Anchor Brewing in San Francisco to end operations after 127 years

New York
CNN
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Pour one out for Anchor Brewing: America’s oldest craft brewer is shutting down after 127 years in business.

The San Francisco-based company announced Wednesday that it is closing operations and winding down the beloved business “following a combination of challenging economic factors and declining sales since 2016,” it said in a press release. Craft brewers in particular have struggled for a variety of reasons, including changing consumer habits, rising costs and persistent supply chain challenges.

Another problem has been Sapporo, the Japanese beer company that bought the brand in 2017. Employees complained to VinePair last month about Sapporo’s alleged mismanagement and lack of understanding of craft beer in the United States. In addition, a 2021 rebrand of Anchor was also criticized for veering too far away from the brand’s classic look.

“This was an extremely difficult decision that Anchor made only after many months of careful evaluation,” Anchor Brewing spokesperson Sam Singer said. He added that “the effects of the pandemic, inflation, particularly in San Francisco, and a highly competitive market left the company with no choice but to make this sad decision to cease operations.”

Workers at Anchor, which employs 61 people, were given a statutory 60-day notice on Wednesday and will receive “transitional support and separation packages.” Brewing has stopped immediately and beer available will still be sold out in July.

Last month, Anchor cut national distribution, limited sales to only California, and announced it was discontinuing production of its fan-favorite Christmas Ale after nearly 50 years in production. (A “small volume” of Christmas Ale is now sold in the tap houses until it runs out.)

Anchor said these decisions were made to “reduce costs while making a last-ditch effort to evaluate all possible outcomes,” but “in the end, expenses simply continued to outpace revenues, leaving the company with no other viable choice.”

Sapporo has made “repeated efforts” over the past year to sell the business, Anchor said. But those attempts have failed, although Anchor said it is “possible that a buyer will come forward for the brewery as part of the liquidation process.”

Started in 1896 in San Francisco, Anchor became the country’s first ever craft brewery. Fritz Maytag, a descendant of the Maytag Corporation, bought Anchor in 1965 when it was on the brink of bankruptcy and helped usher in the craft beer industry in the United States. The most notable brew was Steam Beer, a pale ale.

Under Sapporo’s ownership, production of Anchor’s beer has largely declined every year (except in 2021), according to the Brewers Association. Brewbound, a beer industry website, previously reported that Sapporo’s recent purchase of craft brewer Stone Brewing sparked concerns among Anchor’s employees about how their brewery fits into Sapporo’s plans.

Sapporo did not respond to a request for comment.

The state of craft breweries has not improved this year. NIQ data provided to Craft Business Daily showed the category’s sales are down nearly 4% year-to-date and volume is down more than 7%, showing that “craft has had a tough start to 2023,” the publication said.

“This is a sad day in the history of craft brewing in America,” Harry Schuhmacher, Craft Business Daily’s publisher, told CNN. “I know Fritz must be devastated. He literally nursed that brewery from insolvency in the ’60s to becoming San Francisco’s hometown beer and a symbol of America’s craft beer resurgence.”

Anchor’s closure “highlights the continuing economic headwinds” facing craft brewers, Brian Crawford, executive director of the Beer Institute, told CNN. “Between unnecessary and harmful tariffs imposed on aluminum, to continued supply chain disruptions, to questionable tax loopholes for spirits products, the beer industry faces significant challenges.”