Name "Steam Beer" trademarked in the United States and some other countries by the Anchor brewery of San Francisco for its unique hybrid fermentation of Ale and Lager. Amber in color with a malt accent named after a "technical/historical anecdote: 19th century California brewers, lacking the ice or refrigeration equipment for proper lager brewing, employed lager yeasts at warm "ale" temperatures. The resulting lively fermentation - in wide, shallow vessels ("clarifiers") which cooled the brew - and subsequent krausening created a highly-carbonated beer which, when tapped, gave a steam-like hiss. Serve at not less than 45F; 7C. A sociable beer or aperitif. In countries where the name has not been protected, other brewers have launched "California common beers". Examples: Anchor Steam Beer, New England Atlantic Amber.

A trademark of Anchor Steam brewery. Also a lager beer brewed at ale temperatures and is said to be the last truly American style beer still in production.

A product of the California Gold Rush, steam beer was America's first real addition to the craft of brewing.