Anchor Steam’s® roots go back to the Gold Rush, long before icehouses and modern refrigeration made traditional lagers a viable California option. In 1876, thanks to an ice pond in the mountains and a belief that anything is possible in the Golden State, a little brewery named Boca created California’s first genuine lager. Anchor California Lager® is our re-creation of this historic American beer.

Made in San Francisco with two-row California barley, Cluster hops (the premier hop in 19th-century California), and our own lager yeast, this all-malt brew is kräusened and lagered in our cellars. Its golden color, distinctive aroma, creamy head, balanced depth of flavor, and smooth finish make Anchor California Lager® a delicious celebration of California’s unique craft brewing heritage.

First Brewed: 1896, First Modern Bottling: 1971Alc. by Volume: 4.9%, Availability: Year-round, Malt: Blend of 2-Row Pale & Caramel, Hops: Northern Brewer.  Anchor Steam® Beer owes its deep amber color, thick, creamy head, and rich, distinctive flavor to a historic brewing process like none other.

It is a process that combines deep respect for craft brewing tradition with many decades of evolution to arrive at a unique approach: a blend of pale and caramel malts, fermentation with lager yeast at warmer ale temperatures in shallow open-air fermenters, and gentle carbonation in our cellars through an all-natural process called kräusening.

Usually called Draught; sometimes called Cold or Extra Cold - same beer, but served colder. Abv ranges from 4.1 to 4.3 % depending on where it was brewed - Guinness exports a hopped and concentrated wort to regional breweries who then brew it on site.

Launched in 1961.

Ingredients: Pale ale malt, about 25 to 30% flaked barley, and about 10% roasted barley, with no other grains or sugars; several hop varieties, mainly Goldings (pellets and isomerized extract); a flocculent head-forming ale yeast.

100% Barley malt, choice hops and pure water give this brew unsurpassed clarity.