Head to Head: Anchor Liberty Ale vs. Nøgne Ø Pale Ale

Welcome to another Head to Head challenge. Today we have some more American Pale Ales. The first beer is the Anchor Liberty Ale. The second beer is the Nøgne Ø Pale Ale.

As usual the tasting was done blind and to style.

Price: Winner – Anchor

Anchor – $10.99 (6 pack 12 oz bottles)

Nøgne – $5.99 (1 pt .9 oz bottle)

Appearance: Winner – Tie

Anchor – This pours a yellow color with a decent off white head. The head leaves some nice lace.

Nøgne – Pours an amber color with a decent off-white head that leaves some lace on the glass.

Aroma: Winner – Anchor.

Anchor – The aroma has a bit of molasses, and some honey and some slight hops.

Nøgne – The aroma has some citrus, and a little whiff of hops.

Taste: Winner – Nøgne

Anchor – Starts with a little bit of bitterness then fails to develop anything further.

Nøgne – The flavor starts moderately sweet and then some bitterness comes on toward the end.

Body/Finish: Winner – Tie

Anchor – The body is light to medium and the aftertaste has some bitterness..

Nøgne – Finishes with a moderate amount of Bitterness.

Overall: Winner – Nøgne but only just.
This was pretty hard to decide. One beer had a much better aroma while one had a slightly better taste. With the finish being a tie it really was a toss up. In the end it was the Anchor that lost out. Once the decision was made and the beers revealed I was surprised. As mentioned yesterday this bottle of Nogne that was used for this Head to Head and against the Terrapin Rye Pale Ale was definitely not in its prime. But even so it still had enough flavor to beat the Anchor.

Part of me thinks I should get another bottle and redo the comparison but for now it will stand.

~ by alelagerlambic on April 16, 2008.