Beer of the Month (February 2019)

[braziliain]

The idea of this thread is that we pick a commercial beer each month and you have a month to source it, try it and review it here. We can then compare notes and maybe even come up with some recipe ideas.

For February we have a suggestion from @-Bezza- which was seconded by @Zephyr259

February 2019's beer of the month is.....

Anchor Steam Beer



The brewer describes it as Having deep amber color, thick, creamy head, and rich, distinctive flavor owing to a historic brewing process like none other.

Some more info by clicking here

So that's it. If you want to play along, go find the beer in January, drink it and come back with your thoughts. Let the beer hunting begin!


Previous Beers of the Month:

January 2019 - Rochefort 10

December 2018 - Weihenstephaner Hefe Weiss

 

[braziliain]

There's a few short films by Anchor on youTube, but they don't give much away...

Steam Beer

Mysteries of Steam Beer

Anchor Brewing Company

 

[Hoddy]

The idea of this thread is that we pick a commercial beer each month and you have a month to source it, try it and review it here. We can then compare notes and maybe even come up with some recipe ideas.

For February we have a suggestion from @-Bezza- which was seconded by @Zephyr259

February 2019's beer of the month is.....

Anchor Steam Beer

View attachment 17972

The brewer describes it as Having deep amber color, thick, creamy head, and rich, distinctive flavor owing to a historic brewing process like none other.

Some more info by clicking here

So that's it. If you want to play along, go find the beer in January, drink it and come back with your thoughts. Let the beer hunting begin!


Previous Beers of the Month:

January 2019 - Rochefort 10

December 2018 - Weihenstephaner Hefe Weiss

I think this is a great beer. Sad it didn’t get further in rage 2018 World Cup.

I’ll defo pick another one up and drink and post my thoughts. I’ve also got my own clone recipe for this I’ll share too.

 

[braziliain]

I think this is a great beer. Sad it didn’t get further in rage 2018 World Cup.

I’ll defo pick another one up and drink and post my thoughts. I’ve also got my own clone recipe for this I’ll share too.

I seem to remember you talking about it and your efforts to clone in some of your youTube videos?

 

[xozzx]

I have an anchor steam in my fermentor cold crashing now, should be kegging at the weekend.
TBH Ive never tried the real thing before but liked the sound of it, I have a recipe I can share when I get home.

 

[Zephyr259]

I have an anchor steam in my fermentor cold crashing now, should be kegging at the weekend.
TBH Ive never tried the real thing before but liked the sound of it, I have a recipe I can share when I get home.

It's also my next brew, as per the "Steaming Rancor" recipe in Dave Carpenter's lager book.

 

[-Bezza-]

I had a bottle of Anchor Steam a couple of weeks ago, when I bought the Rocheforts. I only grabbed it because I'd heard about California Common on here but was quite blown away by it, along with the concept of how it's brewed. I guess it has huge elements of lager about it, in that it's pretty clean tasting, but with a good malty flavour adding interest - I'm not very good on my beer styles at the moment so not sure if I can fairly say it was like a malty kolsch. I'm really keen to get brewing it for the invetible lager drinkers that will visit at some stage - and I can begin their conversion therapy

I will be grabbing another bottle of this to test and review properly. But wanted to encourage people to get stuck into this style of beer if they're on the fence about getting a bottle.

 

[phildo79]

Used to drink this beer a few years ago. Thought it was pretty decent then but my tastes have changed. I now find it to be somewhat watery. I'm almost certain I have seen a clone recipe for it.

 

[phildo79]

https://byo.com/recipe/california-common-2/

There is also the proper clone version but it's for members only.

 

[Hoddy]

I seem to remember you talking about it and your efforts to clone in some of your youTube videos?

Thats a memory on you. Fair play.

 

[dan125]

Bit late I know, but finally picked one of these up today for the first time since the world cup.
It seems quite caramelly to me but with assertive bitterness to balance. Quite nice for a change but I wouldn't buy it regularly.
Is there a March beer of the month?

 

[Zephyr259]

I finally got to Tesco so now have a bottle to chill down for later.

There's not a March beer yet, I've been pondering what to suggest was Tesco have plenty to work with for ease, but I'm not sure how many folks are actually participating.

I was thinking duvel, or the hoppy version or delirium tremens? But then I like Belgian beers and we had one in January.

 

[braziliain]

I finally got to Tesco so now have a bottle to chill down for later.

There's not a March beer yet, I've been pondering what to suggest was Tesco have plenty to work with for ease, but I'm not sure how many folks are actually participating.

I was thinking duvel, or the hoppy version or delirium tremens? But then I like Belgian beers and we had one in January.

I was thinking of the most controversial entry into the world cup for March, the giant killer that split opinion and caused tempers to rise!

Timmy Taylor Landlord.

 

[Zephyr259]

I was thinking of the most controversial entry into the world cup for March, the giant killer that split opinion and caused tempers to rise!

Timmy Taylor Landlord.

Ooh... Never had it, keep being tempted to buy it but always kinda assumed the good rep would be based on cask or that it had become less good over the years.

What happened during the world cup? I didn't fillfo those threads.

 

[LeeH]

I was at Anchor Steam in November!

 

[LeeH]

Blue Moon for March?

 

[Zephyr259]

Poured clear copper with a nice thin head fitting perfectly in my brewdog tulip. Didn't get much on the nose but vague hops, a full glass wouldn't help that. Body was smooth and crisp. Flavour was quite hoppy and bitter, maybe slightly tannic? Could be the "woody" description of northern brewer hops. As the beer warmed more of the caramel and malt came though and the beer grew on me. Finish was bitter but again had a sweet edge as my palate adjusted and the beer warmed.

Nice enough beer.