There's a deep irony. Anchor's lager was unique because it was terrible. They wanted to set up a "modern" lager brewery like what was killing off all of the hi

There's a deep irony. Anchor's lager was unique because it was terrible. They wanted to set up a "modern" lager brewery like what was killing off all of the historic beer styles on the East coast. But they did not have any of the refrigeration equipment. So the entire concept of "steaming" beer was the result of a low-tech hack/workaround to make a "modern" lager beer without the facilities. It exists today as a unique historical artifact, but it was honestly pretty lucky to survive past the introduction of real lagers in California on kitsch alone. The story is remarkably similar to Boudin sourdough. That "signature" taste is not from San Francisco's air (or not entirely), but it's of a normal sourdough bread aged incorrectly.