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Special Ale ESB
River Horse Brewing Co.
- From:
- River Horse Brewing Co.
- New Jersey, United States
- Style:
- Extra Special / Strong Bitter (ESB)
- ABV:
- 4.5%
- Score:
- 74
- Avg:
- 3.18 | pDev: 14.47%
- Reviews:
- 134
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Retired
- Rated:
- Dec 09, 2014
- Added:
- Jun 01, 2002
- Wants:
- 1
- Gots:
- 2
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Stunner97:
Reviewed by Stunner97 from New Jersey
3.5/5 rDev +10.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
3.5/5 rDev +10.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Appearance- amber color beer with slight carbonation as bubbles stream slowly up glass, murky and cloudy, head starts white and fades to slight foam lacing,
Smell- Sweet molasses, caramel, and loads up sweet maltiness on the nose, smells a nice and sweet beer, sweet caramel apple,
Taste- sweet caramel malts lead off out of the batters box's in this one but are mellowed out by some strong bitter hops balancing it out pretty nicely, very mild citrus tones, its overall a little light in flavor in a way but the strong point to me is the decently nice long bitter finish, flavor grew on me a bit after first sip or two
Mouth- medium body to this beer though still pretty light and refreshing to drink
Drinkability- A decent esb, not necessarily the best but also not terrible, its definitely easy to drink and worth a one time shot but probably wont blow you away to crazily, for what it is its not bad, certainly a decent option as a session beer but for the price better could be found for my own preference
Mar 02, 2009Smell- Sweet molasses, caramel, and loads up sweet maltiness on the nose, smells a nice and sweet beer, sweet caramel apple,
Taste- sweet caramel malts lead off out of the batters box's in this one but are mellowed out by some strong bitter hops balancing it out pretty nicely, very mild citrus tones, its overall a little light in flavor in a way but the strong point to me is the decently nice long bitter finish, flavor grew on me a bit after first sip or two
Mouth- medium body to this beer though still pretty light and refreshing to drink
Drinkability- A decent esb, not necessarily the best but also not terrible, its definitely easy to drink and worth a one time shot but probably wont blow you away to crazily, for what it is its not bad, certainly a decent option as a session beer but for the price better could be found for my own preference
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by Omnium from Pennsylvania
3.12/5 rDev -1.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
3.12/5 rDev -1.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
Bottle > Pint Glass
A - Pours a reddish brown color nice 1 finger head of an off white tint, no real lacing though.
S - Caramel and toffee malts, an odd alcohol scent, but there's not much alcohol in this beer? Some sour candies and stale bread as well.
T - Tastes like a bad brown ale, all malt flavors with barely any hops or even bitterness. Very bland, and mildly tart
M - Thin fizzy, no good flavors resonating (not that there were any to begin with)
O - Horrid example of an ESB, River Horse needs to go back to the books on this one.
Apr 16, 2013A - Pours a reddish brown color nice 1 finger head of an off white tint, no real lacing though.
S - Caramel and toffee malts, an odd alcohol scent, but there's not much alcohol in this beer? Some sour candies and stale bread as well.
T - Tastes like a bad brown ale, all malt flavors with barely any hops or even bitterness. Very bland, and mildly tart
M - Thin fizzy, no good flavors resonating (not that there were any to begin with)
O - Horrid example of an ESB, River Horse needs to go back to the books on this one.
Reviewed by claspada from New Jersey
3.06/5 rDev -3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
3.06/5 rDev -3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Pours a deep orange with a very large off white head with good retention.
Aromas begin with sweet pale malt and some light honey/caramel. As it warms you get some slight doughy, roasted maltiness with a bit of earthy hoppiness.
The tastes follow the nose with light caramel, toasted bready maltiness with some light toffee flavors as well. Light and clean earthy hoppiness emerges more as it warms.
The mouthfeel is light bodied with medium to high carbonation. Finish is lightly dry and earthy but mainly clean and crisp.
Overall this is a decent, flavorful and balanced ESB. Nothing to mind-blowing but quite satifying considering the ABV, but nothing close to the traditional quality English examples or even as good as many American interpretations.
Sep 24, 2012Aromas begin with sweet pale malt and some light honey/caramel. As it warms you get some slight doughy, roasted maltiness with a bit of earthy hoppiness.
The tastes follow the nose with light caramel, toasted bready maltiness with some light toffee flavors as well. Light and clean earthy hoppiness emerges more as it warms.
The mouthfeel is light bodied with medium to high carbonation. Finish is lightly dry and earthy but mainly clean and crisp.
Overall this is a decent, flavorful and balanced ESB. Nothing to mind-blowing but quite satifying considering the ABV, but nothing close to the traditional quality English examples or even as good as many American interpretations.
Special Ale ESB from River Horse Brewing Co.
Beer rating:
74 out of
100 with
162 ratings
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