It’s coming up close to my birthday, so I’ve been splurging on some sixers to treat myself…in advance. Mighty Arrow is New Belgium’s Spring seasonal, and this was the first time I’ve ever seen it. They are of course well known for their Fat Tire, so I had high expectations for this one as well. Oh and I just realized that nobody has reviewed Fat Tire yet…seriously WTF people. That’s next…

With this review I’d also like to pose a question to anyone reading (ahem if you review here you better say something :P); do you think our grading system is working well? I always find difficulty in differentiating between a 18 and a 19. Should we move to a more general scale, for example (from worst to best) “break it, leave it, try it, grab it, kill for it”? Suggestions please! I still think we should list the best on the front page though.

Brewery Hometown: Colorado

Appearance: Amber gold, clear, with plenty of carbonation. Strong head with surprisingly thick lacing. Bubbles!

Aroma: Hoppy with a bit of citrus bite. As the label indicates, it provides ample “pleasurable sniffs from Cascade and Golding hops with a fetching honey malt base.” I say their not exagerating; very pretty. The honey is very much in the background to the wonderful hops however.

Taste: Dry, toasty and woody – gets sudden memory flashback of Fat Tire – but not to the same degree. Somewhat more watery than I was expecting, with the smell unfortunately caring a lot of the experience. Letting the beer warm allows the sweeter honey/flowery undertone to emerge slightly, but the hops still swing the most weight. I get a slightly metallic (toasted oat?) aftertaste, not overly offensive and in line with what I was expecting from a pale ale. Decent in big swigs…nothing to see here, move along folks.
Alcohol: 6.0%

Drink one or all?: Fat Tire comes in a bigger bottle.

Cost: $9/sixer

Overall: 14/20. I expected more from the makers of Fat Tire and 2 Below.