Arcadia: Good or Bad?

It is definitely worth the gamble of opening it.

 

I would say that the fine folk on BA say it's "very good".

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/454/

 

They're great. They do classic styles VERY well and are pretty much the only US Brewery that can manage to have both open fermentation AND keep Ringwood yeast from ruining the beer.

Drink up!

 

You'll love the shipwreck. Just remember when drinking it, it's a Porter not a stout. Porters do not typically have the "thick and chewy" mouth feel of a stout. You'll enjoy it more that way vs thinking, "It's too thin."

 

Kalamazoo river in Michigan

 

Arcadia is very good. The Shipwreck is awesome as is their Barrel Aged Cereal Killer. Their regular offerings arent world beaters but they are certainly worth buying every now and then.

 

They make very good, but not necessarily mind blowing beers. Traditional English style ales, they make a very good Nut Brown, Scottish Ale and the Porter as well is one of their best.

 

Arcadia makes their beers in the English style, hence the Ringwood yeast and the use of mostly English malts and hops. Their Anglers Ale (Pale Ale) and the regular IPA are the best examples of how conservative the flavor of a beer can be. They're very good examples of the style, but they're just not exciting. (However, I recently had a pint of each at their new brewery, and both seem to have had their recipe tweaked a bit [or maybe it's their new brewing equipment] so I felt that they were more tasty than in the past, but they're still not a typical American style Pale Ale or IPA.) Just about all of their other offerings are much better examples relative to their respective styles. The Shipwreck Porter is a very good one if you enjoy a bourbon-forward sipper.

 

Their BA Imperial Stout is pretty solid too.

 

The BC brewery uses a Peter Austin brewing system, very historically appropriate for a brewery who using ringwood yeast. I had heard in the past that one of the brewers they brought in to help with the build out, and take lead at the new brewery came under the condition that they would not be using the Peter Austin system in Kalamazoo. While it is a great system that produces unique flavors, it is rather labor intensive to clean and maintain. I have not kept in touch with my Arcadia connections as of late to have any certainty but I would speculate that any change in flavor may be due to a change in equipment rather than a change in recipe.

 

I dont drink anything under a 90 rating................................lol

 

I like arcadia and the Shipwreck is a pretty good beer.

Their sky high rye is one of my favorite "go to" beers.

 

Thier london porter on Cask is one of the best ive ever had. Just stay away form the Anglers and Witsun (Which this site puts in an odd category), everything else is average to above. The new BB Loch Down that is going to be hitting the rounds is nice.

 

Shipwreck is a great beer, went to the brewpub last night and enjoyed Deliverance. Same beer just aged an additional 10 months, amazing. Hopmouth and Hop Rocket are also very good. If u arent too far away I would recommend visiting their brewpub. Their food is amazing as well. Open that bottle, u wont be dissapointed if u like barrel aged porters and stouts.

 

The pub is in Battle Creek, MI. Good food and they also have had a Sangria and hard cider available for the non beer drinkers like my wife. The beers are average to very good.

 

They just opened a huge brewing facility/pub in Kalamazoo literally a 2 minute bike ride from Bell's. Haven't been there yet.