New Belgium Mighty Arrow

Brewed by New Belgium Brewing Company
Style: American Pale Ale
Fort Collins, Colorado USA

Fresh tasting. Smells strongly of flowery hops, but not overly bitter taste.crisp and refreshing. It’s a shame it’s only available seasonally. Wish I could have this more often.

Nice dark amber color with a white head that trails the beer all the way down the glass. Citrus notes are present the entire way through...both in smell and taste.

Huge pine, citrus, and pineapple nose. Deep gold and orange. Great balance. The levels of of hops play through until the finish--almost like an IPA. This is really a good beer and a solid Pale Ale.

Think of a hoppier Fat Tire but a lighter body. Not as malty or nutty. Very good. Very drinkable. I would have preferred just a bit more hoppy. Nice aroma like Fat Tire.

New Belgium amazes me with how they are able to break their usual mold, yet keep their signature flavor... and still make an incredible beer! Mighty Arrow has a bold hop character, which is sort of out of the ordinary for New Belgium. The One thing that I think of with this beer is... BALANCE. When I think of New Belgium, I think of that signature malt character, you know... that nutty, Fat-Tire-esque flavor. I love that flavor, and it is paired nicely with the bold hop profile mentioned above, to create a very balanced pale ale. Definately worth buying.

Had this one bottled, from Binny’s in St. Charles, Illinois. Bright and clear golden yellow pour with a nice, thick eggshell white head, a nice and floral nose with hints of bready maltiness, complexity in the flavor, certainly citrusy hops, orange and lemon peel, bread continues throughout, a hint of caramel sweetness and some candi sugar, and finishes with a nice, dry piney note. Reaffirming my love of the APA and of New Belgium Brewing Co.

This poured a dark golden color with a white head. The aroma contains some pine as well as oranges and grapefruit. A definite floral presence there. The flavor is rather bitter with some pine, oranges, grapefruits, and lemons. The finish is rather dry. Color me impressed this was a very well done APA!

Best By July 2009; Sampled March 2009
A solid pour yields a three finger thick, lightly tanned head that has some staying power as well as leaving some nice lacing patterns on the sides of my glass. The beer is a clear, light copper hue that shows a brilliantly clear, deep gold, copper hued color when held up to the light. The aroma smells of citrus hops, a backdrop of caramelized grain and some toasty pale malt aromatics. The hops make me think of bright fruit notes of apricot, ripe tangelo, lychee and other tropical fruit notes as well as candied citrus peel. The aroma is quite vibrant and alive, and is really quite nice.

My tongue is greeted by a biting hop bitterness that continues on into a long finish, though the bitterness is pretty well balanced for a Pale Ale. As the beer flows across my tongue bright fruit notes of lychee, tangelo zest and peach also tend to linger on the tongue, but they are cut by an herbal, almost menthol like hop flavor as well. The malt plays a secondary role here, but provides a hop boosting like sweetness, a nice texture and body to carry the hops, as well as some cracker like grain to help dry out the finish. This is light and refreshing, yet with enough body to carry the hops.

The first time I had this I remember the aroma being really nice but the flavor not really delivering, this was caused by me serving the beer too cold (which really killed the fruity hop flavors). This time I served it at a more appropriate temperature and I have been rewarded with a really tasty brew. This is my kind of pale ale (though I would likely enjoy this more if it was boosted all around into IPA territory) and is in fact a great representation of the style.