Anchor Steam Tour!

How did RTSF and some of our great volunteers end a busy week? Free beer and a brewery tour!  This tour has taken years in the making, but finally the stars aligned and on a beautiful San Francisco night, a group of volunteers and RTSF staff met at Anchor Steam Brewery.  If you missed out on the fun, check out the highlights!

This was all made possible by a famous actor, a dedicated volunteer, and a story teller extraordinaire, Ollie (yes, one person).  He is somewhat of  an anomaly, sober for 14 years, but has carved out a career as a brewer for Anchor Steam.   His beginning with RTSF started with a personal emergency.  While he was running along the Embarcadero, he had the sudden need for a restroom.  RTSF staff pointed him towards our own facilities and after, Ollie promised to come back and show his gratitude with a case of Beer.

True to his word the next day, Ollie returned bearing gifts of amber liquid in dark tinted bottles.  The ED at the time told him a little about Rebuilding Day and roped him into volunteering in National Rebuilding Day.  After one National Rebuilding Day, Ollie was hooked and has been coming back since.

Some of you may already know Ollie (he’s kinda famous) as a frustrated gold miner visiting a modern pub for a taste of Anchor Steam Beer, check out the commercial here.  The night started off with a taste test of a few of the tasty beers on tap as we breathed in the sweet smell of hops drifting in from the Brewery.  Then we headed to the different areas that make up Anchor Steam’s brewing operations.  Ollie was able to shed some light on why Anchor Steam uses an open air fermentation process (notice the Anchor Steam Beer?), and the history of Anchor Steam. There were some nuggets of information like, the brewery cooled their beer over night on the roof using the fog and cold ocean breeze and every Christmas Ale Anchor Steam has made has been a different recipe every year.

To the left are a few of the beer types we were allowed to taste before and after the tour. This event was a big success and look out for future tours with one of our other community partners. Anchor Steam Brewery, the official RTSF beer of choice. Volunteer with us and maybe you’ll get to join us for another awesome tour.