River Horse Imperial Cherry Amber

Brewed by River Horse Brewing Company
Style: American Strong Ale
Lambertville, New Jersey USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

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dark amber with a thin head... small hint of cherries... mostly a caramel malt flavor... very bitter aftertaste... not what I was expecting

My bottle (12oz) shared with garthicus. Pours a deep orange-amber with lots of bubbles and a big long-lasting foamy off-white head. Aroma’s smells a bit stale but I recently got this bottle, still fine though: Musty along with some tart cherries, caramel malt and hints of nuts and wood. Flavour of caramel malt and not much else, maybe some nuts and a light bitter finish. Tastes like your average Amber Ale and there’s nothing "Imperial" about it. No cherries there either. Average bodied. It’s O.K.

[Bottle] Pours deep amber with a small khaki head that lingers nicely. The aroma is strong maltiness and black pepper, with slight fruity accents (strangely I get more pineapple, blackberry and lemon zest than cherry), and hazelnut. Taste is earthy, biscuit, and has faint fruitiness that I would have had a hard time pegging as cherry. Fairly thin, but quite smooth with a fairly long finish. I generally steer clear of amber ales, and although when they added "imperial" and "cherry" to it I admittedly was a little interested, it was more in a "how bad will this train wreck be?" sort of way. I wanted to fill out my $4 mixed four pack at Whole Foods though, and as I had already selected 3 beers that I wanted, and there were only na beers left, I went with this. Sitting here as I drink it, listening to an early summer thunderstorm roll in from the Shenandoahs, I was surprised to find that it isn’t nearly as bad as I had expected. Pretty simply, but inoffensive, and quite drinkable.

Many thanks to Blankboy for supplying and sharing. Appearance: Dark amber with a proud off white head and small flecks and good carbonation. Aroma: A little dusty/milky, some nuts and ’roots’, under-ripe banana skins. Flavour: Initially quite nutty but quickly changing to bitter, as it goes on it becomes tobacco and malt like.

Picture perfect pour - dark copper with a thick, creamy bige head. Lots of lacing left on the glass. Bread and cookie in the aroma, along with dark, sweet cherries. Cherry is more evident in the aroma than the taste. Lots of biscuity malt, slightly nutty, some sweet and a slight tartness in the finish. Just a very slight bitterness. Medium body and carbonation. Nothing extraordinary, but smooth and very drinkable. (12 ounce bottle)

If I didn’t know better I would swear this beer is from the UK. From the biscuity smell to the distinctive taste of Marris Otter malt it just screams England. The nose is mostly biscuit, some toffee, and a hint of sour cherry. The flavor is a simple bready malt flavor with a hint of lactic sourness. The palate is very full, coating, but not at all cloying. Not bad but nothing to write home about.

Tap at Coles Buffalo NY. Decent beer. Caramel malts are dominate in this Amber colored brew. Stronger than most ambers. Like STier Cherry Saison , no need to throw cherry in the name if its only really slight if there at all.

Bottle. Pours amber with a beige head. The aroma has sweet nutty malt and floral hops. The flavor has sweet toffee like malt, and a hint of floral hops. Maybe the tiniest hint of cherry in the finish, but honestly if it didn’t say ’cherry’ on the front of the bottle it wouldn’t be something you’d notice. Decent.

Bottle from Educators’ BIF. Thanks dashirey. Pours hazy red-brown with an off-white head. Nose is malt, caramel, some barely noticeable dark cherry, and slightly floral hops. Tastes much different, though. Flavor is malt, some citrus hops, some sour orange, grapefruit, and a teeny, tiny cherry presence. For having cherry in the title, this seems to be a misnomer. Not much cherry in this light-bodied beer. Ok as a warm-up.

Bottle. Earthy, lightly tart nose, nuts with brown sugar, toffee, and wood. Faint mahogany pour closer to amber, with a creamy, quivering mass of beige head. Very light body, smooth feel and very dry. Some bread with amber-type caramel, but Nut Brown / Trail Mix style nuts and brown malt, light toffee. Faint malty sweetness breezes in and whispers away. Balanced and light and nuanced, a well-crafted if not terribly impressive session+. Cherry not perceptible enough to warrant the name (RH should start dating their bottles).