Anchor Brewing Company from San Francisco, CA, is arguably responsible for the rise of the modern micro-brewer in the US starting in the early 1970's with their "Steam Beer". It has been a long time since I have had anything by this brewer so I grabbed their Liberty Ale. To start with, I have always liked the shape of this bottle and many times I prefer to drink Anchor's beers right out of the bottle instead of pouring it in a mug or glass. Anchor is a class act brewer and produces a first class product. Their Liberty Ale is no exception as I have found this to be one of the best beers produced in the US if not the world. It is just about perfect. Liberty Ale pours a light gold with amber hues. It is cloudy as one would find with an unfiltered wheat (Note: This is not a wheat). All of this contrasts with the resulting thick, white head. The aroma is fruity and complimented by the floral hops. All of that is carried over in the taste. This beer is all about the hops which is strong in an IPA way. This beer also has a lot of fresh grain and dried grass notes. The beer starts off very sharp and bold (hops) then mellows and becomes buttery. There was also some grainess in the texture which was complimented by a good amount of carbonation. There is no mistaking this as anything but a great US-West Coast craft beer. Liberty Ale has plenty of character without being pretentious.
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