Arcadia Special Reserve
Arcadia Brewing Company

attempted to pour from 12oz to flare pint, but wayyy carbonated, head was crazy, took a picture of an entire pint of foam!

anyways golden hazy color

smells of bitter hops, maltyness - nice

taste is a nice bitter hopping, spicy with a clean finish, tastes out of date but i can see where it was headed

mouthfeel was highly carbonated and fairly nice

other than the crazy foam action this is an easy drinker, not really what you would think from a special reserve, but still good - picked it up in a mixed 12 case

Serving: 12oz bottle, shipped to me from MI.

A: Cloudy light amber in color. Huge head on a (relatively) easy pour. (May have not been treated well in transit by the nice folks at UPS.) Head trails down to lots of sticky lacing. Looks great.

S: Clean, citrusy.

T: Malty sweetness in front, some citrusy astringence in the back.

M: Light bodied. Goes down easy. Only lingers for a short while.

D: Very dinkable. Excellent summer beer (why am I drinking this now? I'll have to ask for a few more come July.)

This brew pours a pale, cloudy reddish-orange color. The head is massive, fluffy and white. Lacing is thorough. The aroma is like a bouquet; very floral, and suprisingly strong for a beer with an ABV of under 5%. The taste is very well balanced; floral hops with nice malts. The aftertaste is very pleasing. The mouthfeel is a bit lighter than medium bodied, with a lot of carbonation. Overall, this is an outstanding session beer. This beer has two or three times as much flavor and aroma as I had expected it to. The only problem I have with this beer is that every bottle in my six pack way overly primed, making it impossible to pour. It literally took me twentyfive minutes to pour each glass. If not for this I would say the drinkability of this beer to be exceptional.

Pours with an enormous white, foamy head. Clear golden color..gobs of lacing. Entirely overcarbonated, the head explodes even with a very easy pour.. Smells somewhat spicy & actually alcoholic..from an under 5% alcohol brew..odd. Hints of two-row barley in the aroma as well. Taste is dominantly malt, and the barley is laid on pretty thick. Lackluster mouthfeel.

Says "Best when purchased before the month notched"..except no month is notched, so I guess there's no way of knowing if it's past it's prime. Regardless, I wasn't impressed.

Super highly-charged bottle, foamed up over three inches in the glass. Slightly hazy darker gold color, head of very large bubble sizes. Laces however, are mostly small dots and patches. Smells lightly of pear, slight hint of hops. Less-than-average mouthfeel, airy carbonation -- comes off as pretty well-structured. The taste is quite good, a tight balance between brown sugar, slightly caramelized, and equally done hops, peppery with floral bitter qualities far and away fom Pacific Northwest signatures. I'd give this one a good score in a well-brewed lighter manner, but it seems that the bottle-conditioned foaminess is REALLY annoying in a six pack context and hard to control, but eventually it scores pretty well.

Beercano! This thing erupted right after the bottle opened (which was totally undisturbed, I might add). When I finally got it under control, it was a speckled and pond water looking concoction. Head was freakin' huge and unmanageable. The pour had nothing to do with it. Doesn't smell like much, light yeast and grain, maybe? Taste was a little better, some bread tones mixed with a light hoppiness. There is just not much to this beer, after the clean-up session was concluded. The worst Arcadian beer I have had to date.

Hazy, amber/orange hue, ...big carbonation in the bottle, froth erupted furiosly on uncapping, making a careful, patient pour a necessity...head is a booming boulder-y cap, then slims to nothing.

Aroma: tart & citric at first, hoppy, soapy, bitter and buttery at the same time. Ringwood? A wild combo, at the least..unique, but not sure I like it...

Taste: wham, rebop, boom, bam, and there it is again, same sensations from the nose, now on the palate. bitter, roasty, malty, sour, citric, spicy...not too tasty, and least not right away...huh...the "spice" comes through more, like the coriander in a witbier.

Medium-body, with a long, spicy finish...I'll leave it up to each individual whether this suits them or not, but, while complex and flavorful, it's just not my cuppa.

Perhaps I'll change my mind somewhere near the end of the 6-pack, once I've managed to put the other 5 bottles away, but let's just wait and see on that.

Brewed with Pale, Carapils, Crystal, and wheat malts. Hopped with Mt.Hood, Fuggles, and Tettnang

OG=1.046, 4.6% ABV. Best by October.

Pours out to a cloudy pale caramel, forming a goods-sized soapy white head with poor retention and sparse lacing. Bits of stuff quickly settle to the bottom of the glass. Carbonation is moderate. Aroma=Very much an English Pale..fruity, mild diacetyl, large amount of yeast, caramel and toffee, Fuggles. Mouthfeel is ruddy and oxidized, just the way the English like it! Medium-light body. Begins with Fuggles, followed by a strong surge of oxidized hops, damp cardboard, alcohol, diacetyl, and rubber. Finish is dry and ruddy as well.

This brew sucks. I'd be interested in trying it fresh on-tap, but what I have in front of me stinks. Down the drain it goes.

12oz brown bottle - Best by date notched Sept. Listed on the bottom of the main label as "English Golden Mild Ale"

Clear gold in color, soft yet firm, finger high white frothy head, lacing in minimal strings.

Aroma is somewhat grassy, notable English style barley malt and Fuggles hop aroma, slightly doughy of bagels with a whisper of flour grain.

Taste is quite nice, very mellow and easy going palate with nice little flavors. Slightly crisp biscuit-like malt, frothy and full, delicate with slight floral and grassy hops, Fuggles mostly and perhaps some Mt. Hood. It has a wonderful appeal in the closing, nice fluffy whole grain and fresh buscuity flavors crescendo nicely with an easy floating dry finish.

Medium body feel, lightly crispened and dry. Has a certain grainy texture witha touch of sweetness underneath.

One amazingly fine drinker. Gone in no time flat. It reminds me in some ways of Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold, a good quality to have. Good stuff!
A much appreciated thanks for trbeer for this one!

On tap at the brewery.
Poured pale brown, with an inch of white head.
Aroma is very mild, dominated by toasted malt, with little hop presence. Appropriate for a Mild ale.
Tastes mostly of malt, toasted dominance. Appropriately carbonated.
Very smooth, drinkable and refreshing. Would be a good intro ale for a macro drinker.

Pours with a nice white head with good retention. Lightly hazy pale gold liquid, lightly malty and delicate hop flower nose. Light bodied with wispy sweet maltiness and decent amounts of hoppy bitterness on the palate. Finishes light and very drinkable, refreshing and easy to quaff in quantity.
Thanks to CRJM for the bottles.

Appearance: Hazy golden orange copper hue big frothy off white cream head leaves behind sporadic patches of lacing. Aroma: A very inticing English hop profile fuggles can easily be picked out malts create a slight sweetness with a biscuit malt tone that just works. Taste: The English 2-row and mild bittering hops tango well together very balanced yet intriguing mild pale reminds me of Blue Bird Bitter for some reason. Mouthfeel: Lighter body mellow carbonation great stuff. Drinkability: Damn good mild the folks @ Arcadia have mastered some English styles, the true beer drinker's light beer is right here.

Pours ultra clear dark golden color with relatively small head that still manages to kick off a ton of lace.
Aroma of very pale malt, some hay or cut grass and a slightly citric hop tone.
Flavor of pale malt to start and a slight hint of grapefruit and resin in the background.
Mouthfeel starts innocuously . Very light malty hit that moves to a delicious spicy and bitter finish.
Drinkability is very good, Could drink these all afternoon on the patio.

I'm afraid travel may not have been kind on this beer. The imported 12oz bottle has a lovely label, and it poured a nice hazy golden with a slightly ruddy heart, but there was no head.

The aroma is of abandoned mill, and is quite startling. It could almost have a nice, rustic smell to it, but the mustiness keeps increasing until its nearly pungent.

The taste fails from the same traits. Its got a thin, almost appealing body, but the stale malt flavors really create an unsavory experience. Somewhat sour flavors mire the experience, and it is too powerful to enjoy. I will have to try this again sometime, preferably closer to the source. Thanks for the effort Bill.

Special Reserve? Did they reserve the post sparge mash from their Scotch Ale for this brew? Maybe, but it's quite a nice mild ale after all. Dainty nose of toffee and grass. Fluid draught brings thirst-quenching ripples of sweet caramel with equally mellow bitter crests to lap, lap against your buds. I envision myself pounding pints in the pub down the street but, unfortunately, this is the type of brew that gets lost between the tasteless lights and more flavorful darks.

Battle Creek Special Reserve. Not a bad little brew from Arcadia. It's crisp and distinctly golden -- and in being true to form, it's got a very mild aroma that features a light hoppiness above all else. The flavor is very light -- briefly roasted malts, leafy herbs, and a bit of a Cascade-ish finish. Fairly mild and light bodied. Hit the spot today after work.

This beer poured a golden color and created a white head that left some lace as it subsided. Some carbonation was present. It had an aroma of of hops and grain. The flavor was mostly of hops with a slight sweetness to it. The finish was light and a touch on the dry side. Not a bad beer, but not one of their better ones.