Anchor Brewery Zymaster launch party
Last night I had the honor of attending Anchor Brewery in San Francisco’s launch party for their new Zymaster Beer series. They released the first two in the series on this evening and the beer was flowing.
It was a great evening all around and both the beers they were launching were delicious. One was the Zymaster No. 1: California Lager, a delicious historical beer. Upon hearing it was a lager, I was very impressed and surprised. It was full of flavor, delicious, full bodied, and all around a varying taste that changed with each sip. However it retained the lightness of a lager, and was so easy to just keep sipping as you ate the delicious food that was provided. I had three glasses of it before I even knew what had happened. Absolutely great.
The recipe was based off of an old California Lager recipe they had dug up from a brewery in Boca, California in the 1800s. Anchor has been consistently interested in the history of the brewery and beer making in the West, and the ways they incorporate that history into their beer making is wonderful. They had signs up explaining the heritage of the beer and how it was made, and how they adapted that formula to their own brew process.
The other beer that I was very fortunate to try last nigh was their O.B.A. (Our Barrel Ale, an American Strong Ale) that is a series of different ales combined together and then left to ferment and sit in an old whiskey barrel. So delicious. The wood of the barrel comes through as does the slight whiskey taste, and overall the ale is an original and strong one. The O.B.A. was another special beer they were promoting alongside the Zymaster No. 1. To accompany the two, they served up their signature Brekle’s Brown, a recent brew for them, released just last year.
Food was amazing, atmosphere was fun. There was an abundant amount of meat, pasta, cheese and bread being served with the beer and the brewery was packed.
These two beers, the Zymaster No. 1 and O.B.A., will not be available in bottles or anywhere else except for select bars and restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area. So watch for them. This is the first part in a series Anchor hopes to continue of making unique limited edition beers for the Bay Area specifically.
Read more about the Zymaster series and Anchor’s plans for it on their news page here
All photos taken by me
