Cascade Blackberry Ale

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

Serve in Snifter, Tulip, Tumbler

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

(bottled and shared with oh6gdx) brown, almost black colour with long lasting head. blackberry (not phone) on nose, you can smell the sourness. tastes very sour and fruity

750ml bottle, pours a dark purple brown with an off white/pinkish head. Aroma of blackberries, dark fruit, oak, a hint of chocolate, yeasty funk. Flavor is blackberries, slightly tart, some oak, hints of chocolate and a slight touch of vanilla. Sweet and tart finish. Very enjoyable in this summery weather we’ve been enjoying here in So Cal.

Thanks to Exiled for sharing this bottle. It was part of a great tasting that included seven bottled Cascade sours. Purple wax capped 750 ml bottle with no bottling date, but it is believed that the bottle was at least two years old. The beer pours a cloudy dark purple color with a tan head. The aroma is heavy on the blackberries. The flavor is blackberries with some tartness. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation. Not a whole lot to say about the beer but it was awesome to drink due to the amount of raspberry flavor that is packed into the beer. I think I liked the lower ABV on this beer because it seemed to let the blackberry flavor come through more than in some of the higher alcohol Cascade fruit sours.

Bottle. Berry aroma, dark red/purple body with thin reddish head. A subtle oak barrel flavor balanced with blackberries. Sweet and not overly acidic

(750ml bottle thanks to Exiled) murky deep brown-ruby pour with long lasting tan head. Nose of blackberry, olives, and salt. Taste of tart blackberry, real fruit, very drinkable, creamy, well carbonated and some yeast is present as well. Ripe raspberries are here as well. Had all the Cascade sours in the same day. This was the best one, had an absolutely perfect mouthfeel and a superb sour and fruit balance. Excellent!

2007 Bottle. Purplish-red body, thin tan head. Jammy nose of blackberries, cherries, wood, and light lactic acidity. Flavor is similar with lightly sweet blackberries, cherries and musty wood controlling. Medium bodied, with mellow acidity and fairly gentle acidity. Has likely rounded into form with age.

Tasted at SWB’s Sour Fest along with 15 others. Gorgeous deep fuchsia with a fluffy rose head. Predominate berry aroma, including strawberry, raspberry, current and of course blackberry. The taste is not quite as prevalent as the aroma, but definitely of blackberry. Not overwhelmingly sour. Slight grassiness.

Pours a dark purple color with a sweet fruity nose. Flavors are like sour candy. Very drinkable, with the sweetness lending a hand to the sour to make it very tasty. Not really much funk in there. Cascade’s sours really are different from many other sours because of their sweetness. It seems to make them very approachable, and I really enjoy it. The ones I have tried have been sour beers that I could drink a good bit of. Another thumbs up from me.

My Blackberry Ale was an intriguing hazy purple with hues of black and deep rose depending on how the light graced her surface. A puffy lavender ringlet corrals roaming puddles of foam while an onslaught of tart, unripe berries storm my nose. Black berries, boysenberries, blueberries harvested long before their prime speaks of crisp acidic skins and tart berry juices. A softer background of wood and warm baked pie crust brings me into a topping of vanilla and soft cream. Wow. Ok, maybe I have a sour-tooth, but that is one mouth-watering aroma. Wait not, though I certainly want, and my first quaff is as lip-puckering sour as I was hoping it would be. Clean with the perfect weight, crunchy sour berries electrify my tastebuds while wood, pie crust, and vanilla hang out further in her finish. She obviously wants to grab my attention first, and then offer soothing reassurance in end, and I am perfectly fine with that. As my palate slowly dries under her tart sour berry assault, I am able to pick my berries of choice within her brew; blackberries, boysenberries, and a pleasant addition of raspberries. As I make sure to lick the last drop from my glass, I can think of about a couple dozen different desserts I would love to pair her with.

There are many fences to tear down or crawl over in the wide world of beer, and sour ales are certainly one of the tallest for any beer aficionado, new or seasoned. But once one catches the sour bug, there is no going back, and that siren’s song of bracingly dry, tart, and sour will call for you where you are. Do as I do and don’t fight it. Instead, embrace the sour and watch as yet another limitless field of beery possibilities opens up before you.

75cl bottle courtesy of illidurit. Opaque red-brown with a light brown, almost pink tinted head. The aroma caught me off guard because of the blast of milk chocolate. Pretty oaky with the chocolate and a rich blackberry quality as well. The flavor has some chocolate and is lightly sour with lots of berry. Very effervescent with a lighter body. While the aroma was bursting with chocolate, the flavor was more dry and tart. Pretty cool.