River Horse Belgian Freeze Winter Ale

Brewed by River Horse Brewing Company
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Lambertville, New Jersey USA

A dark brown ale in color. Offers a sweet caramel aroma followed by a spicy taste. Definately in my top ten of seasonals. This is one beer to help make the winter months bearable.

deep brown color, almost solid, just a little cloudy, head is white and dissipates quckly from a moderate layer to some thin wisps. aroma is malty, with hints of sweet hops. flavor is a little unbalanced, it has a very watery taste at the beginning and end, and a sweetness stuck in between. that sweet flavor is pretty good, but it doesnt hold through out the mouthful. also a bit thin on the body, with a very sweet aftertaste. not bad, but nothing special here.

A good attempt at a Belgian strong ale. The color is a deep ruby-amber with a fizzy, guickly dying head. Flavor is that of fruit - sweet but a bit of sourness in the finish.

Pours a deep-hued copper with no head. Aroma is very faint, just a touch of sweetness. Thin bodied and a tad sour, not much really going on in the flavor besides the sour twang in the back of the throat. Maybe a bit of roastiness. Overall bland and boring.

Thin pour with very litte head, carmel to prune color. Spicey with moderate carbonation and a hoppy bite at the finish. The alcohol is well hidden. I am not an expert on this style but I thought it was pretty good.

02.12.05 12oz bottle. Dark brown pour, crystal clear; frothy, fading, tan head leaves light lace. Very unusual aromas are tough to pin down and not even close to pleasant as a stench fills the air. In fact, the more I’m around the stuff, the more irritated I am getting with it. I smell rotten grain, old barn, mulch, clove, plastic, it’s not good and I’m reluctant to taste. Flavor puts the mulchy, rotten grain to the forefront, along with notes of burnt white bread and the charred skin of a roasted red peper. Finishes dry and flavorless with an upwelling of lettuce-like bitterness lingering as an aftertaste. I don’t think this beer resembles any Belgian I’ve ever had in any way, rather, it’s a poorly conceived, misguided, hapless mess of unbalanced and unpleasant tastes and aromas. If ever there was a drain pour, this one’s it.

Dark dark clear brown with a low lathery head - suggests a wierd De Dolle Bros-like brew (or Fantome). Where’s the typical Belgian yeasty nose? Some yeast in the taste but mostly toasted malt, some caramell and honey. Thinish with a clean palate. Not sure what this is supposed to be in the end, but they are at least trying something new.

Brown color with strong red highlights throughout. Aroma of a belgian dubbel (earthy caramel and chewy). Flavor is quite odd. There is a band-aid like flavor, some sweetness, some caramel, and a rather intense carbonation and bitterness (ass-tringency) that overbalances the palate both objectively and subjectively. I will have to try this one again at a later date.