Beer Review: New Belgium Brewing’s Mighty Arrow Pale Ale

Part 4 of a (now) 4 Part Series

Part I: Fat Tire Amber Ale
Part II: Mothership Wit Organic Wheat Beer
Part III: 1554 Enlightened Black Ale
Part IV: Mighty Arrow Pale Ale

Cheers,
The Beer Snob

Mrs. Beer Snob and I had some friends coming over for dinner one night last week, so I cruised on over to the new Kroger here in Spring Hill to see what sort of beer I could find that we could try, that I could also review. When I saw a new (to us Tennesseans, anyway) New Belgium beer, I grabbed it.

Mighty Arrow is one of their seasonal beers, a Spring pale ale. According to the neck of the bottle…

Mighty Arrow Pale Ale provides lots of pleasurable sniffs from Cascade and Golding hops, with a fetching honey malt base.

Incidentally, this beer is apparently named after a dog, hence the “sniffs” and “fetching” references on the neck of the bottle.

The Pour
A pour with the glass at 45 degrees, followed by the other half of the pour poured vigorously into the glass, results in a two finger thick, off-white dense head that quickly becomes loose and pillowy. This beer is a great coppery hue and is very clear. Very little carbonation activity is seen. The head leaves an average amount of lacing on the side of the glass.

The Nose
This smells first and foremost of grapefruit and honey, with hints of a slightly bitter floral hoppiness. Judging by the nose, you expect the beer to be full-bodied.

The Taste
The taste is much more about dry floral hops than the grapefruit and honey, though the honey is definitely present in undertones. The beer is medium-light bodied with a crisp mouthfeel. The finish is slightly hoppy and sharp but has a clean, refreshing feel to it as well.  

Overall
Overall, this is a good solid pale ale. It’s a good refreshing spring brew, meaning it still maintains some sweetness (through the honey malt base?) while also giving you the hoppiness you start to want as the days get slightly longer and warmer. As far as I’ve seen, with the four New Belgium brews I’ve tried so far, you really can’t go wrong with one of their beers.

Recommended: Sure! I would say they are a brewery that consistently (as far as I’ve seen so far) cranks out good to great beers.

Price: $7.99 / 6-pack

ABV: 6%

Beer Review: Sam Adams Longshot – Grape Pale Ale

Sam Adams has had a home brewing contest the last couple of years, and at least one random person’s brew and one Sam Adams employee’s brew get bottled for sale. This is one of the 2007 winners, developed by Lili Hess, winner of the Samuel Adams employee homebrew competition.

According to the bottle, this beer is an ale brewed with natural grape flavor and maple syrup added. Lili Hess describes it this way: “It’s like you are drinking a pale ale after biting into a fresh green seedless grape.”

Here’s what I thought…

The Pour
I poured this into a good pilsner glass with a little trepidation. I was afraid it would taste like grape jelly or be overly sweet. It pours with a loose thick head and a light golden coppery hue. The carbonation looks minimal and minimal lacing is left on the glass as the head dissipates.

The Nose
This smells like a nice hoppy pale ale. There is a slight sweetness to the nose coming from the maple syrup. This smells clean and fresh, but doesn’t have an exceptional nose. Good, but not exceptional.

The Taste
This has a good pale ale flavor. There are nice crisp hops but it’s a little sweeter than a typical pale ale, not dry or bitter. You can taste the green grape in the background and it really is nice. The maple syrup also starts coming through on the finish but it’s pretty subtle, so it’s not cloying. Good depth of flavor profiles here. It’s a light bodied brew and is crisp and clean. There is medium carbonation and a very clean finish.

Overall
It would be a very drinkable pale ale without the grape and maple syrup, but the added complexity and depth that come with the added flavors make it a standout among this type of beer. This is, I think, a pale ale to be savored more slowly than the usual pale ale. It could be a good session beer but it also is worth sipping and noticing in order to enjoy the interesting flavors.

Recommended: Yes, I would recommend this to any fan of pale ale looking for something new and interesting.

Price: I paid $8 for a 6-pack of this and the Weizenbock (the other winner) at a charity auction.

ABV: Unknown

Beer Review: Pyramid Brewery’s Thunderhead India Pale Ale

I don’t review higher alcohol beers very often. I suppose it’s because here in Tennessee, you can’t sell liquor (and high-alcohol beer) in the same store as regular beer, and the selection of higher alcohol beers is usually not a vast one. So I end up buying regular beer up to 6% ABV or so.

This time I really wanted to do a beer review of something pretty hoppy and higher alcohol, so I got Pyramid Brewery’s Thunderhead India Pale Ale. It’s just barely “higher alcohol” at 6.7%, but I haven’t had a Pyramid brew since I started this blog and wanted to check them out. Here is what was on the neckband:

Way back when, IPAs were loaded with hops to stand up to oceans, elephants, finicky colonists and spicy curries. Likewise, our India Pale Ale is a powerful beer for bold tastes.

So on to the tasting….

The Pour
I poured as I walked from the counter to the dining table. When I set it down in front of me, about two feet away, to examine it’s color, clarity, etc., I could already smell the hops in it. This pours to a nice coppery caramel color. It had a decently thick head with slight lacing on the glass, mostly as you drink it. It looked like it might have medium carbonation but was quite clear and looked light bodied.

The Nose
As I said, I smelled it before I even intended to. I usually focus on the visual appeal of a beer first and don’t even try to smell or taste it before I can describe it’s color and predetermine what sort of body it might have. This had a great flowery and spicy hop aroma. But it was also bready and crisp with some caramel notes. It’s a nice buildup to the taste.

The Taste
This hits your palate with smooth caramel flavors and slight maltiness. But just as you notice these flavors they are gone. You get a nice burst of pleasantly bitter hops that rush through your mouth with a crisp, clean feel and flavor. The hops wipe out the caramel and malt notes you initially find, and it almost seems like it’s cleansing your palate for the next sip. The hoppy bitterness hides a subtle sour citrus in the background. The slightly higher alcohol content is barely noticed on the finish.
I thought this was an excellently hoppy beer. The hops cleanse your palate and make you want to experience the brief caramel and malt again and again. It’s supremely drinkable and a great summer choice. If you like hoppy beers, this is a great one for delivering on the hops without overpuckering your mouth.

Recommended: Absolutely! This takes a pretty common type of brew, the IPA, and makes it stand out among its peers.

Price: $1.99 for a 12-oz bottle

ABV: 6.7%

Coming Soon: A review of the brews created by the 2007 Samuel Adams® American Homebrew Contest® National Champions! They are Rodney Kibzey’s Weizenbock and Sam Adams employee Lili Hess’ Grape Pale Ale. Now apparently the grape pale ale has hints of green grape, which when you think about it sounds pretty good. As long as it’s not like drinking grape jelly, I’m ok. Look for these reviews soon