Cascade Blueberry Ale - Cascade Brewing / Raccoon Lodge & Brewpub

SDDanC

California

4.03/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

2012 bottle just received yesterday.

Poured into Lost Abbey tulip.

A: Brilliant reddish pink color with a fingers worth of pink effervescent head. Head settles into thin outter ring with spotty lacing where it once sat.

S: Aroma is multi-layered. Initially there is a grand waft of brett must, a nice example of that that "barnyard" essence. Then comes the lactic sour bite, followed by tart blueberries. The aroma from the blueberries reminds me of the skin of a grape, which I suspect comes from the barrel treatment giving it a minute oak/wood characteristic.

T: The flavor profile is spot-on in my opinion. The blueberries are very juicy and satiable. Slightly sour, but nevertheless. . . Tart. A bit of oak comes through, complimented by a touch of vanilla through the end.

M: Very bubbly at first, but as it calmed down, the mouthfeel got a lot smoother. As it sat, it got a tad oily/slick, which went well with the vanilla end. Relatively thin overall.

Overall: excellent brew. This thing stared me down until I opened one and I am very glad I broke down. Definitely going to order a few more.

Serving type: bottle

03-30-2012 03:59:03 | More by SDDanC

cbutova

Massachusetts

4.48/5  rDev +7.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75

Lucked out and found this one after I missed out on it a few months before. Shared at our Saison/Sour tasting on 05/04.

A- Purple pour into a tulip and the body is quite dark overall. Almost no light comes through and a nice pink, foamy head forms to about one finger. Low-end head retention but nice blankets of lace. A very nice color.

S- The sweet and tart aspects of blueberries come in big time, noticed instantly upon pouring. Some tart lemony feel as well, probably some wild bugs. Funky barnyard and acetic hints.

T- Good tart fruit feel with a massive blueberry feel, all aspects of the fruit. A nice acetic acid/vinegar feel which I love in Wilds, it goes great with the berry, lemon, grape and oak flavors present. A good balance and it reminds me of a great tart basket of fresh blueberries. Pretty sour as far as Wilds go. Generally funky.

MF- Light uber dried out body that feels like most authentic Belgian Lambics I have had. Big sour grips the palate over time. Lower end carbonation.

Massive fresh blueberry flavor in this beer with a great sour and wild ale feel. Better than some of the lambics that come from Brussels and you could trick me if you blind poured it for me. Great tart fruit flavor lingers.

Serving type: bottle

05-23-2013 02:27:46 | More by cbutova

Abrengle

Washington

4.5/5  rDev +7.7%

05-23-2013 01:26:51 | More by Abrengle

dcloeren

Texas

4.5/5  rDev +7.7%

05-22-2013 14:19:26 | More by dcloeren

twelveinches

Washington

4.5/5  rDev +7.7%

05-22-2013 06:08:06 | More by twelveinches

AltBock

Ohio

3.95/5  rDev -5.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Corked and caged 750ml bottle with a dark blueberry blue label of a barrel sitting on a cart in front of barrel lid with 2 hop vines on side. Are they trying to say that this beer is barrel aged? Message received. Below the barrels is the vintage year. This bottle is from 2012. Off to the left is a description of the beer and the brewery's address.

When poured into a Ommegang Tulip, this Blueberry Wild Ale actually looked like crushed blueberries. It had that pink almost blue color that you get when you eat blueberries. This pinkish beer had a ruby red center. On top of this blueberry juice...I mean Ale was a 1/4 to 1/2 an inch pink almost blue head of foam. It had great retention! It receded just a touch and stayed with this beer until the last drop of beer was gone. On its way down, it left behind quite a few sticky streaks of pink/blue colored lace.

The aroma was sour and tart with a strong blueberry presence. Who would have guessed that. It was more tart than sour and lightly funky. I caught a whiff of that barnyard funk. Behind the blueberries was a touch of tart white grapes and a whiff of oak. That sums it up for the aroma. It didn't contain a wide range of aromas, but what was there was pretty good.

If you think this beer is going to taste like blueberry juice, you're going to be disappointed. Don't let the color of this beer fool you. This beer was filled with lightly sour and tart ripe blueberries. It wasn't more sour than tart and it wasn't more tart than sour. They were equal in the taste. There was a small barnyard funk presence in here as well. Behind the blueberry wall was a a few white grapes and a drop of oak. Like the aroma, don't expect a large variety of tastes.

This was a light to medium bodied Wild Ale that had good carbonation and a lightly sour, tart, and acidic aftertaste. This aftertaste only contained blueberries, white grapes, and touch of dry oak. This sour aftertaste doesn't linger. Your saliva can extinguish the sour aftertaste.

Like every other Cascade beer I've had, this beer is not on the cheap side. A beer of this quality can't be cheap to make and it shows it. Other than that, if you like blueberries and sour beers, you might want to open your wallet to this beer. It is certainly a unique beer.

Serving type: bottle

05-22-2013 01:55:23 | More by AltBock

Photekut

Azerbaijan

4.25/5  rDev +1.7%

05-19-2013 00:13:16 | More by Photekut

leftoverburrito

Oregon

4.75/5  rDev +13.6%

05-18-2013 23:40:58 | More by leftoverburrito

jl28r1

Texas

4.25/5  rDev +1.7%

05-18-2013 16:56:39 | More by jl28r1

moonknight31

California

4.25/5  rDev +1.7%

05-16-2013 05:37:48 | More by moonknight31

illy0sis

Texas

4/5  rDev -4.3%

05-14-2013 22:14:36 | More by illy0sis

fsck

Washington

3.75/5  rDev -10.3%

05-12-2013 07:23:41 | More by fsck

HarmonMW

Michigan

4.25/5  rDev +1.7%

05-12-2013 02:04:19 | More by HarmonMW

koopa

New Jersey

4.25/5  rDev +1.7%

05-12-2013 01:02:22 | More by koopa

lemongelo

North Carolina

4/5  rDev -4.3%

05-11-2013 15:49:00 | More by lemongelo

ThatOneGuyMoe

California

4/5  rDev -4.3%

05-10-2013 18:36:28 | More by ThatOneGuyMoe

Chico1985

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev -4.3%

05-10-2013 18:29:16 | More by Chico1985

blackie

Virginia

4.24/5  rDev +1.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

stubby chalice at the brewpub with some NC State NCAA action

Bright blue-purple - looks rad, with a light head. Dense blueberry aromas with a concentration of deeply flavored skins. Lots of acid on the nose, tart and puckering on the palate. Not pulling a ton of oak at first, but more as it warms. Deeply fruited with the familiar Cascade acidity.

Serving type: on-tap

05-07-2013 03:15:25 | More by blackie

ncaudle

Virginia

4.25/5  rDev +1.7%

05-05-2013 16:08:39 | More by ncaudle

IPAyForHops

California

4.5/5  rDev +7.7%

05-02-2013 23:43:45 | More by IPAyForHops

scotv

New York

4.25/5  rDev +1.7%

05-01-2013 19:51:06 | More by scotv

zachary80

Indiana

4.25/5  rDev +1.7%

04-29-2013 20:55:08 | More by zachary80

Googs

New York

4.5/5  rDev +7.7%

04-29-2013 18:09:51 | More by Googs

enelson

Illinois

5/5  rDev +19.6%

04-28-2013 01:33:56 | More by enelson

Noyt

Quebec (Canada)

4/5  rDev -4.3%

04-27-2013 19:29:43 | More by Noyt