Cascade Kriek Ale - Cascade Brewing / Raccoon Lodge & Brewpub

hopdog

Pennsylvania

4.08/5  rDev -3.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

750ml bottle acquired in trade with bu11zeye (thanks!).

Poured a medium and murky reddish/brownish color with an averaged sized head. Aromas of cherries, oaky/woodiness, and some vanilla. Tastes if cherries (sweet and sour), lighter woodiness, and lighter vinegar.

Notes from and tasted on: 5/21/09

Serving type: bottle

05-22-2009 15:23:56 | More by hopdog

IBUnit63

Massachusetts

4.2/5  rDev -0.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 5 | overall: 4

Healthy-ass pop of the cork on this 2008 vintage. Into the Ommegang chalice. Nahhh...screw. Into the Duvel tulip I finally replaced.

Pure bourbon color. OK, not pure - a strong hint of dark cherry essence. 2/3 finger head drops to a little under 1/2 but the proteins for head retention are there. Carbonation is sparse but quick-moving.

Oooh...sour sour sour cherries with husky tannins...a fair dollop of Brett - this is borderline exquisite. Cherries get sweeter with each passing sniff and with warmth. Huskiness of the fruit also emerges. Damn fine.

This shows a lot drier than I would expect from the nose but it's still a very staunch and perfumy example of the style. Cherries are faint at first but emerge. Carbonation is actually a delivery device for the sour, spritely Brett. Not a lot of horse-blanket funk but the sour blends nicely with the fruit. A little more austere than desired but quite enjoyable.

The taste profile is good and maybe slightly dry. But the way this rolls on the palate feel is downright luxurious. Not too much of any element but it balances out just about perfectly between sour cherries, dry austere grains, carbonation and wonderful Brett sourness. Finish lingers in huskiness from barrel aging. Awesome.

This does get a little hefty to knock down - the complexity is a weight unto itself. But it's so damn good nonetheless. Am diggin' this sumpm wicked fierce.

Serving type: bottle

05-17-2009 21:36:11 | More by IBUnit63

Patrick

Massachusetts

3.9/5  rDev -8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This is the 2008 bottling of the beer, the alcohol content on my bottle reads 8.1%.

A: Pours a dark ruby almost brown color with a soft looking light tan head that leaves behind some thin lacing.

S: Smells like tart cherries, some acetic notes as well, some vanilla and alcohol are present too.

T: Lots of tart cherry flavor up front with some vanilla that is quick to mix in. The middle is mostly cherry and the end finishes with acetic cherry notes.

M: Well carbonated, smooth, tannic, dry, no alcohol detectable.

D: Not a bad kriek, wish there was less alcohol, but not bad.

Serving type: bottle

05-10-2009 22:25:16 | More by Patrick

LaPeste

California

4.95/5  rDev +16.7%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

750ml bottle corked and caged. Purchased from Vendome in North Hollywood for $17.99. I had a bunch of sour beer in my cart and the clerk told me just got this one in and I should give it a try.

A: Pours cherry red/brown with a white two finger head.

S: Ripe fruit, cherry pie, vanilla, chocolate, slight sour

T: Sweet and sour cherry, vanilla, sour grapes

M: Moderate carbonation, slight pucker, well balanced

D: Easy drinking, you could gulp this down unlike most lambics, works for sipping also

My bottle says 8.1%, above it says 6.6% so mine is different. 8.1% is very unusual for a lambic, I guess since it's an American interpretation it makes sense. This is the tastiest Kriek I have had.

Serving type: bottle

05-02-2009 08:44:16 | More by LaPeste

largadeer

California

4/5  rDev -5.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

'08 vintage. Clearish ruby-amber appearance with a short-lived off-white head. Massive sweet-tart cherry aroma, like a slice of freshly baked cherry pie. Very faint funk and oak beneath that, this one is more about the fruit. Similar on the palate; intensely fruity with mild sourness and tannins. Dry, tart mouthfeel with crisp carbonation. Like Cascade's apricot ale, the kriek has an expressive fruit character but very restrained acidity and sourness. People expecting a palate-lacerating wild ale will be disappointed, but Cascade done a good job with making fruit-forward beers that aren't cloying.

Serving type: bottle

04-08-2009 07:04:25 | More by largadeer

goodbyeohio

Oregon

4.35/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

2008 vintage at the release party

northwestern sour red ale aged over bing and sour pie cherries for 12 months. 8ish%. brownish red hue with a lively carbonation and fluffy head. base beer is a blend of flanders red styles, bringing out some lactic notes, a sharp tartness, and a hint of wet oak. the cherries add a pie-filling real fruit kick, but subtle and present mostly in the end of the sip. like i imagined, this beer has flavor from NG belgian red, just enough to make a flanders red with fruit notes. despite big, complex flavors, this beer lacks any overbearing qualities which make it extremely drinkable. super beer.

Serving type: bottle

02-10-2009 23:10:06 | More by goodbyeohio

midaszero

Washington

4.8/5  rDev +13.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

A - Cloudy red amber body with two fingers of tan head that doesn't last to long but don't go away very quickly either. Only a little bit of lacing

S - Sweet and sour cherry. Not like candy more like what you would expect out of those standard beer descriptions

T - Wow that is very tasty, now this is cherry beer. Sour cherry mixed with sweet cherry. Some good maltiness as well. Pick up some oak bits in the middle.

M - Medium body with medium carbonation

D - Very enjoyable and easy to drink. Not the normal kriek you have that is like candy. This is very solid and highly recommended.

Serving type: bottle

01-20-2009 04:11:36 | More by midaszero

JohnGalt1

Idaho

4.33/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

750 from the brewpub for about $18 after shipping.. sharing with my brother while we are working on preparing tomorrow's belated Thanksgiving feast.

1" head has a slight pink tint.. the brew is a sorta hazy.. chestnut brown..

Nose is fruity with the expected cherry notes... slightly acetic... sorta a cookie maltiness that only lends to the complexity..

Flavor is much more fruit forward.. sour cherry with sweet cherry essence.. again sorta a cookie maltiness with vanilla and almond.. pretty oaky with a winey presence.. finish has a spicy note to it that I am having a hard time putting a finger on. Medium bodied with a smooth yet fairly sharp carbonation... very drinkable.. I wish I hadn't decided to share it with Steven. :-)

A nice take on the crowd and it is sorta a little hidden gem of a brewpub.. I am happy I have their other 3 "sours" in the cellar.. now I am very much looking forward to sampling all of them and very likely picking up more. I can see why this beer and their beers are getting attention lately.

4/4/4.5/4/4

Serving type: bottle

11-28-2008 08:19:21 | More by JohnGalt1

Gueuzedude

Arizona

3.58/5  rDev -15.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

2007 Bottle Vintage; Sampled June 2009
A very careful pour still has me ending up with a four finger thick head in my 25cl tulip glass. The head is a full tan colored head. The beer is a murky amber, red color that shows a hazed, deep red color. The aroma is quite cherry laden, with a sweet cherry pie aroma that is noticeable even though I haven't yet focused on smelling the aroma. The aroma smells a bit thin in its cherry character, though this is clearly the biggest aromatic note. A touch of tannic cherry skin character comes through, but not nearly as richly as a proper sour-cherry varietal character should. There seems to be a touch of tobacco character here as well as a touch of bitter cocoa here as well somehow (though I'll admit the latter doesn't make much sense). There is a nice, even rich, slightly sweet cherry character here as well as a finish of spicy oak, and even a tannic woody character.

The beer is fairly light bodied, with a light tartness, and is not sweet at all. The cherry character is a bit weaker even than it is in the aroma. The beer is also not nearly as funky as it would need to be to make up for the lack of cherry character. The second sip is actually a bit richer than the first was with the lactic character being a touch more noticeable. There is a hint of spicy oak in the finish as well as a bit of tobacco and woodiness. My second pour has me noticing a hint of cocoa in the finish as well. This is definitely well carbonated, which tends to lighten this perception of this beer even more; I can't say that this is really a good thing, as the beer seems a bit thin somehow, it is quaffable though and I wouldn't quite call it watery.

This was a bit disappointing after the superb Apricot that I had the other night. Strangely I liked this one a lot better during the GABF, it does get a bit better & more integrated as it warms up though. It just seems to have fallen a little short and tastes a bit flat and more muted than I would really like. Still this is not a bad beer, it is even enjoyable, I just find myself thinking how much better this could be in so many different ways.

Sampled October 2008
3.5/4/4/4/4
Total 3.9

This beer has a murky brown color to it and is topped by a frothy, tan colored head. The aroma has a definite cherry note to it and leans toward the sour-cherry side of things. There is a yeast-like note here in the nose that is sort of nutty and there are other aromatics of sweaty cured leather, something like cocoa, grassy grain notes towards the finish, as well as a warm alcohol note. The cherry notes also lean towards sweet-cherry notes, though this is more contributed by the aromatic fruit than by sugar it seems.

The beer tastes of tart, dry cherries up front, but this is only one component of the flavor. There is also a lactic-acid driven lemon-like not up front that moves to a fleshy, full cherry skin flavor that couples with a tannic finish. The tannic note provides a light astringency in the finish, but I can't quite help coming back to the fresh, complex even, cherry flavor that is not overly dominant, but is so aromatic tasting (if that makes any sense). This is a nice beer, it could be a touch more funky (it showed some promise of this in the aroma) as it is mostly sour, but it is certainly an enjoyable beer.

Serving type: bottle

10-30-2008 02:47:38 | More by Gueuzedude

RedDiamond

Oregon

4/5  rDev -5.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

The Raccoon Lodge has embarked in recent years upon an ambitious program of experimentation with barrel-conditioned, Belgian-style ales, several of which receive additional fermentations with fresh fruits. Thus far they've produced a kriek, a blackberry framboise, an apricot ale, and a sour cuvee.

This cherry infused ale originally ferments with a commercial ale yeast. It then ages in oak wine barrels with "free range lacto bacillus" until the characteristic sourness of a lactic fermentation becomes apparent. Fresh, uncrushed cherries are added to feed the fermentation, which I'm told is so vigorous that the pH drops to 3.5 and even the cherry pits are broken down. The ale is then bottle conditioned and aged for several months.

The result is a tart, Flanders-style red ale with a strongly sustained cola-like effervescence. My glass produced only minimal head, yet a glimpse inside the heavy, punted bottle showed a solid mass of foam after pouring. As with the pits, the cherries themselves have integrated into the flavor with little remaining of their original character. Instead, the tart qualities of the lactic fermentation dominate with wooden accents and a light, backdrop fruitiness.

Cascade Kriek is a worthy tribute to the lambic cherry style. My first glass was clear sunset amber, but subsequent servings poured out with greater turbidity. It is not sweet and candy-like, but bracing, acidic, and complementary to a host of foods. A curious wash of cinnamon emerges after some warming, making the beer none-too-challenging to appreciate. At $17.50 a bottle, it ain't cheap. But the process of producing ales of this sort lends an obvious justification to the expense and its overall quality is worth the infrequent indulgence.

Serving type: bottle

07-03-2008 01:48:44 | More by RedDiamond

ChainGangGuy

Georgia

4.3/5  rDev +1.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

Appearance: Pours an opaque, garnet-hued body with a thin, ivory-colored head.

Smell: Fine aroma smelling of pound cake, slight oaky notes, and simply teeming with cherry goodness.

Taste: Plenty of juicy cherry flavor with a light flourish of acidity and a thin vein of sweetness. Handful of cake crumbs. Delicate oaken character throughout. Long, fruity finish with a faint hint of vanilla.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Moderate carbonation.

Drinkability: Quite nice! Pleasantly fruity and all kinds of refreshing. I certainly enjoyed this one more than I thought I would.

Serving type: bottle

06-22-2008 01:37:23 | More by ChainGangGuy

brentk56

North Carolina

4.6/5  rDev +8.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Appearance: Pours a cloudy chestnut with garnet highlights, a massive head with great retention and lacing; the bottle spews foam until half empty

Smell: Tart and sweet cherry with bready undertones

Taste: Opens with lots of fruit and becomes increasingly tart and slightly funky by mid-palate, with a chocolate angle; after the swallow, the oak becomes more apparent and, along with a burst of sour flavors, joins the cherry and chocolate (and vanilla) flavors that persist to the finish

Mouthfeel: Medium body with plenty of carbonation

Drinkability: Better than the blackberry, I just love the way this brewer combines the American fruit with the Belgian funk; kudos

Serving type: bottle

06-08-2008 00:53:51 | More by brentk56

ccrida

Oregon

4.33/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

"Cascade Kriek Ale spends over six months of lactic fermentation and aging in small oak barrels. This 'Belgian Flanders Style Red Ale' is refermented with a blend of whole Northwest Cherries and then hand bottled. Cascade Kriek Ale is bottle fermented and should be refrigerated or stored at cellar temperatures. Serve at 45-50 Degrees"

750 ml champagne bottle (that was actually more like 65F then their recommend temp) poured into my Meantime snifter, the Cascade Kriek is a murky dark red with a large, red tinged tan head that leaves moderate lace and some rocky foam.

Smell is surprisingly soft - I've actually already enjoyed a few bottles of this, but for the style, it's fairly restrained, but nevertheless appealing. Unmistakably cherry, with some bubblegum and lactic funk as well.

Taste is very enjoyable, a great balance between cherry beer and Flanders Red, just enough of both without overwhelming. No mistaking this one for artificial flavoring, the finish is very clean, with a slight bit of pure cherry and lingering pucker. Like the rest of this series, I'm having trouble holding onto my cellar stash, and keep finding myself back at the brewery to restock! Since I really like a lot of sourness, I can't wait to see how these develop with some more time, as the bugs overtake the fruit.

Mouthfeel is a bit slick, moderate carbonation and a dry, puckering finish.

Drinkability was high for me, I really have been enjoying Racoon's sour beers, and can't applaud them enough for continuing to produce them, something very few PDX brewers are doing. Of the three in this series, this is my second favorite, behind the apricot trippel and in front of the blackberry, though all of them are good! Can't wait until there next few come out, the cuvee in particular will really be a treat! I didn't factor in availability or cost, but this is expensive and limited, which of course means I'm not drinking it by the case, although I wish I was.

Serving type: bottle

04-17-2008 01:29:28 | More by ccrida