Cascade Cuvée du Jongleur

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

Serve in Snifter, Tulip, Tumbler

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UPDATED: JUL 25, 2009 Sampled July 2009
A solid pour into my 25cl tulip glass produces a two-finger thick, light tan colored head; the head leaves some nice layered lacing patterns on the sides of my glass as I work my way through this beer. The beer is a lightly darkened, amber color that shows a lightly hazed, red-tinged, light amber color when held up to the light. The nose has a nice tartness to it that is most definitely lactic in character. The tartness brings out an unripe, green fruit note that is a bit reminiscent of crab-apples, tart plums, or an unripened pear. There is a touch of cracker like malt hidden underneath the lactic aromatics and perhaps a hint of cherry aromatics towards the finish, but overall this is pretty simplistic and not very complex. The tartness is nice though, just nothing to particularly rave about.

Nicely tart tasting, but not overly dry. There is just a touch of malt sweetness (a combination of toasted caramel and dark fruit notes) as well as a fairly substantial body for a sour beer. I wouldn’t say this is thick and chewy, but it certainly has a certain viscousness to it as well as some malt body to counter the ample tartness. Fruity flavors of sour plums, tart but slightly washed out cherries, a black currant note as well as some red-wine like notes that are accentuated by a solid oak-derived backbone; each of these notes couple pretty seamlessly with the lactic tartness. The oak provides a nice toasted woody note to the finish as well as some spiciness in the middle and there is definitely a tannic note as well as a body-boosting oak effect. This beer hides its alcohol quite well, there is a touch of heat to the finish but this all seems to come from the oak and not any alcohol.

My second pour sees a touch of vinous character coming out in the nose, more like an oaky chardonnay than a red wine; in fact I don’t know how I missed the oak character the first go round as there is a definite oak-derived spiciness and a toasted wood character here in the nose. The fruitiness in the flavor gets a boost as well. This is a nice smoothly drinking beer. It is very well balanced, if not a bit mellow and is fairly clean fermentation wise; there is the sourness, but that is it in the way of funkiness. The finish of the flavor has some nice toasted malt notes and some biscuit like character that couples with the toasted oak quite nicely.

This is a nice beer, it does not have the complexity of the Sang Royale (especially in the nose, but this certainly gets better after my second pour), but it is far better than The Vine. Some Brettanomyces funk would certainly be appreciated, but this is more approachable this way I suppose. This is certainly an enjoyable beer to be sipping upon as I work my way through a bout of bill paying. Honestly though, this ends up being much more enjoyable than I was expecting, this is a nice beer I would be happy to have a whole lot more of in the cellar.

Sampled GABF 2008
7/4/7/4/15, Total 3.7
This beer pours with an amber tinged, tan colored head that sits on top of an amber colored beer. The aroma is a complex mix of fruity notes, tart lactic acid, lightish funk character and grain. Aromas similar to cherries and tart plums provide the bulk of the fruit notes but there is also some aromatic-varietal apple character here and even some tart apricot notes become noticeable after a bit. The grain aromas contribute a solid cracker-like malt note that one typically doesn’t find still hanging around in a sour beer (but I have been noticing this more and more from American versions). The funkiness, other than the sourness, is pretty muted in the aroma, but does contribute notes similar to musty, slightly moldy hay.

The beer is fairly tart as it first hits my tongue, but it is quite balanced. The sourness seems predominantly contributed by Lactic acid. The sourness combines with fruity notes to produce flavors of tart cherry and apricots. There is also a light plastic edge to this beer, as well as some other sharp phenolics; these notes are fairly soft and are not overly intrusive. There is a significant herbal character here as well that reminds me of tannic, wild, weeds somehow. A cotton ball like, tannic character coats the palate after each sip has left my mouth. This beer is fairly light, but there is a full, lingering presence to this beer. There is also a touch of warming alcohol to the finish. This is actually a nicely balanced beer, I am definitely enjoying this.

From notes. Poured from a 750 mL bottle into a tulip. Out of the bottle, Cuvée du Jongleur pours a caramel brown color with lighter edges. A wispy off-white or tan head forms and fades to a thin film after a few moments. There is a mellow, smooth vibe in both the aroma and flavor. While the aroma has a nice floral nature, white grape, lemon zest, cherry, and some red grape provide a nice fruitiness to the flavor. The taste is softly sweet, somewhat tart, and very relaxed. There is some oak and lactic sourness as well. The carbonation and body are both right in the middle for the style. Although there is a sweet start to it, the mouthfeel turns noticeably lactic and sour by the end. Usually I am a big fan of Cascade, but this was not one of my favorites.

Deep amber pour with light carbonation and head. Candies fruit aroma, peaches, red licorice, caramel. what starts as sweet fruit rapidly becomes lightly salty with a pleasant sour flavor of mixed fruit with peach as the front leader. medium body with a semi sticky yet refreshing mouthfeel.

Bottled (thanks after4ever!). Deep amber colour, small head. Aroma is rather tart wood, some raisins, mild cherries. Flavour is tart wood, some mild cherry pips and mild plum.

Bottled 750cl
Deep amber color, small off-white head, Intensive cherryish, bready malty, a bit tart aroma. Meidum-bodied. Very nice flavor of sherry, vinegar, plums, dark grapes. Tart, fruityFlamish red - Rodenbach type flavor. This is very good.

Bottle. Poured into a Lost Abbey stemmed glass a clear, dark clear copper color with a 1 finger light tan head. Sweet caramel, spice, toffee, and slight acetone. Light/medium mouthfeel. A rich caramel flavor with some notes of barrel. Vanilla as well mixed with some dark fruit notes like dark cherry. This one isn’t overly sour by any means but has a nice lactic acidity that kicks in through mid drink and lingers for a bit. The ending has a nice blunt barrel and fruit flavor that draw it to a close. The abv it only slighlty noticeable in the end. Some lace. Very glad I got to try this one as I have been searching for it for a while.

Bottle: Poured a hazy reddish color ale with a large foamy head with good retention and some good lacing. Aroma of tart notes with some oak and very light acidic notes. Taste is a nice balance mix between some tart and oak notes with a very subtle acidic finish. Body is quite full for style with great carbonation and no alcohol was apparent even though I think the alcohol level is too high for the style. Not the most complex beer from this brewery but very enjoyable nonetheless.

Reviewed from notes. Thanks to bmanning for sharing this bottle. Pours dark with a bit of a head and not too much lacing. The nose brings dark fruits, plum, green apple, light spice, lactic sourness, and a bit of oak. Really complex and nice. The taste focuses on some sourness as well as some dark fruit complexity. Some light cherry notes as well. Good base with excellent levels of sourness; the blending process went really well and all aspects of the beer really shine through. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 10-24-2010

Bottle at Jacob’s. Sweet a light tartness. Aromas of dates, plums and some sweet liquirish. Reminds me a bit of a barley wine. Slightly oxidized. Medium bodied. Soft carbonation. Mellow tart finish with more dates.

2010-01-15. Crisp mahogany body with a small beige head. Pleasant mild sourness throughout, mild oaky overtones, sour fruity accents, mild malt base. 7+ Fruity very lightly must aroma, light alcohol. Average plus palate. Bit simple at times but pleasantly drinkable. Bottle from PSBW, Seattle

[3553-20110115] 750mL bottle. Belgian yeast and sweet fruit hints in the aroma. Hazy, red orange body with a medium-lasting foamy light tan head. Sour dry Belgian yeast and fruity flavour. Medium body is quite sour. Good, repeatable. (7/4/7/4/14+) 3.4
(w/ Bobsy, jerc)