River Horse Tripel Horse

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

Bottle. Big rich malt nose with vanilla and lighter-than-expected alcohol and yeast. Golden pour with a super-excitable creamy beige head - rises and billows like the very best of Duvel pours. Very crisp body, sharp and lightly acidic with a much larger yeast component than in the nose. Creamy medium body. Light vanilla, and alcohol nearly completely undetectable. Spices are very light, not overly sweet, and yet the effect is the same as that of cloyingness - desire to stop!

Bottle. Thanks to Jabic for the hookup! Pours a hazy yellow with a medium head. Flavor is big yeasty vanilla esters. Not as much sugar as the typical tripel, which is just fine. By cutting the sugar it cuts out the ripe fruits and banana aspect and focuses more on the yeast itself, which is a great thing to focus on. Overall, a solid beer.

Pours a very hazy caramelized brown sugar/honey tone with white head. Aroma is caramel apple and spiced currants. Flavor is rich sugared yeast and dried and sweetened figs. Flavor of alcohol is present. Body is creamy with higher carbonation. Decent choice.

THOUGHTS: Very Belgian. One of the better River Horse beers. Really nice. Got more and more funky the warmer it got. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a cloudy, medium brownish orange with a small to average, slightly off-white head that mostly diminished. There were also medium-sized body particles that just sat on the bottom of the glass. The aroma was candy sugar, funk, slight spices, some orangey citrus and later as it warmed light to moderate barnyard yeast. The flavor started out lightly sweet and bitter, while it finished bitter, acidic and a little sour with an average to long duration. There was orange, yeast, funk, a little spice and more yeast. The medium body was dry with very fizzy carbonation and a light to moderate astringent finish.

Undrinkable. Way too overpowering. Aroma is stale and putride. Either I have an outdated brew 1 year past the born on date or this beer is one of the worst beers ever created. Terrible!!!

Clear amber coloured body with a super-thin off-white head. Aroma of pit fruit, raisins, curacao and strong tobacco. Medium-bodied; Sharp taste of alcohol and malt with more tobacco and pit fruits coming through. Aftertaste bittering & strong - long lasting and potent. Overall, a strong offering, but good to try. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased from Chevy Chase Wine & Liquors in Washington, D.C. on 28-May-2005 on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

Another nice River Horse label that looks almost like money. Dark gold pour with a foamy lid. Malty sweet aroma with floral hops and some noticable yeast. Tastes very sweet and vinous, almost like an aperitif or dessert wine, but well hopped too. Like RH Belgian winter ale, this is another nice Yankee take on a Belgian style.

A testament to the Abbey Tripel style. The pour is golden brown with a tanned fluffy head. Nose is sweet, vanilla but not as sweet as most tripel which adds to its uniqueness. Taste is as it smells, sweet but a dry malty flavor prevails. palate is good, but gets better as the beer warms a bit. High alcohol content is nicely hidden by the recipe. Will ride the horse again!