River Horse Tripel Horse

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

Several years ago, my trip to the River Horse Brewery marked a turning point in my appreciation of craft beer. This is the first time I’ve seen this beer in my area since. Anyway, the aroma is yeasty, spicy, vanilla, bready, and citrusy. Not easy to nail down. The appearance is a somewhat hazy orange color, fizzy, with a steady white head. The flavor is sweet malt, honey, spicy, like a pinot grigio or similar white wine. The finish is dry, again like a dry white wine. Medium thickness on the mouthfeel. Decent tripel, certainly not the best. But, this beer (and the others at River Horse) did start my beer odyssey.

Lightly hazed amber color with a moderate, creamy looking, off-white head. Pale malt, vanilla, dough and some exotic spices in the aroma. Flavors of caramel, malt, honey, bit of phenol(resin), and light apricots. Slightly warming in the stomach. Light pepper and spice in the finish. Creamy with a light zip in the back. Finish has a bit of orange zest. I don’t find this a great triple, but it is a really good strong golden/winter warmer. I had my first bottle of this back in early August and this seems to be getting smoother, unfortunately this is my last bottle.

Pours out a dark and hazy amber color with a nice frothy cream white head. Smells of vanilla mixed with citrus fruit. Malty and spicy at first, warms as it goes down and finishes extremely dry. Thick mouthfeel. Can taste vanilla, lemon, malt, and what seems to be wheat. Brewer says that they tried to stay away from some of the sweetness but I think it could use a bit to balance it out a bit more. Average, a bit too expensive for what it is.

2008 Flour City Brew Fest. Pours hazy orange with a lacing white head. Sweet malty aroma with a caramel. Sweet and fruity and spiced flavor. Malty, slight yeasty and sweet finish.

Bottle poured into English pint. Pours to a MASSIVE head-pour slowly or near a sink. Aroma of citrus with slight notes of vanilla esters that come through more as it warms. Amber color with yeast sediment. Tastes of vanilla, citrus, malt sweetness and spices. Good as is. saving a bottle to try the brewer’s suggestion of aging.

12oz from Chevy Chase Wine & Liquor, D.C. The beer gets off to a decent start, with a bright pour and a thick head. Some floral and fruity notes mingle in the nose. But to me, the different elements really didn’t come together - the booze was too prominent, something emphasis by the lingering, almost overpowering sweet malts. It just doesn’t have the balance I crave in this style.

Bottled. a Dark cloudy amber color, nice white head, aroma is fruity and like the belgian ales. Remember me a La Trappe or something like that. Flavor is pretty much the same, no alcohol perception. A quit dry finish. Good One!

Fresh 1 month bottle. Poured this into a tulip and there was very little tan head that just laced the top but lasted a while. The smell and taste is beautiful with a bit cider, vanilla, and I get a bit of honey or spicyness out of it. Very good beer - doesn’t get close to the Chimay but good for a local guy here in Jersey. This is the best River Horse has to offer in my opinion.