River Horse Tripel Horse

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

All I can say is that I didn’t believe the guy when he said it drinks like a light beer, but holy crap does it ever. Nothing special in the taste department, & generally not very notable overall, but you could <em>easily</em> put down a few of these & have them hit you before you realized how potent they are.

Highly recommended as an extremely drink-able, high-test beer.

Thanks to Lou18 for this one. Poured golden with a small white head. Aroma is yeast, spice, shaving cream, a hint of pumpkin, and some orange. Flavor is light apricot, pear, banana, peach, apples, and yeast. Some spices and pumpkin compliment the taste as well. Medium bodied with a fizzy mouthfeel.

Bottle. Dark amber pour with an average frothy white head that diminished slowly. Good sour fruity aroma. Medium body with a smooth sticky texture. Good complex fruity and spice flavor with a solid finish.

Bottle and served in my NB worthy glassware: It poured a lsight hazed golden hue with a fading frothy head but left excellent lace.
The aroma is very fruity with notes of apricot, apple and peach and very floral esters. Soem light cardamom and saffron vapors above the yeasty base.
The taste is equally fruity but surprisingly not overly sweet. I got some peppery bite on the finish with just a touch of alcohol.
The mouth feel is lively with a dry finish, wonderfully drinkable for a 10% beer, almost too thin however.
I dig it even if not completely to style. NICE BREW!

Wow, this does not feel like a beer with that high of an alcohol level. It is fairly mild for a tripel, but still has some good flavour and body. It feels a little too carbonated. it’s pretty nice as far as the overall beer, but lacks the punch of others in this style group.

Pours with hardly any head at all, a wispy ring of pale froth surrounds the side of the glass initially. When roused a on-finger thick head that is a tannish color appears, but then quickly disappears again. The beer itself is a lightly hazy, full gold color. The aroma is fruity, a bit sweet, and a touch spicy, though not as much as I would like. The aroma has something akin to a earthy spiciness sort of like coriander. Fruity notes of pear and apple are evident in the aroma. There is a bit of malt character towards the end of the aroma, a bit of toasted malt and a dry biscuit type note.

The beer is fairly thick up front, but is not nearly as sweet as I was expecting from the fullness or aroma. This is a good thing, but surprisingly this beer seems to be missing a complexity that is found in good examples of the style. This beer has a fruitiness in the taste that is similar to the aromas found in the aroma; I get notes of pear and apple. The spicy notes, while quite a bit more subtle than I would like, are evident; I get spicy notes of black pepper, a hint of ginger, and perhaps some notes of lemon zest. It does hide the alcohol quite well though. In the end this beer is just a bit lacking. This is not a bad beer, but there are so many really good Tripels out there that I would rather have.

(bottle - 12 oz) Hazy tangerine colored pour with a soapy white head. Aroma is full of sweet malts, vanilla, earthy notes and some pepper, yet surprisingly little to no alcohol. Taste is very peppery at the start with a malty and spicy middle and a very clean finish that leaves only the slightest hints of bitterness on the palate. Alcohol warms on the way down but isn’t overpowering.

Sampled on draught at the brewery in Lambertville, NJ. River Horse offers a sample of what they have on tap in the tasting room/gift shop for $1. Bottled and keg beer is avaliable for purchase as well. Triple Horse is their small batch, winter seasonal. Pours to a slightly hazy, golden color with a white head that fades, and a moderate amount of carbonation. Aromas of pale malt, sweet malt, spicy/earthy yeast, black pepper, and alcohol flood the nose. The palate is firm, with good pale malt flavor, paired with an under tone of spicy yeast flavor. Mouth feel is a little thin for the style. Tripel Horse finishes with more good pale malt and yeast flavor up front, then drys with touches of peppery alcohol heat that lingers. Nice domestic version of triple.