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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7/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 7
Bottled. Ruby colour, small head. Aroma is caramel, malts, some wood, hops and alcohol. Slightly wineous. Flavour is hoppy, caramelly, slightly alcoholic and some burnt sugar.
Tried from Bottle on 22 Aug 2007 at 06:51

7.4/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
12 fl oz bottle. Pours brown with and amber hue and a light brown head. Slight berry note and roasted rye in the aroma. Dry malty flavour. Rye and slight roasted finish. Very nice surprise
Tried from Bottle on 20 Aug 2007 at 15:07

7.8/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 8
Bottle @ Chris_o shindig 2007. Black color with a small, frothy, fair lacing, mostly diminishing, light brown head. Aroma is moderate chocolate, cacao, licorice, sugar. Flavor is moderate sweet with a long duration. Body is medium to full, texture is oily / syrupy, carbonation is soft to flat, finish feel is light alcoholic.
Tried from Bottle on 20 Aug 2007 at 14:39

7.4/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
Bottled. Very dark brown colour with small brown head. Aroma is roasted malts, some leather and slight hints of alcohol. Flavour is roasted malts, some raisins and warming alcohol. Slight chocolateish notes coming in mildly in the background too.
Tried from Bottle on 19 Aug 2007 at 23:38

7.5/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 6 Overall 8
(Bottle 35,5 cl) Courtesy of yespr. Completely opaque black with a light brown head. Aroma of dried and overripe fruit as well as some alcohol. Rather full-bodied with lots of sweetish, roasted malt and accents of raisins in rum. Some bitterness in the finish. A nice one. 150807
Tried from Bottle on 19 Aug 2007 at 14:59

6.8/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 7
Black color. The aroma is mild, with soft roasted malt, coffee, milky, vanilla. Good body structure in the front, getting drier later; the flavor is a quite good mix of caramel, malt, with a touch of sweet liquorice coffee and vanilla. Good.
Tried on 15 Aug 2007 at 15:20

7.4/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
Bottled. A pitch black beer with a tan head. The aroma is sweet malty and very roasted, combined with notes of chocolate, and a light acidity from the hard roasted malt. The flavor is sweet malty with tons of chocolate - a very dark and bitter chocolate, but also strong notes of roasted malt, and lighter notes of hops. The finish is very dry, roasted, and bitter.
Tried from Bottle on 12 Aug 2007 at 16:12

7.4/10 Appearance 10 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 7.5
22 oz. bottle from Family Liquors, Homewood. Home late at night – Watching Sox pull rug out from under Mariners, followed by Elvis Night singers and fireworks – can’t stop talking like a Paul Newman Spaghetti Sauce label - Need a ig bottle of beer when I get home, ’cause only $6 Lites at ballpark – grab this one – pours big foamy head, deep copper IPA body – smell still has nice big hop, but it’s just starting to get stale. Definite big hop taste. Fresh hops still involved, some northwest pine, with humus and white pepper, and just plain bitterness. Large alcohol tally from lots of malts. This one’s pretty rough and could never be a newbie’s gateway beer. But hop heads will want to paste this stamp in their albums. I’d suggest trying this after its aged somewhat (date code on the label’s side is not notched), though that may lose a lot of the fresh hop taste that gives it its initial oomph.
Tried from Bottle on 11 Aug 2007 at 00:20

7/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 8
Bottle at Chris_o Shindig. Black, lasting tan head. Lovely aroma of cocoa choc. Decent hop. Molasses, wood, bit lactic even. Sweetish. It’s got good choc, bit one dimensional, strong hop unbalances it. 3.2/5.0 Re-rate 2006 Bottle at Chris_o pre GBBF Shindig 08. Aroma of choc and molasses. Good choc. Lacks a bit of fullness in mouth. Simple but nice.
Tried from Bottle on 10 Aug 2007 at 08:41

6.6/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 6.5
bottle - Pours a ridiculously huge head. I was able to keep from losing any beer as the bottle didn’t overflow on me like some experienced, but it took several stages to finish pouring this beer. It’s pink with a mess of small yeast floaters. The head leaves some lacing. The aroma is very much of raspberry with some yeast in there as well. The flavor is dominated by raspberry. It’s sweet with some mild hops in there that comes through more in the finish. It’s light and refreshing, but avoids being watery, unlike a couple other raspberry wheats beers I’ve had recently. It’s far from my favorite style, but really this brew is a pretty good fruit beer.
Tried from Bottle on 07 Aug 2007 at 22:40