Arcadia Brewing Co.

Client Brewer in Elk Rapids, Michigan, United States 🇺🇸
Owned by Short's Brewing Company
Associated with 2 Venues

Established in 1996

Closed in 2024

Contact
211 Industrial Park Dr, Elk Rapids, MI, 49629, United States
Description
For over 20 years, Arcadia Ales has been committed to a British Inspired – American Brewed stable of beers. We aspire to brew beers that achieve brilliance through balance – ales that satisfy the senses with complex flavor while providing pure refreshment that leaves you wanting more.

In 1996, our first 25 barrel batch was brewed on a Brick Kettle Brewing System from England at our Battle Creek, MI location. Fast-forward – today every batch is produced in our 50 barrel American-made brewhouse at our Kalamazoo Riverfront Brewery, Pub and Garden. Our 20th Anniversary in 2016 ushered in a new era of brewing possibilities with the installation of two new 100bbl closed fermentation tanks giving us the ability to use new yeast strains while we continue to brew classic Arcadia Ales using our distinctive, proprietary yeast strain in our traditional, open fermenters. The ability to brew with new yeast strains opens up the Arcadia Brewing Company portfolio of offerings, allowing our brewers to be creative in ways that were not previously accessible and broadening the scope of beers produced. With these changes, we still keep our promise to use only the finest domestic and English malted barley, along with the highest quality hops available from the Pacific Northwest and Michigan.

Admin Note: Formerly named Arcadia Brewing Co. In the spring of 2014, Arcadia completed a new production facility in Kalamazoo, MI. The Battle Creek facility closed in 2016. The company ceased all operations in September 2019.

In June 2020, the Superfluid Supply Co. division of Short's Brewing announced its purchase of Arcadia's beer brands and intellectual property. Whitsun Ale was the first release with plans to resurrect other recipes in the future as well.

Admin Note: Short's confirmed in 2024 that they have fully retained the Arcadia brand. They still hold the rights, but there is no plan to continue brewing Arcadia beers.

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3.1/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 3 Flavor 3 Texture 4 Overall 1.5
On tap at the barley wnie tasting at the Bocktown, nice place. Clean aroma, perhaps some fruit. Does not smell like most barleywines I’ve sampled. It lacks that big ale sweetness in the olfactory. Appearance is slightly cloudy and decently dark. Big choco mousse head. Barely any carbonation on the palate. Weird flavor that is very unique. Morphs immediately from mild to alky wild. Quite an experience. The finish after each sip is dangerously alky. Overall, perhaps a bit milder than most barley wines but it still exhibits the big barly wine alkly impact that is so common with this style.
Tried from Draft on 27 Dec 2007 at 08:16

4.2/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 4 Flavor 4 Texture 4 Overall 4
Slight fruity aroma reminds me of many Hereford and Hops brews I’ve smelled. Slightly cloudy light iced tea brown appearance. Not much bitterness on the palate and comes across quite interesting. Easy to drink and easy to enjy. Well mannered and has a unidentifyable lmild ingering bitter finish. Medium low amount of carbonation. A pretty decent brew but that mild bitter linger builds a little after the session. Not quite as good as Breckenridge Autumn Ale. On par with Railbender, winter warmer and gooses Christmas ale.
Tried on 27 Dec 2007 at 07:56

6.6/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 6.5
Bottle. Pours a dark brown/black with a touch more fizz than expected. Aromas are roasty with a touch of dark fruit, but fairly subtle for an Impy Stout. Flavor is sweet, roasty and kind of dull. I didn’t find much in the way of complexity or plot development and was left without much satisfaction.
Tried from Bottle on 22 Dec 2007 at 23:13

7.2/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7
On tap at Arcadia. Deep brown pour, thick tight tan head. Sharp cherry aroma backed by chocolate and dusty, roasted malts. A nice, sharp cherry bite is followed by chocolate and a big, roasty finish. The chocolate does border on the Hershey’s syrup sticky sweet variety, but the tart cherry and dry roast reins in anything threatening to be excessive. Good interplay of the various elements here. A nice sipping beer with good heft and complexity.
Tried from Draft on 20 Dec 2007 at 18:54

7.6/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 6 Overall 7.5
12 oz bottle. Deep amber-copper body, medium to thick off-white head. Sharp, bright citrusy hops aroma, punctuated by abundant sugars. Like a sweet hops pulp with medicinal undertones. The body is a potent herbal, medicinal hops tea with warming alcohol notes. The hops are a little over the top for me, but an ample, sweet but not syrupy malt backbone holds everything together. There is an interesting delicateness here unexpected in such a potent beer. A brew worthy of many more a sip.
Tried from Bottle on 20 Dec 2007 at 18:48

7.5/10 Appearance 10 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7
Hazy amber color; huge head. The hoppy aroma has a clear fruity touch (peach and Muscadel grape, sweet). Medium body, with a nice caramel-toffee flavor, good bitterness levewl, with some resins, long final. Very pleasant.
Tried on 20 Dec 2007 at 12:49

7.2/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 8 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 8
Pour is a jet black with a tan head. Aroma is earthy and bourbon with some chocolate and peat. Flavor is not as intense as the flavor but there is a bourbon burn and a little vanilla and chocolate. Finish is a little sour and leaves a nice roasted malt on the tounge. One of the more expensive beers this brewer puts out but well worth looking for.
Tried on 15 Dec 2007 at 15:56

3.8/10 Appearance 4 Aroma 6 Flavor 3 Texture 2 Overall 3
Smell is astringent spruce hops and latex paint. The look is jackanapes. Palate feels like a despicable medicine maelstrom. A sapanaceous experience on the taste buds. Overall; the euphoric perfect of hop sessions. Gimcrack!
Tried on 14 Dec 2007 at 17:29

6.1/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 6.5
From bottle, no 25 at Papsoes blindtasting. Pours hazy orange and with a lacing white head. Hoppy aroma, slight pine and peach fruity. Perfumed flavour of hops, soapy and slight spiced. Ends with a solid bitterness lingering inbetween the mild caramel malt sweetness. Nice.
Tried from Bottle on 14 Dec 2007 at 15:08

7.5/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 10 Overall 7
Bomber pours clear amber with inch and a half tan head. It has a citrus hard candy aroma, cherry candies and raisins. The taste has that same fruity hard candy noted in the nose with sweet citrus, cherry and grapes. Then an undercurrent of mild caramel sweetness runs right up to the finish and into the aftertaste.
Tried from Can on 11 Dec 2007 at 11:14