River Horse Tripel Horse

Brewed by River Horse Brewing Company
Style: Abbey Tripel
Lambertville, New Jersey USA

Draught at TND: Sweet aroma of Belgian yeast, hops, light fruit, and light spices. Poured amber/honey in color with a small to medium-sized, dense, off-white head that diminished but lasted throughout. Cloudy. Sparkling. Flavor is medium sweet. Tastes of Belgian yeast, light alcohol, light hops, light spices, light grains, and slight fruit. Medium body. Dry texture. Average carbonation. Yeast, slight spice, and hop finish is dry.

Bottle from Cavie. Really hazy pour. Malty aroma. Roasted. More roasted malt flavor. Cinnamon, nutmeg, toffee. Creamy. Spice flavor lasts forever.

Bottle courtesy of Cletus. Hazy orange appearance. Orange citrus on the nose as well as some cilantro spice. Taste has some of the same spice that lingers for awhile. Finishes with strong orange peel. Pretty good but a tad bit dry. As it warms you can find some cinnamon and vanilla. Very good!

(Draught) Didn’t resemble a "normal" Belgian tripel at all but it didn’t matter as this beer was pleasing to drink. Poured amber and hazy. Head was medium sized, white and lasted long. Strong hoppiy aroma was also fruity. Medium bodied palate with medium carbonation. Malts, hops, grass, sweetness, pine and bitterness could be found from the taste. Bitter and malty aftertaste.

Bonus beer from cletus in trade. Thanks JOhn! my first beer from river horse. Pours a hazy orange brown with a white head. Aroma of sweet mellons, candied sugar, brown sugar, syrup. Too sweet! Pal cracked this open at midnight when I had been drinking since the start of the Browns game at 1. Probably bad timing. This was tough to put down. Heavy malty syrupy sweetness.

12 oz. bottle from the brewery into Duvel tulip. Brownish-orange body topped by a dense off-white head that fades into a thin layer that leaves decent lacing. Aroma is sweet with some candied orange peel, floral notes and yeast. Flavor is initially sweet but some spice and bitterness show up and dry things out a bit. Medium-full body but somewhat fizzy and foamy. It could use some refinement but a good beer overall.

Location: 12 oz bottle from State Line, 9/21/09

Aroma: Some yeast/dough in the nose, a bit of fruit, sweet and sugary, caramel, a touch of vanilla
Appearance: Pours a hazy dark orange color with a thick and puffy white head and lots of lace
Flavor: Relatively sweet and malty, quite a bit of yeasty flavor with just a hint of funk and another hint of hop bitterness
Palate: Has a pretty full bodied feel, well hidden ABV, and the right amount of carbonation
Overall Impression: I found this to be a pretty solid tripel. It is a nice looking beer for sure. Overall, I would describe this as a good beer. I enjoyed this one quite a bit, and found it to be a solid American take on the Belgian style, if not completely traditional for the style.

Poured from the bottle into a trappist glass for drinking. The beer had a strong sweet candy aroma with plentiful citrus, perhaps grapefruit, and a mix of floral and vanilla notes with yeast. It was a cloudy amber-straw color with a huge, foamy white head that head long retention and decent cling. Its taste was very sweet with candy flavors, some citrus, and a bit of sourness as well. The beer was slightly on the thinner side but very lively with good carbonation and mostly dry in nature. Fairly good beer overall, but slightly rough around the edges.