![]() The difference in temperature would cause the beer to steam, creating a fog hat, as it were, around the tops of the breweries.Īnother possible origin was the need to let off some of the excess carbonation before serving. One explanation, the one held by Anchor Steam, is that the breweries of San Francisco had their coolships on the rooftops to take advantage of the cool night air. Though it’s just as likely it was some mix of the three that finally earned the style its name. No one is sure how exactly the California Common style got the name “Steam.” There seem to be three prevailing ideas about where the name came from. It was a rough, fast finishing, brew made for the working populous and probably distastefully frowned upon by those well-off enough to consider themselves connoisseurs. The Steam Beer of those early days is much different than the few modern examples brewed today. This practice created a beer with very high carbonation. The unfinished beer would condition and carbonate the beer during a set time period. At some point the discovery was made that when peak fermentation was reached, allowing the beer to finish in long wooden vessels (coolships), kept it cooler and reduced off flavors.Īfter fermentation the “finished” beer went into very stout barrels with a set amount of “unfinished” beer at its fermentation peak. They brewed using the lager yeast, but at temps closer to that of ale brewing. This change in climate and the fact that ice was hard to come by made the brewing of true lagers near impossible. But, on reaching California they found California’s climate less then hospitable toward the workings of lager yeast. Lager brewing had become “the thing,” so lager yeast traveled with these adventurous brewers that saw opportunity flowing west. The years leading up to this great migration had seen a revolution in the eastern brewing industries. Business of all types followed this mad rush of 1849, towns sprang up overnight, and purveyors of the brewing craft found their own fertile soil. Gold had been discovered in California and a mad rush was on to lay claim to a chunk of ground rich with the yellow stuff. It is one of maybe only three styles that have their origins firmly entrenched on American soil. California Common was historically known as Steam Beer, a name that is now trademarked by Anchor Brewing Company. ![]()
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