Gone To The Dogs

Beer O’ The Week: June 2

Mighty Arrow pale ale disappoints

Wamp’s Wisdom

PHOTO: J.T. WAMPLER

Mighty Arrow is a 6 percent alcohol seasonal offering from New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, Colo. It’s named after a border collie/Aussie dog that ran the grounds of the brewery for 12 years.

It pours a brilliant honey color with a lively white head. Aroma is of grapefruity hops. A shock of hops assails the mouth with a grassy flavor reminiscent of hay. The aftertaste is terrible, like ass with a side of grapefruit.

Normally, I enjoy a pale ale and New Belgium is a top-notch brewery, but I couldn’t bring myself to like this ale. Perhaps the high alpha acid hops are just too much for me. I like a more balanced pale ale.

Rating: 2 caps

Rico’s Reaction

Mighty Arrow? Mighty underwhelming.

I had every reason to want to like this beer. Who wouldn’t want to fall for a brew named after a beloved canine companion?
Plus, New Belgium gives back to the community, operates the excellent beer tent for First Thursday on the Fayetteville square and crafts some brews I really enjoy — Sunshine Wheat, Fat Tire, Mothership Wit, Ranger IPA. It’s a fine operation that’s hard not to root for.

Unfortunately, all the goodwill in the world can’t make your taste buds tingle. Mighty Arrow is light and crisp — though dominated by hops — but ultimately comes across as bland and uninteresting. I’m not sure what it’s missing, but this pale ale needs something to make it stand out.

What does stand out though is New Belgium’s website. It’s clean and easy to navigate with lots of interesting content about the brewer. You can read a little about everything the company makes and get a bunch of facts including the hops and malts used in each beer, their international bitterness units ratings and even a calorie count. At the bottom of the page, New Belgium also has recommendations for pairing their brews with meats, cheeses and even a dinner dish.

Rating: 3 caps