If American craft beer has a founding document, Liberty Ale is a strong candidate. First brewed on April 18, 1975 to mark the bicentennial of Paul Revere’s ride, it was the first modern American IPA brewed after Prohibition, the first modern single-hop ale, and the first to revive dry-hopping in America. It introduced a generation of drinkers to the Cascade hop, and the ripple effects are still shaping beer today.

The basics

• Brewery: Anchor Brewing Company (San Francisco, CA)
• Style: American Pale Ale
• ABV: 5.9%
• IBU: 47

What to expect

Liberty Ale pours amber with a sturdy off-white head and a lively, champagne-like carbonation, the result of Anchor’s natural “bunging” process. The aroma is all Cascade: grapefruit and citrus up front, a floral hop note behind it, and a bready, biscuity malt background. The flavor is balanced rather than bombastic, with citrus and a touch of pear riding over a clean malt base and a firm but polite bitterness.

The body is medium and smooth, with a distinctive effervescence that sets it apart from most pale ales. By modern standards it drinks tame, and that is part of its charm: this is the beer that showed America what hops could do, before hops became an arms race.

Our rating

6.5/10

Rated by Alex (6.5). Alex puts this one at 6.5, which feels fair for a beer whose historical importance outruns its modern excitement. It is a genuinely good, balanced pale ale, and every beer fan should drink it at least once for the story alone. Just do not go in expecting a hop bomb, and you will enjoy it for what it is.