Steamed Beer

Steamed beer, more commonly called steam beer or California common, is a beer style that originated in San Francisco during the 19th-century Gold Rush. Without reliable access to ice, brewers of the era fermented lager yeast at warmer, ale-like temperatures, producing a beer that combines lager-like crispness with fruitier, ale-like notes.

The name "steam" most likely comes from the cooling step rather than from the brewing itself: brewers pumped the hot wort into large, shallow, open-topped pans, often on the brewery roof, to cool it quickly in the open air. The visible vapor rising off the hot wort in these pans, or the escaping carbonation when a keg was tapped, are the commonly cited sources of the name.

The style had nearly disappeared by the mid-20th century, but Anchor Brewing Company of San Francisco kept it alive and trademarked the name "steam beer" in the 1980s. Because of that trademark, other brewers making beer in the same tradition now market it as "California common" rather than "steam beer."

Steam beer, or California common, is typically amber in color, with a firm malt backbone, moderate hop bitterness, and a clean fermentation character despite the warmer, ale-temperature brewing process. It remains closely associated with San Francisco and West Coast American brewing.

In terms of practical applications, steam beer is enjoyed on its own, and, like other malt-forward beers, can be used in cooking, such as in batters, braises, or reduction sauces, where its clean malt character pairs well with hearty, savory dishes.