I consider myself lucky to have had the opportunity to do a bit of traveling in my 25 years on this planet. I've still got much more traveling that I want to do in my life, but so far I've been able to witness some of the western world's most beautiful, historical and culturally relevant cities. I've stood on top of the Eiffel tower in Paris during a rainstorm, walked the crumbling hallways in the Roman Colosseum and stumbled drunkenly across Dublin's famous Ha'penny bridge, but one of my favorite cities of all time will always be America's own San Francisco. Sure, it may not compare to some of its European counterparts in terms of history, but San Francisco has what the French call a certain " Je ne sais quoi" about it; an undefined quality that seems to suck you in and make you fall in love with it. Maybe it's the steep hills upon which the city is built that give it an unique urban charm. Maybe it's the cities tradition of accepting society's most unique and interesting people that have been shunned elsewhere. Maybe it because it's one of the only cities in the world in which I could walk down the street wearing fishnet stocking, cut off jean shorts and silk angel wings and still be the most normal person within an eight block radius. Whatever it is, San Francisco cast its spell on me when I was just a young lad, and I'm still in love to this day.
Tonight's beer is Anchor Steam, which comes from that hilly little city on the bay, San Francisco. Anchor Steam is a beer whose brewery traces its roots back to the frantic days of the California gold rush in the mid 19th century. When you think about the relatively short history of the state of California, Anchor Steam brewery has laid some pretty deep roots in city of San Francisco. Today in the 21st century, the city is a hot, bustling metropolis and Anchor Steam is still a beer that has remained pretty much unchanged for over a century. Despite the many hardships and setbacks that Anchor brewery faced in the early days of its existence, Anchor Steam is a microbrew that thrives today all along the west coast. Anchor Steam is a golden-burnt orange colored beer that pours a nice, two-fingered thickness head that soon dissipates into the rest of the beer. It has a bit of a citrus scent to it, but the aroma is actually pretty forgettable for the most part, which is a shame. Usually the senses of scent and taste are strongly linked together, but in the case of Anchor Steam the taste far exceeded the smell. I'd describe the taste of Anchor Steam as being clean, light and citrussy with flavors of honey, light hops and maybe a bit of wheat? The end result is a beer that goes down smoothly, but won't exactly rock your world.
Cheers,
Ian
http://www.anchorbrewing.com
p.s. my friends are all much better looking than I am, which is why I decided to give my loyal readers a bit of a break from looking at my busted mug. Enjoy the eye candy.
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