River Horse Special Ale ESB

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

12 oz bottle from Canal’s Rio Grande. Pours a slightly hazy amber with an average size frothy off white head. Sweet aroma with some hints of molasses, maple syrup initially then notes of grain and cereal take over. Medium to slightly thin bodied with average carbonation but a rather watery mouthfeel on the finish. Flavor is sweet and grainy with notes of molasses and cereal. Easily drinkable but nothing to knock your socks off, typical NJ craft brew.

Nice light copper color but thin head. Thin aroma with hints of honey and yeast. Flavor dominated by toasted malts, mild hops and wet cardboard. No reason to try this one again.

Thanks for sharing Yaniv! Orangey caramel with a thin white film of a head. Lighter sweetness in the nose with out much more than a bit of the floral to amarilloy hops. Smooth creamy mousefeel with small bubbles. Sweeter underattenuated malt. Lingering caramel. A bit of floral hops.

5-18-08 bottle shared with lb4lb thanks to Kramer17801
Clear orange amber with little off white head. Walnuts and malt are big in the smell. Flavor is big pecans and reminds me of autumn. Well developed flavor and aroma. Easy to drink. Medium to thin body with a light weight palate. Overall, I’d have again.

Bottle from Kramer17801. Thanks man!
Pours a nice amber color. Mostly clear with a short lived white head. Smell is fruity, nutty and toffee like, with light chocolate. Really nice for an ESB. Taste is lightly chocolatey, with toffee and some pecan like flavor, and fruity tones. Richer than expected and much better that the ratings indicate. I liked this one.

bottle. golden amber color. lots of carbonation. no head at all. Aroma of malts and a hint of hops and a little bit of caramel. when this brew frist hit my mouth I thought it tasted very much like some of the English bitters I have had. but then the aftertaste hit and not so much. tastes like caramel and malt but a bit too much hops for a bitter. has a very tangy fruit after taste. Sorry, I just don’t want that in a bitter. goes down well enough though. maybe too well. okay brew.

Ok first things first. Is there supposed to be unfiltrated yeast in this bottle. This is definitely not expected, expect in a German Hefeweizen, which this is not. It’s aroma is very muted with slight malt. It’s appearance is a golden amber. It’s head doesn’t exist. It’s flavor is sweet fruit, minor malt. It’s really smooth, about the only saving grace here. Better than a micro, that’s not saying a lot.

Tap at Mile Sq bar in Hoboken. Pours a medium copper-amber with a lasting thin head. Aroma is fairly weak- dry, light toast, some cereal, corn, and old stale coffee. Flavor is also pretty weak and watered down, some metallicy stale caramel malts, light toast, some cardboard, and the finish is very gritty, papery, light caramel, and some harsh medicinal smoke. Couldnt finish it.