• by Danielle Oster , August 3, 2023

Anchor Brewing, the historic San Francisco brewer some consider to be the country's oldest craft brewery, closed its taproom doors for good on Sunday. Employees of Anchor Brewing want to acquire the brewery as a worker-owned collective. But its fate is now in the hands of liquidators auctioning off its assets.

Anchor Brewing parent company Sapporo relinquished Anchor Brewing assets to a third-party liquidator, commencing an Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors (ABC) process to auction off its assets.

“It was a tremendously sad and difficult decision to cease operations for a brewery and company whose history dates back to the Gold Rush,” a spokesman for Anchor Brewing Co, said in a statement. “The decision, however, of what happens next to Anchor will be in the hands of the ABC/liquidator.”

Japanese brewery conglomerate Sapporo acquired Anchor Brewing in 2017 for $85 million, and kicked off a rebranding effort in 2021. The company issued a Notice Regarding the Commencement of Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors (ABC) on July 12, an alternative to bankruptcy proceedings that transfers a debtors’ assets into a trust to be liquidated and distributed. Sapporo estimated the losses from the process to be about 6 billion Japanese yen, or nearly $42 million.

“Over the past several years, we implemented a variety of measures to improve the business, such as releasing new products, product renewals, and making brand investments. However, Anchor’s business performance continued to be sluggish,” Sapporo said in a statement. “Since it would be difficult to improve profitability in the medium to long term, Anchor decided to commence the ABC.”

The ABC process officially began yesterday, the date identified for the handover in the announcement last month.

The move follows Sapporo acquiring Stone Brewing as a subsidiary around a year ago, which appears to be its new vehicle for growth in the U.S. The company explained in a statement that it aims to generate future growth in the U.S. through “synergies” with Stone Brewing.

Anchor workers responded to Sapporo’s July 12 announcement  by stating their intention to acquire the brewery through their union as a worker-owned collective. In a Change.org petition  asking Sapporo to delay the transfer of their assets by a month, they claim Sapporo subsequently refused to share financial information provided to other prospective buyers as promised.

“Anchor Brewing Co. is being fair and equal in its treatment of all parties interested in purchasing its assets. We welcomed the union employees offer to participate in the liquidation process,” Sam Singer, a spokesman for Anchor Brewing Co. said in a statement replying to questions about the process, adding that it was always clear since the brewery announced its closure on July 12 that the liquidation process would begin in early August.

“The brewery had no flexibility to extend its operations for another month. The business is unfortunately out of money and out of time and is now in the hands of the liquidator,” he added. “Anchor remains hopeful that of the many bidders who have expressed interest in buying all or some of Anchor’s assets that one of them will keep the company going for future generations.”

Should Anchor emerge from the process intact and afloat, it wouldn’t be the first time it narrowly avoided its demise. Anchor Brewing actually shut down for a brief period in 1959, and was facing imminent bankruptcy in 1965 when Fritz Maytag -- grandson of appliance company Maytag Corporation founder Frederick Maytag -- acquired a 51% stake in the brewer responsible for his beloved Anchor Steam Beer.

Anchor is the nation's oldest brewery to consistently be considered a craft brewer through varying definitions of the term. Officially, Pottsville, PA-based Yuengling – founded in 1829 – is the oldest craft brewery, according to the definition currently used by the Brewers Association.

Anchor initially grew to fame for its association with Steam Beer, a style of beer resulting from lager yeast fermenting at higher-than-usual temperatures more associated with ales, also known as California Common Beer.