River Horse Imperial Cherry Amber

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

Many thanks to Blankboy for supplying and sharing. Appearance: Dark amber with a proud off white head and small flecks and good carbonation. Aroma: A little dusty/milky, some nuts and ’roots’, under-ripe banana skins. Flavour: Initially quite nutty but quickly changing to bitter, as it goes on it becomes tobacco and malt like.

Picture perfect pour - dark copper with a thick, creamy bige head. Lots of lacing left on the glass. Bread and cookie in the aroma, along with dark, sweet cherries. Cherry is more evident in the aroma than the taste. Lots of biscuity malt, slightly nutty, some sweet and a slight tartness in the finish. Just a very slight bitterness. Medium body and carbonation. Nothing extraordinary, but smooth and very drinkable. (12 ounce bottle)

If I didn’t know better I would swear this beer is from the UK. From the biscuity smell to the distinctive taste of Marris Otter malt it just screams England. The nose is mostly biscuit, some toffee, and a hint of sour cherry. The flavor is a simple bready malt flavor with a hint of lactic sourness. The palate is very full, coating, but not at all cloying. Not bad but nothing to write home about.

Tap at Coles Buffalo NY. Decent beer. Caramel malts are dominate in this Amber colored brew. Stronger than most ambers. Like STier Cherry Saison , no need to throw cherry in the name if its only really slight if there at all.

Bottle. Pours amber with a beige head. The aroma has sweet nutty malt and floral hops. The flavor has sweet toffee like malt, and a hint of floral hops. Maybe the tiniest hint of cherry in the finish, but honestly if it didn’t say ’cherry’ on the front of the bottle it wouldn’t be something you’d notice. Decent.

Bottle from Educators’ BIF. Thanks dashirey. Pours hazy red-brown with an off-white head. Nose is malt, caramel, some barely noticeable dark cherry, and slightly floral hops. Tastes much different, though. Flavor is malt, some citrus hops, some sour orange, grapefruit, and a teeny, tiny cherry presence. For having cherry in the title, this seems to be a misnomer. Not much cherry in this light-bodied beer. Ok as a warm-up.

Bottle. Earthy, lightly tart nose, nuts with brown sugar, toffee, and wood. Faint mahogany pour closer to amber, with a creamy, quivering mass of beige head. Very light body, smooth feel and very dry. Some bread with amber-type caramel, but Nut Brown / Trail Mix style nuts and brown malt, light toffee. Faint malty sweetness breezes in and whispers away. Balanced and light and nuanced, a well-crafted if not terribly impressive session+. Cherry not perceptible enough to warrant the name (RH should start dating their bottles).

Tap at CAH. Pours a mostly translucent amber with golden notes and a medium foamy off white head that left some lacing. Aroma of malty sweet grains, hints of candy cherry and pretty standard lager notes. Flavor was kind of the same, cherry was light and a little more tart than sweet. Some caramel and grainy malts in flavor. Not so great.