River Horse Belgian Freeze Winter Ale

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

Traded bottle. Good beer but it seemed to be missing some of the "Belgian" qualities if that makes sense. Fair amount of malt but it seemed more burnt than roasted. Okay but nothing I would recommend trying to track down.

Back in 2004-2005 this beer was called Belgian Frostbite, the brewery was under different ownership and it was an incredible beer for my early days in craft ale. Went to Lambertville a number of times to enjoy this ale unfortunately this beer seemed to be plagued with batches that kept getting worse as time went on. I remember drain pouring a number of bottles and saying what the hell happened to this early in 2006. Anyway at one point this ale was amazing and i will rate it as such, however if i was to rate the recent offering under the name belgian freeze it would be 3.0 or less. This rating is more for a memory of a beer i loved some time ago.

Reddish brown with thin white head. Aroma was sour and grassy. Taste was grass, woody and burnt.

Bottle from Once Upon a Vine - South on 03/29/2009. Somewhat cloudy dark amber body with ruby highlights and a small off-white head. Dry grainy spice aroma, somewhat harsh and a bit vegetal. Dry grainy flavor, fairly vegetal, with some burnt malt and a bit of dry bitter in the finish. Medium body with moderate carbonation.

Bottle. Pours a dark brown with a small tan head. Aroma was caramel malts, dark fruit, alcohol and a hint of chocolate. Flavor was malty sweet with dark fruit, caramel, alcohol, light chocolate and notes of spices.

Bottle. Poured an average sized, light brown head with good lacing. Body was a clear ruby-brown with a fair amount of floating particulate. Nose was heavy on caramel and chocolate with some toastiness. The caramel and chocolate were also present in the flavor, accompanied by roast and coffee tones with a touch of molasses. Medium, creamy, slightly oily mouthfeel with flat carbonation and a fair amount of bitterness. Some hop bitterness, but the roasted malt provided the majority. A little alcohol in the finish, but I wouldn’t have guessed 8%. Overall a nice beer, nothing special, but enjoyable enough.

12oz bottle (Belgian Frostbite winter ale). Poured a deep amber hue with an off white creamy head. Has good lacing and retention. The smell is of black licorice and orange peel aromas with mild dark fruits and some various herbal spices. The taste consisted of a dark chocolate, dark sweet fruits, orange peel and licorice. Some earthy ginger flavor as well. The mouthfeel was of average fullness and slightly creamy.

bottle. pours a darker cola color. Aromas of caramel malts, light dried fruit, lots of maltiness. Some dubbel type spiciness that falls a bit short IMO. 8% is well hidden. Not bad but needs a little more oomph