We’ve been at Pyramid Lake for a little over a week and when we got here I was super fired up to fill my new growler and drink some local brews. In our seventeen thousand trips down to Reno to fix up the truck and trailer you would think that finding a growler fill station or even some local craft brews would be no big deal. Instead it has been strangely difficult; part of that is the fact that I am unwilling to waste daylight and gas tearing all over Reno to find beer and part of that is that there doesn’t seem to be much of a beer scene here. Maybe good craft brews aren’t as exciting when you can pick up Jose Cuervo at Walmart.
On one of her trips to town, Aimee brought me back some Anchor Steam, brewed by Anchor Brewing Company in San Francisco. It isn’t exactly a local brew, but since this is the closest that we’ll be to San Fran it will be considered one for my purposes.
After all those big dark Oregon beers that I’ve been drinking it was incredibly refreshing to have this nice light offering from Anchor. I felt like I wanted to break out the flip flops for the first time since September and this beer fit perfectly with that feeling.
Appearance: More amber than golden. Lots of bubbles, but a surprisingly small creamy head that receded fairly quickly.
Smell: Grassy. A little sweet. A bit of yeast. Not very fragrant.
Taste/Mouthfeel: Watery, could be called clean. Not especially bubbly on the tongue. Ends with fruity notes, maybe raspberries – I know there’s no fruit in there, but that’s what I get. Has a sweet grassy flavor with hints of yeast.
Overall: Easy drinking. I like it. This is the first non-dark beer I’ve reviewed in a while and it was a breath of fresh air. It paired perfectly with the warm 60 degree days we’ve been enjoying. Real nice mix of hops and malts with a very clean fruity finish. Highly sessionable.
4 out of a Six Pack Scale©
ABV:4.9%
Brewery: Anchor Brewing, San Francisco, CA
