finish: 4 Visual: 5 Aroma: 3
Total: 16

Anchor Steam is a unique type of beer created from the gold rush days of California. It is a hybrid beer in that it uses a lager yeast but is fermented at ale temperatures. Given the lager yeasts, I'll put this in the "generic" lager category.

Anchor Steam, along with a few others like Sam Adams, started the whole microbrew movement in the 80s. So, there is a lot of respect to be given to them for being so bold as to go against the grain of the big 3 in America. Pioneers back in the day doesn't mean they are still top notch brews. Let's see if Anchor Steam has retained it's magic.

It pours with a nice head. The brew has a great copper color. It has a mild sweet aroma.

The beer is extremely fizzy and bright. Any undertones of malt are overpowered by the fizz. Basically, any flavor the beer has on the tongue is completely lost. The finish is bold and bitter. There is definitely some good hop bitterness, but for me it's more metallic. Similar to the taste of a penny in your mouth. Very strange.

I can see why some really like this beer. It has a very unique flavor. But for me it's a bit off-putting with the overpowering fizz and the metallic finish. Just like Sam Adams, a quality brew in the 80s has been eclipsed by today's microbrewers who are pushing the envelope.