I learn new and exciting things about beer every day. I bought this beer out of support for my local SF brewery that tends to brew an okish, but fairly non-descript beer. However, this one is a gem. The label says:
The tradition of brewing two distinct beers from one mash has existed for thousands of years, and for centuries the term "small beer" was used in English to describe the lighter and weaker second beer. By association, the term came to mean something of little importance.The beer itself is very interesting. I definitely would call it bitter, more like a sparkly, not very strong, but very bitter lager. And I liked it a lot...
We make our Old Foghorn Barleywine Style Ale from the rich first runnings of an all-malt mash, and Anchor Small Beer is our attempt to duplicate the "small beers" of old by sparging that same mash: sprinkling warm water over the Old Foghorn mash after the first wort has run off, thereby creating a second, lighter brew from the resulting thinner wort. Technically, both beers are "ales" because they are made with top-fermenting yeast.
