River Horse Brewing Company in Lambertville, NJ
This article marks the start of what I am debuting as Beer Porn. As I’m sure many of you are, most food lovers are also passionate about truly flavorful and unique beers. As mentioned in many of my earlier posts, I love trying craft beers I have never had before. Sometimes I end up finding hidden gems, and sometimes I end up tasting something that resembles what I envision being made in a garbage can in the backwoods. That being said, no one can debate the fact that the United States offers more fantastic craft brew options than any other country in the world (Don edit: I totally agree, just go watch American Beer).
Taking my passion for great beers, I felt that everyone would enjoy hearing about new and unique beers on Buffalo Eats. It’s obviously important to understand that as with food, everyone has slightly different beer tastes. I generally steer toward heavier, unfiltered styles but I haven’t met a type of beer that I have ever legitimately hated. Given a choice when out in Buffalo, I usually grab myself a Bravarian style wheat, yet recently have become more enamored with some of the hoppy delights breweries are pumping out. Make sure you take this into consideration when hearing my thoughts, and I hope everyone enjoys the new Beer Porns on the site.
The first beer I chose to “test” is from the River Horse Brewing Company in Lambertville, NJ and was reccomended to me from my father. River Horse offers what they call a Belgian style ale called Tripel Horse.
Tripel Horse Belgian Ale
The first thing I noticed when getting myself a bottle of Tripel Horse is that it proudly advertises its highly intense alcohol content of 10% While most craft brews (average 5%) are a bit higher than the average American ale (around 3 1/2%), 10 percent is quite high and it definitely caught my attention after finishing the bottle. That being said, most beers with that high alcohol have a much stronger and harsher alcohol taste. The Tripel Horse is surprisingly smooth and easy drinking. The mouth feel is thick and luxurious and almost seems to coat the inside of your mouth a bit. The brewing company describes the beer as a fairly “dry” beer and this was noticeable. It have a crisp clean finish and only a very faint back taste of hops. Usually when I describe a beer as having a “crisp” taste, it usually means it was quite hoppy, yet this certainly wasn’t the case here. The beer is brewed with hints of vanilla and that taste definitely comes through pretty heavily when drinking. I would highly recommend giving this beer a try, especially to anyone who enjoys a hearty, warming beer. If light lagers are your style, stay far away from the Tripel Horse. However, it’s perfect for the cold Buffalo winters and the 10 percent alcohol content certainly helps put on your “liquid sweater.”
