Cascade Apricot Ale

Brewed by Cascade Brewing
Style: Sour Ale/Wild Ale
Portland, Oregon USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip, Tumbler

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UPDATED: JUL 3, 2009 Sampled June 2009
A solid pour into my large Tripel Karmeliet glass produces a three finger thick, light tan colored head that slowly subsides in to a persistent, dense, creamy layer of foam that resides atop the beer. The beer is a bright copper hue that shows a brilliantly clear, beautiful, orange-gold hue when held up to the light. The aroma smells of fresh, floral, ripe apricots, not quite as exuberant in volume as an actual rip apricot, but it definitely captures the essence quite well. The aroma has me picturing myself biting into a perfectly ripe apricot that is sweet and tart with a bit of tannic character in the skin. There is not a whole lot of other, more beery notes going on here, but the fleshy, skin scented apricot notes are so alive and fresh here that I am finding the nose quite interesting. The nice thing is that apricots are not a in your face fruit, so even though they are the dominant note here in the nose it is still not a loud, in-your face apricot character. After the beer has warmed up for a bit there is perhaps a touch of dough-like malt in the nose, but it is still quite subtle if not down right fleeting.

The beer is lightly tart tasting and is infused with a floral, almost flower-nectar essence of apricots. The beer finishes with a touch of a tannic bit as well as a wisp of higher alcohols and some spiciness that seems to be influenced by spicy oak notes and a touch of wood-character. The finish doesn’t shake the infused apricot essence that perfumes the whole of this beer though. The lactic tartness, while present and noticeable, really serves to accentuate the fruit character here; it melds with the fresh fruit notes and intertwines with it in such a way that one really just imagines the tartness of a biting into a fresh, perfectly ripe, apricot. There is a bit of a bite to the finish here, a bitterness from the hops used in the Tripel. There are also some warming alcohol notes here in the finish, but they are quite mellow for a Tripel, more contributing to the general spiciness than anything. There is just enough residual sweetness here to boost the fruit flavor just that much more; I wouldn’t describe this as a sweet beer, though it isn’t bone dry either. The finish is quite dry, but still has a floral, flower-nectar note to it that lingers on in the palate along with a clean, peppery spice note.

The second pour has a bit more haziness to it, which corresponds with a touch of a yeast bite. I really like the balance between floral, fruity apricot flavors and the spicy, bitter, peppery finish, these notes balance together quite well and even lead into the next sip, thus continuing the cycle of flavors. The body is light enough to be dangerously quaffable, it is well within the Tripel range though (for instance it is not as light as something like a Duvel that is at the same strength). A hint of phenolics become noticeable and they subtly tie in with the spicy finish. I like how the oak plays a truly supporting role here, it adds to the tannic structure and the spiciness of the finish, but isn’t overtly noticeable.

This seems to have rounded & softened up a bit since I tasted this back in October. It is much more fruit focused, or at least some of the sharper phenolic notes seem to have aged out such that the fruit is much more noticeable. It is still not overly funky, in fact it is arguably not very complex (except that it does achieve a complex apricot character), but it is such a great use of this particular fruit; it is certainly the quintessential apricot beer that I have had. As a show case for the use of fruit in beer it easily out shines the sticky sweet New Glarus stuff by a long mile. If you like apricots and I mean you are a stickler for only enjoying fresh, abundantly ripe ones, then this is the beer for you.

Sampled GABF 2008
The beer pours with a pale gold color that is quite clear. It is topped by a pale, white colored ring of a head with a careful pour. The aroma is quite fruity, as expected, but also has as significant floral and even almost herbal edge to it in the finish. The apricot is noticeable, but not overly expressive. There is a light sourness to the aroma as well and the fruit notes remind me of a mix of apricot and Meyer lemon.

The beer is quite dry, pretty light bodied, definitely tart and has a nice aromatic-flavor of apricots; the apricot character is fleshy, almost juicy in quality. This finishes with some phenolic notes in the finish that adds a light, biting sharpness and there is also a bit of astringency. The phenolics contribute a mix of notes of curing plastic and a pale smokiness, though these are kept fairly muted. This is quite drinkable and really hides its alcohol quite well, I wouldn’t have guessed that the base beer, before souring and fruit, was a Tripel. It could use a bit more complexity (whether in the form of more wild character or perhaps just malt and fruit complexity wouldn’t matter too much) to be truly great, but it is quite drinkable and tasty.

2009 from the bottle, Nov2010. This one could serve as a Flanders for aficionados or noobs. bright orange color. Aroma is more funk than fruit, however, neither is too strong. By style, expect more sour and fruit-forward but still a good beer nonetheless. Apricot is in the background here. easy-drinking

Bottle 750 ml (2008 Vintage)
Aroma mid light tartness, light peach with hop notes. Very gentle hints of oak. 7+
Appearance bright amber gold look. Medium plus head. Sparse lace.
Flavor and Palate : medium bodied. Sourness up front with zesty feel. Bit dry on top end. Fruity notes with zesty sourness blended with alcohol.

bottle from curly - thanks! 2010 edition. Cloudy, bubbly appearance, with a huge head. Smells, not surprisingly, like apricots. Flavor is apricot, some oak, and a little bit baby aspirin. There is a weird mix of fresh apricot an some artificial flavors. Still, very tasty!

2009 750ml. Hazy orange, small beige head. Big tart aromas of apricots and many tropical fruits. Big funky esters. Carb is a tad high. Sourness and tartness are great, not over the top, just right. Touches of barnyard funk. Great stuff.

Tim’s bottle, 2008 vintage, that has mellowed out as we shall see. Orange coloured body, understated carbonation. Very malty, subdued acidity. Very good drinkability.

750ml bottle shared by jsprime. 2009 version. hazy deep orange with a lasting off white head. big sour acid and apricot nose. intense sourness, lots of fruit, very flanders pale from a base beer stand point, well integrated fruit. nice stuff.

2009 Bottle. Apricot Ale pours well an apricot color. Go figure! It’s cloudy and nicely carbonation. A small white head forms but goes bye bye rather quickly. Smell has a nice deep fruitness about it. Apricots definitely take center stage here but I picked up some lemon and pear. Right behind is a good amount of funk and a nice backbone of malt and oak. Smells great. In the taste you’re greeted with the nice lactic acidic kick. Not overly sour but enough to wake up my taste buds. Mix in the lovely apricot taste with the oak and funk and you have a nice mixture here. It’s sour for sure but I feel like everything balances out the beer perfectly. Just lovely. The almost 9% alcohol was very well hidden. Dangerous! Mouthfeel is medium bodies, dry, and has a good amount of carbonation.

2009 bottling. 9,0% alc/vol. 750ml brown bottle shared with friends. Clear amber with a white head. I really like this peachy nose, apricot candy. Some acidity on the nose. The fuzzy peach taste is very interesting. Easy drinking, light and refreshing. This is a classic to be, way better than the kriek.

750ml bottle, 2009 bottling, amber color, with a beige head, sweet and sour earthy, fruity, apricot , funky, yeasty lactic nose, with some dusty, faint musty, horseblanket notes, and a light wet oak barrel, acidic orange peel, sharp accent in the aroma follows through on a medium-bodied palate with a nice mild acidic, lactic yeast finkiness, chalky, spritzy earthy sour apricot character, with a light vanilla, wet oak barrel, milky yougurt sourness flavour, and some candied orange, tangerine peel, doughy, pale toasted malt undertones from is belgium tripel base, leading towards a warming. milkyish funkiness, sour, sharp apricot, candied orange rind, lemon acidic, wet oaky finish,

(Vintage 2009) Une mousse évanescente sur un liquide à la robe cuivrée et légèrement voilée. Un nez bien construit, à la fois souple et percutant. Des parfums d’abricot et de fruits tropicaux au profil légèrement suret. Une présence feutrée de notes rustiques. Un souffle chargé de douceur. Des saveurs agréables, un rappel de l’été dans cette mer de neige. Des fruits du verger et des fruits tropicaux. Des fleurs touchées par les microbes. Des notes surettes, lactiques et boisées touchées par des notes douces. Un réel plaisir. Une bouche de moyenne dimension avec une effervescence juste et une texture légère. Une finale parfumée par les abricots et les fleurs surettes.