Description
THE BEER
First introduced in 1975, Liberty Ale is brewed strictly according to traditional brewing methods, and, like all Anchor Brewing Company products, uses only natural ingredients — water, malted barley, fresh whole hops and yeast. This beer was created to celebrate the bicentenial of the journey taken by Paul Revere to warn that the British were coming hence the name Liberty Ale.
A special top-fermenting ale yeast is used during fermentation and is responsible for many of Liberty Ale's subtle flavors and characteristics. Carbonation is produced by an entirely natural process called "bunging," which produces champagne-like bubbles. Dry-hopping (adding fresh hops to the brew during aging), imparts a unique aroma to the ale. It is a process rarely used in this country today.
5.9% ABV Orange colored with a white foamy head. Citrus, pine, and floral hops in the nose. The palate is softly carbonated, smooth. The taste is well-balanced between the sweetness of the malt and the bitterness of the hops. A fine and enjoyable IPA.
THE BREWERY
Anchor's beers are produced in one of the most traditional and handsome breweries anywhere in the world. Anchor's brewers employ no modern shortcuts. Each brew is virtually handmade with an all-malt mash in their handmade copper brewhouse, a veritable museum of the simple, traditional brewhouses of old. They strive to practice the art of classical brewing, and employ state-of-the-art methods to ensure that their products are clean and clear, pure and fresh.
The rich history of Anchor Brewing can be traced all the way back to the Gold Rush, when German brewer Gottlieb Brekle arrived in San Francisco with his wife Marie and infant son Frederick. Brekle applied for citizenship in 1854, and his brewing and business acumen would soon lead to his ownership of a little San Francisco brewery on Pacific, between Larkin and Hyde, which would one day become known as Anchor.
Every Anchor Steam Beer label says, "Made in San Francisco since 1896," because that is the year German brewer Ernst F. Baruth and his son-in-law, Otto Schinkel, Jr., bought the old brewery on Pacific (the first of six locations around the City over the years) and named it Anchor. Baruth and his previous partner, Henry C. Kroenke, had been co-owners of the American Brewery on Green Street. Schinkel, just twenty-six years old, was employed as their driver. No one knows why Baruth and Schinkel chose the name Anchor, except, perhaps, for its indirect but powerful allusion to the great Port of San Francisco. Anchor Brewery inherited a long tradition of brewing what had come to be known as steam beer, one of the quaint old nicknames for beer brewed along the West Coast under primitive conditions and without ice. Today "steam" is a trademark of Anchor Brewing.
Anchor Brewery shut its doors in 1920 due to prohibition and when it was lifted in 1933 swiftly reopened and continued to brew its fabulous beers. Since then Anchor has gone through some bad times - closing and reopening several times due to lack of demand, but now with the resurgance of the craft beer market Anchor Brewery is going strong and carving itself a place in the market that, due to the fantastic beers it creates, will surely stand the test of time.
This beer pairs well with earthy, tangy or nutty cheeses, salads and poultry dishes.
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