Arch Amber Ale, Brewers’ Tasting and Recipe Notes
Arch Amber Ale, based upon a draft favorite at The Hartford Brewery Limited
(CT’s first brewpub, 1991-2000), is made to our specifications at the
Shipyard Brewing Company in Portland Maine.
We brewed and served a half-million fresh and frothy pints of Arch Amber
Ale at our brewpub using similar brewing procedures as at Shipyard.
Now we’re putting it in bottles.
Tasting Notes
Appearance is crystal clear brass-bronze in color with a faint cream tint to the
long-lingering lacy head. The aroma is clean, appropriately subtle with a
cereal biscuit-y, citrus and almost cherry-like toffee nose. The taste starts out
fresh and inviting with a caramel buttery malt tone to the introduction,
underlying the cutting crisp hop bittering flavors. Clear and thirst-quenching
with a beery balanced almond-cedar hardwood influence. Sublime fruity
flavors and what feels like the start of an intense hop bite fades quickly into a
pleasant dry mineral water and nutty aftertaste. Terrific balanced beer
designed for versatility and every-day application. Mild and clean to perform
on its own, with just enough backbone to accompany and stand up to spicy
foods, meats and seafood. Tastes great as an icy “beer-sicle” in a chilled glass
- even better when acclimated to 45o to 50o cellar temperature where the
malt flavors, hop balance and creamy head really stand out.
Recipe Notes
Hard water. Appropriate for a pale ale style, this gives something for the hop
oils to stick to, and the right water chemistry and ph levels for a proper
British style bitter or pale Ale. Our water chemistry provides mineral flavor
and body to complement the complex malt and hop ingredients. The mineral
factor enhances the processing steps in mashing, sparging, boiling,
fermenting and conditioning. The malt bill includes English 2-row Pale Ale
Barley Malt, English Crystal Malt, German Munich Malt, and touches of
Chocolate Barley Malt and Malted Whole Wheat. Hops include Chinook,
Hallertau, Cascade, Willamette and Tettnang.
Shipyard’s lively Ringwood culture (a top-fermenting “ale” yeast) is used to
ferment the beer, as was the case when we brewed in Hartford.
Versatile Arch Amber Ale; light enough to enjoy all by itself or with hors d’
oeuvres at the cocktail hour, dry enough to complement rich cheeses. An
excellent pairing with chicken, special salads, fresh fish, a buttery New
England clambake, scallops and full-blown lobster fests. Arch Amber Ale is
perfect with spicy foods, and can stand up to a searing burrito or a coastal
Carolinas dry rub barbecue. The Hartford Better Beer Company is founded by
Phil Hopkins and Les Sinnock.
The label for Arch Amber Ale features Hartford's coolest architectural
monument, the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch which is located in Hartford's
beautiful Bushnell Park. It is said to be the first commemorative arch built in
North America. The arch was designed by Hartford architect George Keller,
whose ashes were buried in the east tower when he died in 1935, along with
those of his wife, Mary, who died in 1946. The arch was dedicated on
September 17, 1886, --the anniversary of the Battle of Antietam--to honor the
4,000 Hartford citizens who served in the Civil War, and the 400 who died for
the Union. This Gothic monument is made of brownstone from Portland,
Connecticut. The terra cotta frieze depicts scenes from the Civil War, and
midway below it, eight-foot-tall statues representing the various kinds of
residents who left their homes, families and businesses to fight in the War:
student, farmer, freed slave, stone mason, carpenter and blacksmith. We like
the message of these residents dropping their weapons of war to return to the
tools of their trades. Replacing the original terra cotta statues in the late 1980's,
there are two bronze angels--Gabriel and Raphael--- that crown each tower.
Another more recent addition is a bronze plaque under the freed slave which
honors the 128 African American residents of Hartford who fought for the Union.
monument, the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch which is located in Hartford's
beautiful Bushnell Park. It is said to be the first commemorative arch built in
North America. The arch was designed by Hartford architect George Keller,
whose ashes were buried in the east tower when he died in 1935, along with
those of his wife, Mary, who died in 1946. The arch was dedicated on
September 17, 1886, --the anniversary of the Battle of Antietam--to honor the
4,000 Hartford citizens who served in the Civil War, and the 400 who died for
the Union. This Gothic monument is made of brownstone from Portland,
Connecticut. The terra cotta frieze depicts scenes from the Civil War, and
midway below it, eight-foot-tall statues representing the various kinds of
residents who left their homes, families and businesses to fight in the War:
student, farmer, freed slave, stone mason, carpenter and blacksmith. We like
the message of these residents dropping their weapons of war to return to the
tools of their trades. Replacing the original terra cotta statues in the late 1980's,
there are two bronze angels--Gabriel and Raphael--- that crown each tower.
Another more recent addition is a bronze plaque under the freed slave which
honors the 128 African American residents of Hartford who fought for the Union.