Searching For a Glass of Fine Beer: Liberty Ale, from San Francisco

A year ago I couldn’t name too many fine American beers.

Oh, I knew about Bud, Miller Lite and Old Milwaukee, but the only fine ones I had sampled came out of Boston (e.g., Samuel Adams) and Chicago (e.g., Goose Island Brewery), two fine marathon cities I visited while chasing dreams with expensive running shoes on my feet.

My oldest son, David, told me about Liberty Ale by Anchor Brewing Company (or Anchor Steam Beer by the same company: I forget which one, but I do remember I liked it) so when I saw it today at the LCBO near Wellington St. and Bradley Ave. I had to have it.


["Liberty Ale: A fine bottle of beer": photos by GAH]

The 650 ml brown bottle costs $3.70, which comes out to $2.85 per 500 ml can. (I like bottles and interesting paper labels: Today’s shopping trip cost me about $30 for 10 beers and eight are in bottles).

Though I have never tasted the other nine I opened Liberty Ale about 30 minutes before supper and was immediately glad I did.


["Elvis likes it. You will too"]

It has a lovely nose - hoppy, mildly spicy and citrusy, not overly sweet.

It wasn’t icy cold, which was fine by me, and as I poured a fairly substantial head formed and lasted for the duration of the quick photo shoot in front of my Elvis Costello LP.


["The second pour was a big one"]

My first sip was very pleasant. The label says ‘strong beer’ and ‘5.9% alc./vol.’ and though I’m 10 years away from being able to immediately identify how those words and numbers affect the taste or from knowing what flavours roll across my tongue I can say I really liked it.

For example, I don’t know what hops were used but the neck label reads ‘dry hopped, a classic ale tradition.’

What citrus fruit?

I thought orange at first blush but ‘Beers of the World’ by David Kenning reported that the ‘flavor is dominated by slightly astringent hops balanced with light, fruity maltiness, and the finish is dry and refreshing with hints of lemon rind.’

Okay, maybe I’m more than 10 years away from such knowledge but I’ll enjoy every year that goes by.

Would I buy it again?


Definitely. I can already picture 6 Rietveld chairs and a bucket of Liberty Ale on my back deck in September. Lovely lovely.

Would I recommend it to others?

Absolutely. Two bottles would be a good start. If you like it, you have another. If not, you know who to call.

***

I saved the last half of the American pale ale until after supper. It warmed up a degree or two (which is more to my liking), and now I wish I had that second bottle.

What ales are in your top ten?

Click here to go to last week’s beer review or visit Searching For a Glass of Fine Beer in the lower right-hand margin.

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