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   From: business.killers@democrats.org   
      
   Victor Tandofsky  wrote in   
   news:ss46hj$d3kr$17@news.freedyn.de:   
      
   > Fag beer anyway, probably tastes like piss smells.   
      
   New York   
   CNN   
    —   
   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 it’s ceasing   
   operations and liquidating the beloved business “following a combination   
   of challenging economic factors and declining sales since 2016,” a press   
   release said. Craft brewers, in particular, have been struggling for a   
   variety of reasons including changing consumer habits, rising costs and   
   lingering 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 US. In addition, a 2021 rebrand of Anchor was also criticized for   
   pivoting too far away from the brand’s classic look.   
      
   “This was an extremely difficult decision that Anchor reached only after   
   many months of careful evaluation,” said Anchor Brewing spokesperson Sam   
   Singer. He added that the “impacts of the pandemic, inflation, especially   
   in San Francisco, and a highly competitive market left the company with no   
   option but to make this sad decision to cease operations.”   
      
   Workers at Anchor, which employs 61 people, were given a legally mandated   
   60-day notice Wednesday and will receive “transition support and   
   separation packages.” Brewing has stopped immediately and beer on hand   
   will still be sold through the end of July.   
      
   Last month, Anchor cut national distribution, limiting its sales to just   
   California, and announced it was ending production of its fan-favorite   
   Christmas Ale after nearly 50 years in production. (A “small volume” of   
   its Christmas Ale is now being sold at its tap houses until it runs out.)   
      
   Anchor said that those decisions were made to “reduce costs while final   
   attempts were made to evaluate all possible outcomes,” however, “in the   
   end, expenses simply continued to outstrip revenues, leaving the company   
   with no other viable choice.”   
      
   Sapporo has made “repeated efforts” over the last year to sell the   
   business, Anchor said. But those efforts have failed, though Anchor did   
   say it’s “possible that a buyer will step forward for the brewery as part   
   of the liquidation process.”   
      
   Anchor got its start in 1896 in San Francisco, becoming the nation’s   
   first-ever craft brewery. Fritz Maytag, a descendent of the Maytag   
   Corporation, bought Anchor in 1965 when it was on the verge of bankruptcy   
   and helped usher in the craft beer industry in the US. Its 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 of how their brewery fits into Sapporo’s plans.   
      
   Sapporo didn’t respond to a request for comment.   
      
   The state of craft breweries hasn’t improved this year. NIQ data given 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 heartbroken. He literally nurtured that brewery from insolvency in the   
   60s to becoming San Francisco’s hometown beer and symbolic of America’s   
   craft beer resurgence.”   
      
   Anchor’s closure “highlights the sustained economic headwinds” facing   
   craft brewers, Brian Crawford, CEO of the Beer Institute, told CNN.   
   “Between unnecessary and harmful tariffs imposed on aluminum, to continued   
   supply chain disruptions, to dubious tax loopholes for hard liquor   
   products, the beer industry faces significant challenges.”   
      
   https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/12/business/anchor-brewing-shutting-   
   down/index.html   
      
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