River Horse Special Ale ESB

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

12 oz bottle. Hazy copper with a thin white head. Small spicey aroma with just a bit of malt. Light malty taste that is somewhat "earthy". Very light and goes down easy. Nothing special but drinkable.

Rating from old notes. Amber color with no head. Aroma is malty and not that impressive. Flavor picks up a bit with a smooth and crisp malt taste. Palate is average, not bitter, but safe and managable.

Murky amber-brown color with a wafer thin white head. Weak aroma of crystal malt, honey and dark fruits. Initial mouthfeel is thin and watery. Flavor is dominated by the sweetness and mild herbal spiciness with little to no hop presence. Perhaps the "company’s leading seller" because it is so middle-of-the-road and unremarkable?

12 oz bottle from a variety pack: Little off white head on a light amber body. the initial aroma of this beer to me is of sweet corn and a bit of prunes. Slightly Belgian if you will...There is a bit of a spicy/fruity aroma and flavor to this one as well as a higher level of carbonation. A bit of brown sugar, rose floral, and plum spice. Not a good thing for an ESB!!! I happen to like it, but that cannot be a good thing for an ESB!!! Wow! A very solid Belgian beer, but probably not what they were shooting for!!! Dryer finish, a bit of brown sugar flavor, and a floral/fruity aftertaste. Light body, highly carbonated. smooth. I really like this beer for what it is, not necessarily what it should be.

Love these guys. Love this brewery. Love the events. Love stopping by for samples. A pretty satisfying all around brew though I often find they miscaterorgorize the styles. Want tso much to gives props, yet don’t find this particularly premium or special - just fair + across the board.

Poured copper colored with big bubbles. The aroma was very light but I detected a lightly sweet malty presence. The flavor was lightly floral with honey and caramel malt. The hops were not really there for an ESB. This was not terrible but just not what I would expect. The body is creamy and somewhat syrupy, but over all it’s light and unimpressive. Drink this stuff cool if you want to drink it!

Not much happenin,here, folks, go about your business. Dusky brownish amber with not much head, little lacing. Nothing in the nose except a bit of raisiny/pruny dark fruit, a bit of banana and alcohol. Not much in the taste (except the lacl thereof). A tangy tart fizzy fruitish concoction wit no malt and hardly any hops -- and they lent an herbal note but no bitterness to speak of. Mouth feel? Miller lite. Sorry, River Horse, but this one doesn’t get it done. I’m rooting for ya’ but a flavorless ESB? You gotta do better than this.

12 oz. bottle in a shaker. Poured orange-reddish, aroma of malts some hops; the commerical description is almost spot-on, except the thin body, and a bit too much carbonation, slight malt in the mouth. Easy to down.