River Horse Special Ale ESB

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

Bottle. Pours an average, creamy, off-white, pitted head. Clear, copper body. Yeast clouds are introduced with the last swirl. Tasty, herbal, earthy hop aroma with some hop spiciness. Caramel malt and light toast/biscuit. More herbal hops in the flavor along with some musty forest. Caramel malt lends a pleasant sweetness. Some biscuit and light raisin round out the flavors. Medium bodied, light carbonation. Relatively sweet, but I find that the bitterness balances it nicely for the style. Fairly clean finish. Overall very nice. I guess I’m in the minority.

12 ounce bottle in pint glass. Copper orange with ring. Caramel fruit aroma. Toasted sweet caramel nutz apple fruit with metallic finishing bitterness. Gooey. I think the push toward 1000 ratings could be tough.

Bottle. Aroma of sweet malt and caramelized sugar, some nutty hints. Doesn’t mention crystal malt in the description, but the flavor for me is an iced tea bomb with hints of hops and heartier malt. Sugary sweet. Like iced tea. Not a good effort.

A light and refreshing brew with a slight hint on honey aroma and taste. Well balanced and light on the palate. A great summer beer

Serving: 12 oz. bottle. Appearance: Amber with a very small, foamy, white head. The head is gone pretty quickly. Aroma: Paper, a little fruity, a little cooked vegetables, and plum? Reminds me of Magic Hat Wacko and that’s not a good thing. Taste: Fruity malt, cardboard, some sugary sweetness, and raspberry. Not very good. Palate: Medium-high, aggressive carbonation with a light mouthfeel. Medium-short finish. Too much carbonation in this one. Overall: I think it is pretty obvious this one has oxidized a little, but there is still too much berry-fruitiness for me. Rebuy: No, but I wouldn’t mind trying it on tap to see what it is like fresh.

cask @ barcade. Malty aroma, spicy hops. Pours amber with a thick white head. Sweet caramel malts with spicy hops, very crisp nice ESB, great cask conditioned ale!

Pours a big head. Once that subsides it is an amber color. Aroma of caramel, grass and artificial vanilla. Really unusual flavor. Tasted sweet and had honey, caramel and fruit notes. Not terrible tasting, there was not much hop presence at all.

River Horse Brewing out of Lambertville, New Jersey has an offering of their ESB today and I am accepting their challenge. She shimmers and glimmers in my glass win a brilliantly fractured array of amber, mahogany, copper, and resinous tree sap. A small head is whisked away almost immediately into thin air, leaving only a paper-thin film in the center of her crown. A head isn’t everything, and some styles crown better than others, but it is important to remember that the head on a beer is the most scientifically and chemically complex achieved product of beer and is still not understood nearly as well as pretty much every other aspect of brewing a great beer. What is bursting forth though is her nose as crunchy wheat crackers, caramelized sugars cooked to a crunchy golden brown crisp, cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, lemon zest and lemon skin all rest atop a loaf of warm rye bread replete with dry, earthy rye seeds. A whisper of chocolate drifts across my senses, and then vanishes just as quickly. A faint sweetness of condensed milk and coconut also whisper but remain firmly in the background where they play a constant game of peek-a-boo, allowing the first half of her nose to shine. Impressive, though the last couple aromas are a bit off-putting. The real test is in the brew, though also don’t forget that aroma counts for a lot in how something tastes and is of importance to all beers being judged within their style. My first quaff is dry, bitter, and crisp. Lemon zest and dry citric skin mingles with dry spices for a dry, clean palate which plays with my tastebuds. Her finish is clean, as it should be while the tip of my tongue tingles. Her sweet side is firmly up front with caramelized sugars and a hint of crunchy red apples while wheat crackers and rye bread give her palate the fullness she needs to continue on. As my palate slowly dries and thirsts for more, each subsequent quaff repeats the pleasure and quite easily I find my glass empty. My River Horse ESB is a session brew, after all.

Overall, not bad. A bit different, but enjoyable anyway. Her nose was the most off-putting, though her palate and body were better able to pull through. I’m not sure if she is what I would choose when craving a good English (style) ESB, but she pulled through nonetheless.