Mighty Arrow - New Belgium

I don't know if anyone has much access to it, but New Belgium's pale ale, Mighty Arrow, is fantastic. I haven't been able to find it in a 6pack, but I have seen it in the mix pack (3 fat tire, 3 1554, 3 mothership wit, and 3 mighty arrow).

I stopped by the brewery and grabbed a grolwer last night and this beer is just amazing. They use some combination of cascade and golding hops for the flavor and it is incredibly smooth and satisfying. I don't think I've had a commercial pale ale that I have liked as much as this one.

Cheers,

Damn.....must be nice to live by New Belgium.:cross:

It is pretty nice. The brewery tours are fun. I'm more a fan of O'Dells brewery than New Belgium, but a beer fan could do a lot worse than Fort Collins.

I'm with ya on the Folley Pack. I sure could do without that. Good on You for the growler. What'd they charge you? We're going to be in Ft. Collins this summer; I intend to make the brewery tour.

I'm gonna take a weekend trip out there this summer....got a couch?

I saw a Folly pack last night, but didn't want to spend $16 to taste Mighty Arrow...especially since I can't stand Fat Tire, at least Mothership is palatable and 1554 is downright great....maybe I should bite the bullet....any word on plans to just sell sixers of Arrow?

On the other hand...we might not be seeing Saison again...too bad, that was the best beer to ever come out of NBB (the Transatlantique Kriek and that peach thing from GABF excluded)

The growler refill was $6. I forget what I paid for beer plus a new growler. Long time ago. I have asked various liquor stores about a mighty arrow 6pack, and none of them thinks it is going to happen. Who knows, though. Things change.

I'd offer a place to stay for folks coming through, but we are expecting our 3rd early this summer and I'm guessing my wife would kill me if we had extra folks around. Sorry about that.

I'd bite the bullet on the folley pack. I agree that the fat tire is a little annoying, but I can usually find someone who is excited to take it off my hands. I'd like to see the Saison again, but I agree that it might not be that likely. Actually, of all the beers New Belgium has made, I miss Bier de Mars the most. I've tried a couple of recipes and received some advice from New Belgium on brewing it myself, but I haven't really hit it yet. My current try is pretty crazy. I used the Fat Tire yeast and kept the fermentation temp at 80F (on New Belgium's advice) and I added some Brett at bottling. No idea how it is going to come out. I was expecting it to taste like burnt plastic after the 80F fermentation, but it actually wasn't too bad.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled thread...

Hate digging up ancient artifacts, but I'm drinking a Mighty Arrow now.

It's weird. I don't think Goldings and Cascades really play well together. It's really flowery and earthy -- a little too earthy. It's like chomping on a bundle of stems wrapped in rose petals. Good thing I only got a single 12oz.

Yeah, I heard they were going to start releasing it as a seasonal. I'll have to get a 6-pack and give it another try. Since having it last year, I've done 3 batches of my own where I mix the goldings and cascades. So far, I have been happy with the results.

They decided to release Mighty Arrow in place of Springboard this year. It should be all over the place. I saw a 6 pack of it last night, but I was at the expensive store, so I held off.

I couldn't agree more. The Mighty Arrow is a fine beer and I suspect a good beer to introduce somebody to the wonderful characteristics of hops. This beer is hops in a bottle without going overboard. Just had my first last night and I had to do a search on this forum to see if anyone else was talking about it. Might be a little on the sweet side for some, but it's well balanced with the hops.

Funny you resurrected this thread tonight. My keg just ran out. I'll have to get another someday. The good thing is, the last pint I had was before I caught this cold, so I can think back on this one and smile. Guess I'll have to go with an IPA or DIPA if I want to taste anything.

Just picked up a 6-pack of this yesterday and I'm having my first one right now. Very, very tasty. I'd like to come up with a recipe close to this. Honey malt. Amarillo and Cascade. Wouldn't be too hard.

Hmm am I the only one who doesn't care for it? I've had it on tap several times and in bottles. Both times it had a great hop aroma but tasted flat and like grass.

Yes.

You are the only one.

You are a heretic and you must be stopped for your own good.

has anyone tried brewing something similar? i just tried this last night and SWMBO and i both really enjoyed it. i really like the earthness of the hop schedule... and the smell from it is delightful IMHO.

if anyone has brewed something similar, i'd love to know what you did and how it turned out.

android said:

has anyone tried brewing something similar? i just tried this last night and SWMBO and i both really enjoyed it. i really like the earthness of the hop schedule... and the smell from it is delightful IMHO.

if anyone has brewed something similar, i'd love to know what you did and how it turned out.

Click to expand...

I just picked up the ingredients for an APA that I put together with this in mind. I'll let ya know how it came out in a couple months.

Here is what I did. It came out a little on the bitter side. Great for me, but others might back off the bittering hops a bit. Maybe .75 oz of Centennial. Man, reading this recipe makes me want to brew it again.

8.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 80.95 %
1.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 14.29 %
0.50 lb Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4.76 %
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (60 min) Hops 33.9 IBU
0.50 oz East Kent Goldings [4.50 %] (15 min) Hops 3.4 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (15 min) Hops 4.6 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (5 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
0.50 oz East Kent Goldings [4.50 %] (5 min) Hops 1.4 IBU
1.05 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) Yeast-Ale


Edit: Apparently, I put this one in my profile already. There's a little more information there if you are interested.

Did they change it this year? Their web page has amarillo and cascade listed as the hops.

I think they did change it some this year. The label used to say goldings and cascades for aroma/flavoring. No reason amarillo wouldn't be great.

They have it in sixers in the Metro Area. I still have a few at the house

talleymonster said:

Damn.....must be nice to live by New Belgium.:cross:

Click to expand...

Or in the Denver Metro area....All the NB you could possibly ask for. I just tried the Tripel this past week....mmmmm.mmmmm...good

ColoradoXJ13 said:

I saw a Folly pack last night, but didn't want to spend $16 to taste Mighty Arrow...especially since I can't stand Fat Tire, at least Mothership is palatable and 1554 is downright great....maybe I should bite the bullet....any word on plans to just sell sixers of Arrow?

On the other hand...we might not be seeing Saison again...too bad, that was the best beer to ever come out of NBB (the Transatlantique Kriek and that peach thing from GABF excluded)

Click to expand...

Liquor Mart on Canyon does not have it??? I am shocked. Arvada has it for Chrissake and Arvada is BMC Land



PS I gotta check the dates on the threads before I respond...

It's back! Just picked up my first sixer of this year's Mighty Arrow this week.

Yes, it's a very good beer.:rockin: Had some this past weekend.

Sometimes I feel spoiled living where I do. There seems to be great beer everywhere I go..

Looks like all the spring beers are out, I see Fling from pyramid, Glisade from sierra and many more....

shunt1317 said:

Yes, it's a very good beer.:rockin: Had some this past weekend.

Sometimes I feel spoiled living where I do. There seems to be great beer everywhere I go..

Click to expand...

Yeah. I'm with you. I've tried a few beers in swaps and I'm convinced that Colorado can go head to head with anyone. The one that really got me was 2-hearted from Bell's. I have heard nothing but praise for that beer, but when I got it, I thought "Yeah, that tastes like Odell's IPA."

Back on subject, is the Mighty Arrow this year a little sweeter than last year? It seems like I'm picking up a little more caramel flavor maybe.

they got this at 7-11s all over Chicago i was pretty excited when i saw it.

Just tried it earlier this week. Huge Fat Tire fan, but this one has moved into the lead in terms of my New Belgium favorite. As a bonus, the grocery store near me has it on sale for $11 per 12 pack. I'll be stocking up this weekend.

11 bucks a 12er is a really good deal I wish they had that around here

ChshreCat said:

It's back! Just picked up my first sixer of this year's Mighty Arrow this week.

Click to expand...

me too... i finally had something to compare my "clone" to. it actually ended up remarkably similar. color was absolutely spot on, slight differences in hop character (mine was a little more amarillo forward) and i think if i mashed a little higher, it'd be uber close.

Like this one too. Picked up a sixer on Saturday. I really like the greater emphasis on Aroma rather than bitterness (SNPA, for example, seems to be slightly more bitter and/or less aromatic).

I found that it lacked the typical "New Belgium" flavor so many folks speak of, and that I personnally identify is some of their beers. If someone handed me a glass of Mighty Arrow without telling me what it is, I might not be able to guess, even after the 2 glasses I've had (though I'd probably have trouble distinguishing an APA from an American IPA unless I could do a side-by-side)

Stirring up an old thread here. But this beer is fantastic, I bought a sixer of them today and drank 3 right from the bottle while working in the garage and loved them. Very very easy to drink a few of them on a nice spring day. Albertson's had 12 packs on sale for 12.50 or something, I'm pretty sure I will have to go back this week and pick one of them up.

morebeer said:

Stirring up an old thread here. But this beer is fantastic, I bought a sixer of them today and drank 3 right from the bottle while working in the garage and loved them. Very very easy to drink a few of them on a nice spring day. Albertson's had 12 packs on sale for 12.50 or something, I'm pretty sure I will have to go back this week and pick one of them up.

Click to expand...

$12.50 a 12 pack is a good price. I live very close to Fort Collins and the New Belgium brewery. This is one my favorites beers that they brew. Another regional brewery, Odell's, puts out a seasonal they call "St. Luplin." Is is somewhat like "Mighty Arrow." I really like them both.

I just picked up a sixer at my local package store and it is a fantastic beer. I didn't read this whole thread, I hope there's a recipe some where, it's great!

I agree with the majority of people on this thread. Mighty Arrow is an amazing beer. Great layers of taste. Ah gotta love living in Fort Collins.

Drink up folks. I think we are getting close to the end of the cycle for Mighty Arrow. IIRC, New Belgium will be moving on to Skinny Dip soon.

Gonna dig this one up again as many others have before me. This is good beer.