Cascade Apricot Ale - Cascade Brewing / Raccoon Lodge & Brewpub

flagmantho

Washington

4.2/5  rDev -3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

Poured from 750mL corked & caged bottle into a tulip. This is a 2011 bottle.

Appearance: medium golden hue with a touch of haze and a strong effervescence. Head is two fingers of frothy, fizzy ivory foam. A good looking beer!

Smell: sweet aroma with a light sourness and a touch of farmhouse funk. The apricot comes through nicely but is not overpowering at all. It has a very natural quality to it.

Taste: a nice moderate sourness and a light funk start off the flavor, which then reveals a rather strong sweetness and a good apricot flavor, which blends well with the acidity. As the other elements begin to fade away, the tartness reestablishes itself on the palate. A nicely dynamic flavor, although it's not super-complex. I like it.

Mouthfeel: medium-light body with a big carbonation and a mouth-filling if evanescent creaminess. Works for me!

Overall: this is a tasty and very refreshing beer; insanely drinkable for its high ABV. I happen to love well-done fruit sours, and this beer is no exception. This is where I eschew objectivity and just say that this is a beer that really works for me; love it!

Serving type: bottle

12-12-2012 00:50:59 | More by flagmantho

MichiganderHB

Michigan

4.5/5  rDev +3.4%

06-20-2013 00:42:56 | More by MichiganderHB

taylor714914

Pennsylvania

4.5/5  rDev +3.4%

06-18-2013 23:45:12 | More by taylor714914

MMAJYK

Georgia

4.5/5  rDev +3.4%

06-18-2013 20:57:35 | More by MMAJYK

SourinQns

New York

4.25/5  rDev -2.3%

06-17-2013 00:47:32 | More by SourinQns

jarrgal

North Dakota

4.5/5  rDev +3.4%

06-17-2013 00:12:52 | More by jarrgal

JulianB

South Carolina

4.75/5  rDev +9.2%

06-16-2013 11:35:30 | More by JulianB

tectactoe

Michigan

4.33/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.25

Muchas gracias to Jeff for cracking this with me... I love Cascade sours and apricots, so the combination should be orgasmic. Pale amber and kind of "peachy" all-around; foggy and cloudy throughout the body with only a touch of visibility to the other side of the glass. A nimbus-like head forms and grows quickly, then recedes just as fast to a silky skin atop the apricot brew that lasts for over half the glass. No lacing, no legging.

A fantastic arrangement of fresh, farm-market apricots explode upon bringing my nose to the brew. The fruity elegance is broken up by a solidifying tartness; sour, juicy, and lactic. The sourness seems to grow with each and every successive whiff, as does the acidity. Not much in the way of actual vinegar, but some vinous-oak notes reside faintly in the background. It smells fruity, it smells tart. Now I can only hope it tastes that way, too.

Well, my hopes for a sour beer were certainly met! One sip and I'm already puckering and wincing from the onslaught of lactic and acetic acid. The fruit character is astoundingly tasty, gushing with ripe apricots, lemon-juice, and maybe a hint of white grapes. Cascade Apricot is definitely a bit vinous in flavor, as the oaky and wine-like notes buckle down and start hitting the palate hard. Dry oak, damp hay, must, and horsey-funk are strong in the finish, along with the apricot's kiss of death.

Unlike the nose, the flavor also shows heavy vinegar characteristics, as well as a substantial amount of acidity. The taste is amazing, but this shit will burn a hole in your stomach lining. Granted, I had consumed a few other sour beers before this one, but each sip of Cascade Apricot left a burning feeling in the pit of my gut; I'm sure I was pushing ulcer-like levels of acidity down there.

So juicy, refreshing, and tasty, despite the fierce acidity. I was at such a personal crossroads with myself - so goddamn tasty that I couldn't stop drinking it, but I knew I would pay for each and every sip. WORTH IT. Pretty thick and heavy-bodied for a wild ale, but most of Cascade's offerings seem to be a bit stronger and heavier than those of other brewers. Lively carbonation, slick, wet, and crisp mouth feel.

All around, this is really a fantastic beer. The flavors are great; fruity, juicy, quenching, tart, mildly funky, oaky - complex and refined. Really my only large complaint is the fact that your stomach might have an easier time handling battery acid than this stuff. Although I'm not ready to blame my entire abdominal agony on this beer since it wasn't the only sour of the night, you could definitely feel each sip as it went down. But there's no doubt that I'd gladly suffer for this one again, it's far too tasty to pass up.

Serving type: bottle

06-14-2013 16:31:17 | More by tectactoe

SageO

California

5/5  rDev +14.9%

06-14-2013 05:26:55 | More by SageO

DeanMoriarty

California

4.5/5  rDev +3.4%

06-13-2013 17:03:55 | More by DeanMoriarty

ComRock12

Massachusetts

4.25/5  rDev -2.3%

06-13-2013 12:47:24 | More by ComRock12

AlexChillton

Arizona

5/5  rDev +14.9%

06-13-2013 06:17:59 | More by AlexChillton

pinnser

Colorado

4.5/5  rDev +3.4%

06-12-2013 18:57:41 | More by pinnser

PZBREW

Oregon

4.25/5  rDev -2.3%

06-11-2013 17:54:54 | More by PZBREW

praxis16

Oregon

4.25/5  rDev -2.3%

06-10-2013 03:08:58 | More by praxis16

jdklks

Nevada

4.5/5  rDev +3.4%

06-08-2013 14:59:53 | More by jdklks

sliks96

Illinois

4.25/5  rDev -2.3%

06-08-2013 04:07:02 | More by sliks96

Bobbydigi

Kansas

4.25/5  rDev -2.3%

06-08-2013 00:16:56 | More by Bobbydigi

GeoffreyM

Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev -2.3%

06-07-2013 01:06:54 | More by GeoffreyM

ReeseMax3

Alaska

4.5/5  rDev +3.4%

06-06-2013 09:19:27 | More by ReeseMax3

Jballn

Ohio

4.5/5  rDev +3.4%

06-06-2013 01:47:02 | More by Jballn

drlovemd87

Colorado

4.25/5  rDev -2.3%

06-04-2013 17:47:18 | More by drlovemd87

phishphorce

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev -8%

06-04-2013 05:56:34 | More by phishphorce

jwat

Pennsylvania

4.75/5  rDev +9.2%

06-03-2013 21:48:14 | More by jwat

francisweizen

Australia

4.5/5  rDev +3.4%

06-03-2013 20:26:50 | More by francisweizen