Double Fisting

I'm trying to train my palette to understand beer better. I'm not the best of tasters (or maybe I'm just an honest beer taster), because when I'm drinking anything less similar than a Bud Light and a Guinness, I can't really tell the difference.

So tonight, I decided to try two similar beers side-by-side, so the differences would be more discernible. What I learned from the experience is that this only works for the first few sips. Because once you're about half-way through, the alcohol starts to take a toll on your senses. Please note that I finished both beers before writing this entry, and they may not have been the first drinks of the evening. So take what comes with a grain of salt...

The two beers I tried were Anchor Brewing Company's Anchor Steam and Anchor Liberty Ale. I purposely chose beers from the same brewery, that were close to the same style, thinking that would give me fewer variables in the flavor. This may have been a mistake: as I said, before I was half-way through, they really did start to taste the same.

The easiest way to tell the difference between these beers was appearance. I poured each from the bottle into a tall pilsner glass. Anchor Steam is a nice medium-amber color. The head was thick and frothy, but only lasted about 2 minutes, and was wildly inconsistent in bubble size. The Liberty Ale was a lighter gold color, and slightly cloudy. The head lasted slightly longer than the Anchor Steam, and the bubbles were much more consistent.

As far as aroma, I'm not going to get into all that crap about fruity notes and whatnot. Mostly because what I smelled was beer. The Anchor Steam had a stronger, breadier scent, and the Liberty Ale was more hoppy, but otherwise fairly bland smelling*.

The Anchor steam had a stronger taste than Liberty Ale. I don't mean stronger alcohol-wise. I mean the Anchor Steam was more bitter, and the aftertaste lasted longer than the Liberty Ale. Liberty was lighter, but crisp and still very flavorful. It didn't have as long or as strong an aftertaste as the Anchor Steam either. 

I will admit that I just don't "get" mouthfeel. It all falls under flavor for me. I can't tell you which beer is light bodied and which is medium bodied. I can tell you the Anchor Steam seemed slightly more carbonated, and the flavor seemed to fill my mouth more than the Liberty Ale. Is that what I'm supposed to be looking for?

Finally, as far as drinkability, I think they were both very good beers. The stronger, more bitter flavor of the Anchor Steam might make it less enjoyable for the uninitiated. But while I think Liberty Ale is a better "beginner" beer, I by no means find it bland. Obviously, I was able to drink both of these in tandem, so they've got to be pretty drinkable.** Bottom line, I've tasted better beers, but I wouldn't kick either of these out of bed.

*Full disclosure: I have a really bad sense of smell. Really bad. For this reason, I'm usually the one in our house that gets stuck with the task of cleaning up after the dog.

**Let's be honest, I don't let alcohol go to waste. Even if these were unpalatable I'd have finished them. But I would have complained about it, and I'm not; so you can rest assured that they're okay.