Anchor Brewing Releases Potrero Hill Sour-Mash IPA

12 Nov 2014 --- Anchor Brewing Company announces the release of the seventh brew in their Zymaster Series, Potrero Hill Sour-Mash IPA (ABV 7%).

Anchor, already a pioneer in craft brewing, moved to San Francisco’s Potrero Hill in the late 1970s. In 1993, Anchor repurposed a small corner of their brewery and began distilling whiskey from a mash of 100% rye malt, now known as Old Potrero. Although they have experimented with beer and hops in the distillery, Anchor has never used rye or sour mash in the brewery—until now.

“I’ve always been intrigued by the rye whiskey we make and its unique rye flavors so I thought it would be fun to use rye in a beer; and why not the rye sour mash from our distillery?,” said Mark Carpenter, Brewmaster at Anchor Brewing Company. “Brewing with rye can be difficult—it often gums up brewing systems—but our unique blend of rye malt, barley malt, and rye sour mash avoided such problems. Don’t let the name mislead you—the mash in Potrero Hill Sour-Mash IPA is sour but the beer is not. Instead, the sour mash is blended with our regular mash, creating a unique piquancy.”

Zymaster No. 7: Potrero Hill Sour-Mash IPA’s journey begins in Anchor’s distillery, where they prepare a 100% rye malt mash just as they would for their rye whiskey. After transferring it to a small open fermenter, the distillers pitch the yeast and wait. Five days later, the brewers mash in the brewhouse, using a blend of pale barley malt and rye malt. Then they add the sour mash from the distillery, which lowers the pH of the brewery mash. By introducing sour mash before the boil instead of after it, Anchor is able to create a distinct tartness in the brew without sourness.

In the brewkettle, Anchor uses four additions of Nelson Sauvin, a dual-purpose hop from New Zealand. An English ale yeast contributes dry, clean flavors and Zymaster 7’s unique tropical aroma is a result of dry-hopping with Nelson, as well. All in all, a perfect blend of tartness, hoppy bitterness, and subtle spiciness creates a thirst quenching IPA with a clean, crisp finish and tropical complexity on the nose.

Anchor Zymaster No. 7: Potrero Hill Sour-Mash IPA will be available in limited release in 22 oz. bottles and on draught in select restaurants, bars, and at the Anchor Brewing Taproom in San Francisco.