Anchor Steam beer tour

 I love tours, especially when it involves learning a bit about a craft or a little eating or drinking. We made a reservation for an Anchor Steam Brewery Tour over a month ago as they fill up quickly. Anchor Steam is America's first craft brewery and a San Francisco original since 1896. How they managed to survive prohibition is a secret. Starting out as Anchor Brewery with an anchor logo as part of the thriving port business of San Francisco the "steam" was added to their name after people noticed steam rising from the Anchor Brewery rooftop in the evening as the fermenting beer was cooled by the foggy evening air, creating steam. While they don't cool the brew on the rooftop anymore it's still handmade in their traditional copper brewhouse. The tour was pretty brief with us covering all three levels in about 30 minutes and then spending over an hour in the tasting room trying all seven brews on tap and I was the only one taking notes on my favorites. My top favorites out of the seven tasted were Anchor Steam Beer, Anchor Porter, and Brekle's Brown. If you get a chance to take a tour here or anywhere, I highly recommend it. I'd love to take the tour again and bring some cheese and crackers along. Nostalgia brought memories of childhood school field trips to an apple orchard and a potato chip factory. Watching the beer bottles roll by reminded me of the beloved Mister Rogers' Neighborhood trip to the crayon factory.