[7] Fritz Maytag, the owner of Anchor, visited British breweries in London, Yorkshire and Burton upon Trent, picking up information about robust pale ales, which he used when he made his American version using just malt rather than the malt and sugar combination common in brewing at that time, and making prominent use of the American hop, Cascade.

[8] The beer was (at the time) vigorously hopped with American Cascade hops, refermented in the bottle, and not straw in color – all qualities the popular beer style of the time, i.e. pale lagers, did not possess.

While the company brewed for fewer than 6 years at only 7.5 barrels (217 US gallons) per week, it inspired many more pioneers and imitators.

[9] The first brewery to successfully commercialize the use of significant quantities of American hops in the style of APA was the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company,[10] which brewed the first experimental batch of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale in November 1980,[11] distributing the finished version in March 1981.

[12] Another pioneer of the hoppy American pale ale was Bert Grant of Yakima Brewing.