70 maconmagazine.com | February/March 2025
"Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay," in San Francisco.
A German immigrant named Gottlieb Breckle
followed the Gold Rush out West in the 19th century
and bought an old saloon and began brewing
beer. It was purchased in 1896 and named Anchor
Brewing Company, specializing in a special type
of lager called 'steam beer,' named for its brewing
process where yeast ferments at higher than usual
temperatures. Also known as a California common
style, due to its association with West Coast
brewers, it has elements similar to a historic German
beer called dampfbier – which literally means steam
beer.
Anchor Brewing's business model was common
everywhere in the U.S. at the time – small, local, and
tinkering in their own signature recipe, served to
working-class people. Around the same time, Macon
Brewing Company and Acme Brewing Company
ABOVE Hops,
a plant-based
bittering agent
added to beer for
flavor during the
brewing process.
LEFT Geoffrey
Wright checks on
different brews
in the process of
fermenting.
BELOW Beer
being added
to cans before
getting pressed
into six packs
and stacked onto
pallets.
"I lo ok at craf t b e er as your
grandma's tomato soup or
spaghetti s auce. You're going to
have your s ame basic re cip es. But
whatever that p erson's taste is,
they 'll have their spin on it ."
