High & Mighty XPA

High & Mighty Beer Co
Brewed at Paper City Brewery
Style: American Pale Ale
Holyoke, Massachusetts USA

12oz brown bottle from Florian’s. Murky amber-yellow body with a half inch of off-white head. Caramel malty sweetness and piney citrussy hops play equal parts in the aroma. Apricot dominates the flavor, with undertones of pith and caramel malt. On the lighter side of medium-bodied. Very tasty, pleasing, and drinkable. I’m impressed.

En fût. Verre de 8 oz dégusté chez American Flatbread (Burlington, VT). Arôme: Odeur d’agrumes et de caramel. Apparence: La couleur est blonde pâle voilée avec une faible densité de bulle. Présence d’un moyen col mousseux et d’une large dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût d’agrumes et de miel. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen avec une texture légèrement huileuse. Moyenne effervescence en bouche. Présence d’agrumes en arrière goût. (Rating #971)

Bottle. Pours a very hazy and bubbly golden-orange with an average size lasting fluffy white head. Nice aroma of fresh citrus hops, fruit and caramel malt -- simple but very pleasant. Flavour’s the same: citrus hops well balanced by caramel malt and a nice bitter finish -- so easy to drink, this is better then many IPAs. Medium bodied. Wow, this was a really good Pale Ale and a true session Ale -- I’d love to down several of these on a patio in the summer.

Welcomed citrus smell and taste with a soft bitter finish. Retained a good head and lacing. Body a cloudy, unpasteurized yellow honey mustard cream soda color. Uber sessionable.

12oz bottle acquired in trade with ppoitras (thanks!). Poured a medium and cloudy orange color with an average sized white head. Aromas of citrus, caramel, some yeast and fruity. Tastes of citrus, some caramel, a little bready with a light spicey finish. Some lacing left on the glass. Would make a nice session beer if this was available locally.

Have had this in bottles many times, most recently I bought a six pack in mid-December.
And, this one’s my 400th rating from a Massachusetts brewer.
I think this is a fitting beer for that rating, as this is definitely a very forward-thinking beer.
First, it embodies the true craft, being unpasteurized and unfiltered. So right there you’ve got the basics down. (I might add it’s dryness as another trait of true craft, but that’s just opinion)
But second, and more importantly, I think this ahead of its time in its simplicity and moderate alcohol content while still preserving tons of flavor and aroma. I would like to think, and definitely hope, that craft brewing will regain some ground in the mid gravity sector and this is a great start and fitting that the Will Shelton, who sponsors another wonderful mid-gravity brewer, Cantillon, makes this.
Big beers certainly have their place, but to me, it just looks like they are taking up 95% or more of brewers’ interests these days. For sure, brewers are still making all kinds of low and mid grav beers, but most don’t spend the time on them that they do on the big ones, and that is the key problem.
Anyways, tying this back to Massachusetts, and even New England in general, it seems this has always been a great area for low to mid gravity beer. We just need more bottling brewers. Will at Cambridge is doing many many wonderful mid gravity beers but none of them get bottled and thus none of the exposure. I really think that all it takes is one outstanding bottling brewer to spark an outbreak of bottled, excellent craft beer. Massachusetts sorely needs it. Hopefully Will puts some more beers out with this line (though it’s too bad Paper City is the only logical place to brew them at).
Earlier Rating: 11/13/2004 Total Score: 1.7
2003 bottle. Looks like, smells like and tastes like the most pale malt you’ve ever had with old, bready, moldy hops. Watery, lightly bubbly and yellow. Papery, apple cider is this? seriously, you wonder what they were thinking, what an AWFUL beer. poor ingredients. The only thing I can say is that it has somewhat more body than budweiser. Ale yeast should not be used for things like this. Please stop making this. . . . .

New brewery being carried by Premier Gourmet. Foaming head on light golden colour. Hoppy aroma. Smooth drinking and very drinkable pale, without lingering bitterness, a bit of flavour other than bitterness is nice. Good session ale.Decent carbonation and mouthfeel.

Robe blonde légèrement voilée surmontée d’une mousse blanche en dentelle qui s’estompe. Arômes de houblon fruité. Saveurs de pêche, de pamplemousse et de framboise.