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Who doesn't love an arcade? All of the lights, the overwhelming noise of buzzers and beepers, and the ephemeral idea that fun can be purchased for a quarter. I know, there are a lot of games that cost a bunch more than a quarter, but that's what I remember from my youth. I think it was the Spy Hunter sit-down arcade machine at the local mini-mart that cost $0.75 a play that really shook me to my core. The problem was, it was also the best video game I had ever played. It had a bitching soundtrack, fantastic controls, and what appeared to be good graphics at the time. Will this beer have good graphics?
The dark orange beer is almost brown in its presentation, and the head sprouts forth exuberantly. It appears to be fairly sticky for a pale ale, but it does thankfully reduce itself to an incomplete but impressive layer of bubbles across the top of the beer. The aroma is delightful with a completely approachable sweet malt and fruit esters blowing in the wind.
First sip is a little disappointing. The beer that I thought I was going to get was going to have some heft from that malt, but this one seems like it has a whole lot more carbonated water included. The fruits are pretty much just spritzes that have been cast into the vat of soda water. I know I need to recondition my expectations to align with the pale ale nature of this beer, and I recently had a double IPA that may have skewed my thoughts on what expectations there should be for a beer, but I'm not particularly satisfied with the sip. However, more demure beers tend to be quite quaffable. Let's see what happens when we quaff.
Tip-in is sweet, glazed biscuits that are accompanied by not insignificant carbonation buzz. The middle is, indeed, exactly what you want in a quaffable beer with just enough flavor to keep the drink interesting and just enough refreshment to make you want to have more. The finish has a revisit of fruits with bitterness trailing off into the darkness.
Bottom Line: Despite initial concerns, pretty darn good.
3.75/5
