Anchor Schwartzbier

You've almost described Shiner Bock here, haven't you?

Har har.

No, Anchor's only similarity to Shiner is non-bockness. Shiner suffers from the additional misfortune of not being similar to *any* good beer style.

Presumably minus the corn, and with some actual roasty character. (Unless Shiner Bock has changed in the past couple years.)

I've heard that "Anchor Bock (or at least one version of it) doesn't have the strength or even the lager yeast of a bock! It's really a brown ale, supposedly.

Also, does anyone know if it's true that the Anchor Steam is now really an ale, made with an ale yeast according to standard ale-making procedures?

It's always been made with an ale yeast. The distinction was that it was fermented at cooler-than-typical temperatures for ale yeasts.

-Steve

messagenews: snipped-for-privacy@l53g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

Are you sure about that? I thought Anchor Steam was originally the other way around (lager yeasts, ale temperatures).

As often as you get it right in matters beery, you have it a smidge upside-down here.

Lager yeasts at relatively warm temperatures, actually. It's the warm fermentation that brings out the ale-like characteristics that would be absent with cooler ferment temps associated with lager yeasts.

Rainier Brewing's once-notorious Rainier Ale (aka "Green Death") used a similar technique, and the "cream ales" found in some parts of the USA also employ a technique involving warm-ferment temps with lager yeasts.

What you described above, though, is more true of Alt and Kölsch, to an extent: fermented like ales with ale yeast, but cold-conditioned like lagers.

Yep. I got my beers and yeasts mixed up. My mistake.

-Steve