River Horse Double White

Brewed by River Horse Brewing Company
Style: Belgian White (Witbier)
Lambertville, New Jersey USA

Arrowhead Market, Deep Creek, MD - Hmmm, I’m not quite sure what beer everyone else has tried but I can assure you the River Horse is a far cry from the Blue Moons and yes, even Hoegaardens of the world. This brew is nearly a tripel. A citrus rind and yeasty smell rises from a nearly perfect Belgian-style body, my 12 oz. poured exactly like the Chimay ads look like. Big pillowy head with a nice, bubbly carbonated body creates a cracked pepper, coriander, and heavy yeast flavor. Just a fine example of the style.

From dmac via trade. Poured a dirty golden color with a one-finger tall white head and streaks of lacing. The aroma soapy and perfumy with plenty of lemon. Ended up smelling like Pledge furniture polish. The flavor had the soap and lemon component as well but there was lots of wheat to be found. Thin to medium in body.

12oz bottle from dmac. Pours cloudy, orange with a medium sized, creamy white head and some lace. Smells dry and yeasty with some spices and citrus. Not sure what the spices are, nice and sweet. Tastes dry and wheaty. Sweet with spices throughout and some notes of citrus, orange. Medium body, nice carbonation.

12 ounce bottle in Hoegaarden tumbler. Pale orange with lasting dense creamy head and lace. Coriander lemon peel aroma. Very soft creamy wouthfeel. Vanilla sweetness with peachy fruit sweetness and mild spicy finish with slight tang and alcohol. White is not a style to be doubled. The style just doesn’t hide alcohol well.

Bottle. Pours a huge, creamy white head...reminiscent of meringue. Murky, golden body with clumpy yeast particulate. Spicy aroma of coriander and bitter orange. Alcohol on the nose reminds of vodka. Some wheat and yeast dough in the aroma. Flavor is purely of lemon flavored vodka...think absolut citron. Low levels of misc. Belgian spice. Lots of burning alcohol. Very unpleasant. Light-medium body , lively carbonation. Lots of booze. Tart, slightly puckering. Overall this beer has too much alcohol in the flavor for me to enjoy. Needs refinement. Possibly an old bottle?

12 oz bottle courtesy of Cletus as an extra. Wonderful. Pours a hazy light gold, faint orange shows up a bit, huge white cakey head that starts to die down, eventually ends up a small layer, decent lacing. Aromas are heavy on coriander, throwing orange zest and flaked white wheat behind a power coriander presence. A touch of citrus and faint estery banana. Initial is the lighter bodied, a touch chalky or bitter, moving to a decent sweet and spicey mix or orange peel, heavier coriander, flaked wheat provided a mellower sweetness. A touch spicey, dry, with some hoppiness that really comes in fairly strong in the finish, dry bitterness. Florals? Overall, the flavors in this brew aren’t bad, but the overall piece of work is a bit lacking for a "style" that already gets a bad rap (Double/Imperial Wits). Overall, ok.

Draft from Spring lounge. Average witte, nothing special here. Move along.

Bottle thanks to Cletus. Pours with a nearly clear yellow body with a fluffy, and somewhat large white head atop. Not nearly cloudy enough for a wit beer, but I digress. Aroma of coriander, dryness, light clove, fresh tobacco, tumbleweed, jasmine, lemon peel and a touch of candi sugar. Interesting. Taste starts off sweet and fruity with citrus notes, and ends bone dry and spicy. Yeast reminds me a lot of the Unibroue yeast. Candi sugar notes. Bubbly mouthfeel. Interesting "wit".