Yesterday Ted Rheingold and I organized a Geek Field Trip to the Anchor Steam Brewery. Totally forgot it was the winter solstice when booking the reservation, but it worked out just right. Unlike most other tasting rooms, the folks at Anchor Steam are pretty generous with their pours and we all got a good buzz on for the afternoon. The photos that Kristie and I took are over on her Flickr account.
A few interesting things we learned during the tour:
- The first Christmas Beer was the Liberty Ale (a mighty tasty one still)
- Their Steam beer was the first brewed in the US after the end of prohibition
- They produce about 85,000 barrels every year with only 54 employees
Pretty cool folks, excellent facility and great beer! We were very honored to meet the owner/saviour of the brewery, Fritz, who graciously signed our Magnum’s of the Chrismas Ale.
We are planning to do other Geek Field Trips next year – stay tuned for more details…
#1 by Jackson - December 22nd, 2005 at 12:44
Hey, wait, I didn’t get an invite! Now I’m mad I missed it. I’ve been dying to tour the brewery for years.
#2 by Chris Heuer - December 22nd, 2005 at 13:43
Will definitely make sure you get an inivte to the next one. There was only 10 spots available in the group reservation so we were unfortunately limited…
BTW, if you want to go, call way in advance. I originally got the reservation in early November when I went to lunch with the folks over at Dogster, which is 50 yards down DeHarro from the brewery.