Arcadia Anglers Ale

Brewed by Arcadia Brewing Company
Style: English Pale Ale
Battle Creek, Michigan USA

12 oz bottle from Blue Max in Burnsville, MN (Dec 2005). As the last two reviewers have noted, a gusher, something I don’t really expect from an EPA. Pours a massive, frothy lastaing head atop a cloudy translucent dull amber body, thickly lacing the glass....faint aromas of citrus and dry wood, bit of acerbic yeast....fruity, well-constructed and balanced body with notes of wood chips, moss, light English yeast, citrus all coming together to make a slightly chewy, bitter, medium-bodied ale that starts out rather sweet and finishes nicely dry. Nothing terribly mindblowing or memorable, but underrated here I feel.

12oz bottle: I thought I was opening a bottle of wine when I popped open the cap from the sound of carbonation releasing. It literally took me 13 minutes to slowly pour it into a pint glass due to the foam. Pours bright copper with a huge foamy head. You could shave with this if you wanted to. Has a flowery hop aroma with a caramel malty flavor. Overall, too foamy and carbonated but nice color and label.

12oz bottle acquired in trade with TAR (thanks!). I would classify this one as a gusher. As soon as I popped it open, it proceeded to try and cover my entire desk in a volcanic flow of carbonated Angler’s Ale. Lucky I was fast and was able to catch most of it in my glass as I ran to the bathroom, in the process stepping on my dog (at least he was compensated by being allowed to lick up everything from the bathroom floor). Now to the beer. Poured a medium and see through orange color with a huge, huge off white head. Aromas of flowers, light caramel and nuts. Also had a little bit of a perfume or soapiness to it. Tastes of caramel, flowers and toasted malts. Not too crazy about the whole experience with this one.

Bottle. Orange, cranberry and flowery hops aroma. Amber with small head. Slightly sweet raisin flavor with mild hops finish. Mild acidity and carbonation. Decent but nothing special.

As they say, brewing in the British tradition. They’re pretty close here, except the palate. Caramel, pear, almost estery flavors, with tea, grass, and a floral finish in the flavor. Pretty nice but there’s a note at the end that is a little too bitter for my taste. Big big head production, with interesting regular lacing that condenses in my Duvel glass into Swiss cheese. Cream soda color. The palate is average, not oily enough and too highly carbonated (though there are some English examples of high carbonation in bottles; I’d be interested to see what Arcadia beers feel like from a cask).

(12 oz bottle: Obtained in trade with footbalm, thanks Eric!) What the hell is it with Arcadia and these massively overcarbonated bottles of beer? I could almost feel the rush of wind on my face when I opened the bottle. And those poor divers with their air hoses cut are back in my glass generating carbonation bubbles at a rate that only Arcadia beers can produce. Increased quality control measures appear to be necessary with this brewery. The beer smells sweet, fruity, floral, nutty, and a little caramely,but also a bit soapy. Fruity and floral, sweet and caramely, and fairly nutty flavor, the beer is balanced nicely by a moderate bitterness. Medium bodied, slick and smooth on the palate despite the solid carbonation. Deep orange-amber color and very hazy. The huge, bubbly, off-white head settles to a mountainous, scummy cap atop the beery. This is much better than Arcadia’s other English Pale Ale, that dreadful ripoff called Battle Creek Special Reserve, but still not a beer I’d be tempted to drink again.

Pssst. Overcarbonated. Huge, undaunted head. Amoma of metallic shaving cream. Lots of sweet malts, earthy hops, and very tingly. Lingering butterscotch. Could be better. Thanks to Brad.

Not infected, but astoundingly foamy, exploded out of the bottle. Once it calmed, dry, woody hops in the nose, light caramel. Flavor is mildly nutty, decent bitterness. A mite coppery.