Vieille Lune: A Collab From The Anchor and Walnut River Brewing

A few months back, the fine folks at Walnut River Brewing invited us to El Dorado to work on our very first beer! WRB has done several collaboration brews but since it would be our first, we wanted to make a beer that would appeal to our tastes and our regulars', and also complement Walnut River's excellent lineup.

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Our bartender Daniel decided our collaboration brew should be a Bière de Garde, a strong farmhouse ale traditionally brewed in the North of France during harvest seasons. They are usually aged in bottles and put away to make sure there was enough to drink all winter long but thankfully our Vieille Lune Bière de Garde is ready to be appreciated NOW!

*Dead Moon skull logo in memory of Fred Cole, RIP. Click to listen/learn/shop at DeadMoonusa.com


*Dead Moon skull logo in memory of Fred Cole, RIP. Click to listen/learn/shop at DeadMoonusa.com

Vieille Lune Bière de Garde is a medium body ale with a toasted malt aroma and an earthy sweetness. 7.2 % ABV • 23 IBU As you sip it, imagine Daniel and Schane helping the Walnut River brewmasters bring this brew to fruition. We're pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Try Vieille Lune at The Anchor or at Walnut River Brewing and let us know what you think!

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Celebrity & Chef Cookoff 2017

The Anchor and Douglas Avenue Chop Shop returned to the Celebrity & Chef Cookoff. This year, the foodie-centric fundraiser celebrated its 16th anniversary with a move to Intrust Bank Arena. The change of venue allowed for more space, more vendors, and better visibility for the centrally-located stage with the jumbotron screens giving the crowd an up-close view of the teams in action.

We have always had a great time sharing our food with attendees who visit our booth, but this year's cookoff brought another challenge for us– Or at least for our owner, Schane Gross. This time, she was asked to be one of the celebrities to be paired with a mystery chef in the competition. She ended up cooking with Chef Josh Rathbun, of Siena Tuscan Steakhouse (also a former employee!), and they made an impressive team.

There were plenty of familiar faces there, from our regular customers to other food vendors (Kan-Gro Hydrofarm's cucumber slices topped with salmon mousse was our team's favorite!) and chefs. Wichita Mayor Jeff Longwell stopped by to say hello and tried to convince KAKE's Lily Wu that Schane was a ringer, since her team had two chefs…

In the end, Schane and Josh's beautiful chicken and gnocchi dish was auctioned off for $400 (twice!) and they won second place in the Judge's Choice.

Our booth seemed very popular with the crowd, completely running out of Kansas Twinkies – our Jalapeños on the half shell stuffed with cream cheese and smoked bacon, wrapped in bacon – at the very last minute. All in all, another successful C&C event for #TeamAnchor! We hope to see you next year.

Celebrate St. Patricks Day 2017 at The Anchor

St. Patrick's Day is technically just one day – March 17th, to mark the death day of the Patron Saint of Ireland – but it's become a week unto itself here in the US. To mark the occasion, The Anchor humbly offers up this special food and drink menu to assist our patrons in celebrating all things Irish. Come in and try them all, while they last!

ABC News Visits The Anchor

The Anchor welcomed a team from ABC News this week. They were in Wichita to gauge public sentiment in Kansas on the occasion of President Trump's first Congressional Address.

As a public meeting place, we tend to support our local community and keep our broader political leanings to ourselves. Overall, we're just happy to be a place where Wichitans (and out-of-towners) can have vastly different opinions and still raise a glass together at the end of a day.

The Anchor's owner, Schane Gross, is a fervent believer in Wichita, the people who live here, and the way the city is growing. ABC interviewed her along with Mayor Jeff Longwell about the state of our city:

As part of their digital town hall concept, ABC livestreamed a lunchtime panel discussion from The Anchor East dining room and then broadcast a Joint Address watch party from GoCreate on the Wichita State University campus.

Some behind-the-scenes shots from ABC's afternoon at The Anchor:

Strong Ale Fest 2017

The 8th Annual Strong Ale Fest took place on an unseasonably warm and sunny February afternoon in Wichita. Everything fell into place at the last minute, as usual, and our amazing team of volunteers and The Anchor staff made it run as smoothly as an event centered around beers with an alcohol content of 8% or higher could ever be expected to… who are we kidding, the day was darned near perfect!

Watch this great video by our friends at Clutch Studio to see the magic for yourself. 

Stop by The Anchor this week to see what craft brews we have left over from Strong Ale Fest. They won't stick around long!