Before the 19^th century all this brewing was on a small scale. It resembled the AMicro breweries@ which are flourishing over here today (and captivated and enthralled your editor on his visit last August). The quality of the beer must have been very good. Now of course most beer produced here comes from the large Corporations like Anheuser-Busch, and as is always the case, quality has been sacrificed to uniformity.

The beer I propose to focus on in this issue has some of the features of a hand crafted brew, although it is produced commercially and is exported. It is Steam Beer made in San Francisco by the Anchor Brewing Co. It has a very high CO₂ content and effervesces formidably when poured.
Your correspondent, many years ago working as an engineer for an electronics company in San Bruno California spent many enchanted evenings at Artichoke Joe's=s, just across the street from our research lab. The beer was Anchor Steam. There was sawdust on the floor. Peanuts were free. There was a fireplace. There were horse collars on the walls, and in one corner an old wagon. In this relaxing atmosphere we all felt imaginative and creative, mainly due to the beer of course. With funds provided by a US Air Force contract we designed and built a key component for a Radar system so powerful that no Russian Rocket could escape detection. The Cold War was at its height. Our work was secret, of course. Codes were the thing. Our work was called The Steam Beer Project.
Having read this, it=s possible that the crowd at the Wheatsheaf might drink a bottle or two of Anchor Steam beer and reflect on how it contributed to the eventual defeat of the Nuclear Enemy and the return to a saner world.