It is possible but unlikely that the serf would ever meet an Earl (even the local one). There were about 10-20 Earls in England at any one time between 1100 and 1300 (I don't know exactly how many in 1160). The population of England in 1200 is estimated to have been about 2.2m.

That means there were more than 100,000 people for every Earl. Some of them knew an Earl, some of them met an Earl, some of them had seen an Earl, but probably most of them never met one, and the chances of a serf meeting an Earl were likely less than for those of other social classes.

The Earl of Norfolk in 1160 was Hugh Bigod, who was created Earl (the 1st Earl of Norfolk) by the Empress Matilda in 1141. (He had previously held the titles of Royal Steward and Constable of Norwich Castle, as well as holding extensive lands in Suffolk and Norfolk, inherited from his father, Roger Bigod, who fought in the Norman invasion of England and was granted these lands by William the Conqueror.)

Roger Bigod held 6 manors in Essex, 117 in Suffolk, and 187 in Norfolk. Not sure how many Hugh Bigod held in 1160, but probably most of these. The sheer number of manors he held makes it less probable that a serf on any one of them would have met him. (Of course, for all we know, the serf in question might well not have lived on any of Hugh Bigod's manors, but on someone else's manor entirely, which would probably reduce the chances of a meeting.)

(Roger Bigod ("Bigot" in the Domesday book)was one of 62 tenants in chief in Norfolk, most of whom controlled multiple manors (not counting "the King's Freemen", who were also tenants in chief), so there were plenty of manors in Norfolk, not to mention the rest of East Anglia, that the Earl of Norfolk did not control.)

Source: George Munford, "An analysis of the Domesday Book of the County of Norfolk", https://archive.org/stream/ananalysisdomes01munfgoog#page/n11/mode/2up

Hugh Bigod spent most of his career enmeshed in national politics and warfare in the struggles between Stephen and Matilda and later Henry II over the throne. Much of the fighting Hugh Bigod was involved in, however, was in and around Suffolk and Norfolk, which might have improved the chances of a local serf meeting him. He was generally busy with national politics and warfare. It seems unlikely that he had much time to be personally involved in agriculture. Between 1157, when Hugh submitted to King Henry II, and 1173, when he joined the Crown Prince's rebellion against Henry II, there was a period of 16 years when the Earl was mostly quietly at home in East Anglia, which would have improved the chances of the serf meeting him.

Hugh did live for 82 years (1095-1177) and spent most of his life in East Anglia (he died in Palestine, however). The longer your hypothetical serf lived in East Anglia during the Earl's lifetime, the better the chance that he might have met him. If your question premises that the serf had not met the Earl in 1160, and wonders what the chances of meeting the Earl in the Earl's lifetime were, then the Earl would live for 17 more years, but only about 15 of them primarily in East Anglia.