River Horse Belgian Freeze

This is a “local” beer, well as so much as Jersey has breweries.  Brewed in Lambertville NJ and last time I was there it was not a very impressive brewery tour.  Luckily their beers are much better then the brewery tour.  Tonight I’m drinking their Belgian Freeze ale which is a Belgian Style Dark Ale.

River Horse Belgian Freeze Ale

Pour:

A good average pour, about 45 deg, will give a nice hearty head.  Although his beer was fairly carbonated, it didn’t pour with a huge head.  So, give the beer a more of a straight pour to get a nice inch or so head.

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Appearance:

Beer was a deep mahogany with a lush think creamy head.  The Belgian Freeze ale had excellent head retention, as a result some real nice lacing occured.

Aroma:

The aroma was kind of a surprise.  The was almost no perceptible aroma.  I had to take several big whiffs to get a very mild bready/malty caramel sweetness.  Overall this was one the drawbacks of the brew.

Taste:

The dominate flavor was caramel malt sweetness with an underlying cherry flavor and touch of pepper.  The finish had a fairly strong alcohol taste.  I rather enjoyed it; it left you warmed like scotch or brandy.  Every once in awhile I got a nice nutty flavor, it would have been nice to bring out that flavor a bit more.

Drinkability:

I found this to be a nice beer, very drinkable.  With 8%abv, the alcohol was not overwhelming.  But with the style of beer the alcohol is to be expected.  I think bringing out a bit more nuttiness and the cherry flavor along with some more aroma would have made this an excellent beer

Tasting Method:12oz bottle

My Score: 8.5