Anchor Liberty Ale
By Dad on December 24, 2008 @ 10 AM (No Comments)
This is actually classified as an American Pale Ale. To beer newbies it would be more like an India Pale Ale (IPA) elsewhere. This has a 90% rating overall and a 95.6% style rating on ratebeer.com. It has an ABV of 5.9% and I couldn’t find an IBU rating but I’ll guess at least 40+. Originally rated on 3/1/08.
Beer temp. 44.0 F (7.7 C). In a pint glass I got a 2 inch frothy white head that dissipated slowly with almost no head lacing. Carbonation was lively and the body was a clear orange. The aromas were caramel, nutty, citrus, grapefruit, pine, plum and raisin. Taste were the same except the plum and raisin were lost. Initial flavors were a light sweet and a moderate bitter. Finish flavors were light sweet and a heavy bitter. The mouthfeel was oily with a long finish and fair body lacing. On the malt to hop scale I gave it a 7.5 or 2 1/2 clicks to the hop side of balanced. On the bottom line I got a yes to drinkable and a no to repeatable, balance, harmony, memorable, wow factor and buy again.
With all the hops it should have a good shelf life. I liked the fruitiness in the taste till the hops became so much more predominant. If you’re a hophead this might be kind of tame to you but I’m a malty kind of guy and it just was not to my taste. I must admit I have changed some over time as a couple of years ago I would have poured it out. It really makes a statement and has been on the market since 1975. Hats off to the guys at Anchor Brewing.
