River Horse Special Ale ESB

Brewed by River Horse Brewing Company
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Lambertville, New Jersey USA

This beer is overcarbonated, or at least this bottle is. The head fills the glass to the brim and recedes slowly to a thin foamy topper. Hazy amber pour looks pretty, with loads of carbonation streaming upward through the center. The aroma is awful, stale caramel malt and earthy light hoppiness. Notes of sweet fruits and raisins permeate the air. Tart malt solidifies the unimpressive stature of the nose, leading right into an even worse flavor. Tartness and sweetness are intensified, nearly concealing hop flavors. Bitterness is weak, acidity mild to medium. Finishes lightly sweet tyhen dries slightly. Mouthfeel is fizzy, sticky and aggravating. Drainpour, not because it’s undrinkable, just because it’s not worth drinking.

Pours a slightly hazy light amber redcolor with a monstrous light tan head. Seems to be well carbonated, if not over carbonated. Smells of some hops, fruits, a little funk in there too. Kind of a sharp metallic aroma in there too, that seemed out of place. The taste has a distincr funky little sourness to it, that was wierd. Mild hops, and some sweet little floral hops push through, but all are hidden by the funkiness. Wierd ESB.

Not what i expect from an ESB, yet I like for what it is as a fine simple Summer Ale.

From bottle pours amber with a good amount of head. Kind of a watery hop taste, not at all what i expected. Very weak aftertaste.

Toasted/nutty/earthy/biscuit aroma with a quickly diminishing tan head that created minimal lacing. Copper color is spot on and the carbonation is good for the style, meaning it’s on the low side of things. Nowhere near strong enough to be considered an ESB, this is an ordinary or possibly even a best bitter and nothing more. On draft it’s a solid session brew.............out of a bottle, however, it’s forgettable.

Rated 9/7/06: I like this beer and I also don’t really care for it at the same time. Aroma is very sweet with a good presence. Pours a nice pale amber color but even while dumping the beer straight into my glass I couldn’t get a decent head to form and there is very little lacing. Mouthfeel is somewhat full but watery in the end. Solid malt here rather sweet for an ESB. Caramel and a honey flavor are dominant, it’s tasty but just a bit too sweet for my liking. Decent but lacking.

Eh. that’s what this beer, and this brewery does for me. No real special bitter aroma, or flavor here.

Copper body with resiny head. Aroma is caramel malts. Sweet and agressive on the front. Stays caramel sweet througout. Just overly sweet for me.