Friday Booze Review: Anchor Steam Beer

Picked up this one because it was new on the shelf, and I'm still afraid to try more than three Turbodogs at a time. Steam beer, apparently, is what you get when you brew lager yeasts at ale fermentation temperatures (higher than usual). The brewing process results in high CO2 pressure, which I could see visibly when I opened a bottle. A little spray of "steam" lingered for about 20 seconds at the mouth. Very cool.

It poured a gorgeous copper-amber with a fluffy light tan head. Absolutely picturesque, but unfortunately the head dissipated rather quickly. The aroma was roasted malts, very warm and inviting. It kinda reminded me of that stuff we used to eat back in the day, what was it....? Oh never mind. Every now and then I would catch a little bit of a floral whiff and maybe the slightest hint of toffee. Pleasing, to say the least.

The flavor had a real earthy feel to it. It was like sweet wheat bread, which gave it a nice wholesome taste. Smoothly malted but had a nice bitter hoppiness at the end to give it some bite. Managed to maintain a balanced and comfortable weight throughout, I think due to a good (relatively low) carbonation level. This beer was definitely at its finest during the first three to four gulps after pouring when I could get a good mouthful of head and splash it down with the liquid (wow that sounds hot). There's really nothing like a lip-smacking, creamy-goodness gulp of head, and this beer definitely deivered on that one. Still, like I mentioned, the head didn't last long at all, so your enjoyment of that aspect is limited to the beginning of pints.

Overall, this was a pretty good beer. It's definitely got some character, which is a difficult thing to find these days. At $7.50 a six pack, and 4.9%, I'd say bring this one to a barbecue to impress your friends with your familiarity with a West Coast classic that can hold its own.

Appearance: 9/10 (lost a point for the short-lived head)
Taste: 7/10
Enjoyability: 7/10
Overall: 8/10