Cascade Kriek 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 2007 Bottle Vintage; Sampled June 2009
A very careful pour still has me ending up with a four finger thick head in my 25cl tulip glass. The head is a full tan colored head. The beer is a murky amber, red color that shows a hazed, deep red color. The aroma is quite cherry laden, with a sweet cherry pie aroma that is noticeable even though I haven’t yet focused on smelling the aroma. The aroma smells a bit thin in its cherry character, though this is clearly the biggest aromatic note. A touch of tannic cherry skin character comes through, but not nearly as richly as a proper sour-cherry varietal character should. There seems to be a touch of tobacco character here as well as a touch of bitter cocoa here as well somehow (though I’ll admit the latter doesn’t make much sense). There is a nice, even rich, slightly sweet cherry character here as well as a finish of spicy oak, and even a tannic woody character.

The beer is fairly light bodied, with a light tartness, and is not sweet at all. The cherry character is a bit weaker even than it is in the aroma. The beer is also not nearly as funky as it would need to be to make up for the lack of cherry character. The second sip is actually a bit richer than the first was with the lactic character being a touch more noticeable. There is a hint of spicy oak in the finish as well as a bit of tobacco and woodiness. My second pour has me noticing a hint of cocoa in the finish as well. This is definitely well carbonated, which tends to lighten this perception of this beer even more; I can’t say that this is really a good thing, as the beer seems a bit thin somehow, it is quaffable though and I wouldn’t quite call it watery.

This was a bit disappointing after the superb Apricot that I had the other night. Strangely I liked this one a lot better during the GABF, it does get a bit better & more integrated as it warms up though. It just seems to have fallen a little short and tastes a bit flat and more muted than I would really like. Still this is not a bad beer, it is even enjoyable, I just find myself thinking how much better this could be in so many different ways.

Sampled GABF 2008
7/3/7/4/16
total: 3.7

This beer has a murky brown color to it and is topped by a frothy, tan colored head. The aroma has a definite cherry note to it and leans toward the sour-cherry side of things. There is a yeast-like note here in the nose that is sort of nutty and there are other aromatics of sweaty cured leather, something like cocoa, grassy grain notes towards the finish, as well as a warm alcohol note. The cherry notes also lean towards sweet-cherry notes, though this is more contributed by the aromatic fruit than by sugar it seems.

The beer tastes of tart, dry cherries up front, but this is only one component of the flavor. There is also a lactic-acid driven lemon-like not up front that moves to a fleshy, full cherry skin flavor that couples with a tannic finish. The tannic note provides a light astringency in the finish, but I can’t quite help coming back to the fresh, complex even, cherry flavor that is not overly dominant, but is so aromatic tasting (if that makes any sense). This is a nice beer, it could be a touch more funky (it showed some promise of this in the aroma) as it is mostly sour, but it is certainly an enjoyable beer.

On tap at Cascade in Portland. 2010 vintage. Pours dirty light brown, with a fluffy head. Cherries, oak, and maybe a bit of banana on the nose. Great pucker -- this one is quite tart. More vinous notes in the flavor than came through in the aroma. Really nice.

Bottle with thanks to spicelab. Pours a murky brown with reddish tinges. Cream coloured head. Clean aromas of sour cherries. Flavours are quite sour. Not at all sweet. Bloody nice beer.

Shared 750ml bottle. Poured a cloudy ruby color with a light pink color. Aroma is a tart funk with notes of cherries. Flavor was a relatively pleasant fruit tart funk. Pretty drinkable.

On tap @ the barrel house. Deep ruby brew with some off-white head. Nose of spices, cherry, oak, and a bit of vanilla. Flavors of cinnamon, tart and sour cherry, and wood. Really enjoyed this.

Bottle, pour is very red, very sweet flavour, lots of cherries, more cherry then sour, it is quite nice and overall it is very flavourful. nice offering

Got a small glass of this at The Local Beer Bar in Eureka, CA. The pour was reddish brown with pink bubbles. Nose of sour cherry. Medium body with smooth mouthfeel. Flavor is powerfully sour with lots of cherry. It finishes dry and sour. Very delicious..

2010 vintage. Bottle to oversized snifter. Looks good; cherry and hazy. Smells great; tart and cherry. Tastes solid; sour. I think another year or two would serve it very well. Palate is average for a beer of it’s type. Good stuff.

750ml. bottle purchased at Mesa Liquors in San Diego, CA. 2010 bottling. Pour is red/brown, with big white head. Sour cherries; an amazing and wonderful aroma. Taste is sour cherries. acidic, dry, sharp and tart. Finish is acidic, tart and sour, with loads of cherry flavor. Great ale.

Thanks to Dan for this unexpected treat. 2010 vintage picked up at the brewery. Really nice looking cherry red with a big frothy white head. No sediment, but I also got the first pour! Smells like juicy sour cherry pie. The taste is so perfectly balanced and sour. Cherries were well pronounced and far surpassed my expectations. This is my number one sour for sure. So awesome. Must get more!

*(cuvée 2009): Les cerises surettes dominent le bouquet de cette bière au collet qui s’effondre comme un jeu de carte. En bouche, les anti-corps attaquent mes lèvres, provocant un pétillement cacophonique à chaque gorgé. C’est définitivement un acharnement d’acidité et de cerises surettes qui s’abat sur le palais mais avec la supervision du chêne, un certain équilibre est obtenu.