Cascade The Vine

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

Serve in Snifter, Tulip, Tumbler

Crisp and sparkly almost exactly a gueuze. Bottle pours a nicely carbonated pink/amber with just a ring of white foam and bare hints of lacing. Aromas of sour apple, tart grapes, and mild horse blanket. Quite sour, along the lines of a Belgian gueuze lambic, with plenty of wine barrel oak and just the slightest hint of strawberry-rhubarb . Not one of the most complex beers of the Northwest sour style, but rather, a very refined blend that is most enjoyable. Leaves your mouth with a pucker.

Bottle. Bottle was a bit hard to open and gushed mildly all over my back door which prompted mothman to run up frantically waving a glass in my face yelling "I have a glass!" No need though as the initial carbonation out of the bottle subsided. Poured a murky golden amber color with a tight white head. Very sharp tart aroma with vinegar and acetone notes along with some tart fruit aromas. Light mouthfeel and a bit more carbonated than I would have liked. Fairly nice sourness with a nice sweet fruit finish. Lots of white wine like characteristics. Oaky finish as well. Pretty good but would like to see this a little more sour.

A: Cloudy orange yellow. Small fizz but no real head or retention. No lace. S: Aromas of brett, cherry, oak, and loads of funk. T: great beer. Cherries and green apple. Oak, brett, and white wine. Peach, apricot, and sour tarts, and a dash of aspirin. M: Light zippy carbonation, D: Great, love it. Thanks Zack, SeaBass, and everyone else who have shared this one with me over the past couple months.

Curtis poured me a sample of this from the keg room at the brewpub. Pours a hazy orange with a frothy white head. Nose is tart, apple skins, lactic acid, citrus fruits, white grapes, a little wood, a little peppery. Flavor is tart, apples, white grapes, spice, pepper, acidic, lemon peel. Full bodied, tart and dry finish.

batch 2 I believe. Cork comes off with an explosion, really satisfying. Pours a very clear honey gold with a loud, fizzy head that fades to a collar. Nose is large wine barrel, white grapes, some other light fruits. Quite a lot of wet wood. Major white grape in the flavor. Some musty, sweaty brett and of course oak. The idea is similar to Cuvee de Castleton, but it’s not as tight, and a bit muddled. Sour and puckering on the finish. As it breathes it really tightens up and expresses the grape and sour flavors in a much more cohesive way. Still pretty similar to Castleton, but not as sour and a little less spritzy.

UPDATED: AUG 20, 2010 750ml Bottle (at 8.33%ABV): Very difficult to open. Aroma of Brett, oak, lactic acid, light white grapes, and a hint of funk. Poured amber/gold in color with a small, fizzy, off-white head that lasted throughout. Cloudy. Very sparkling. Full of tiny, small, and medium-sized particles throughout. Flavor is medium tart and heavily sweet. Tastes of tart fruit, oak, slight vanilla, grapes, fruit, slight lactic acid, peach, apricot, and a hint of funk. Medium body. Tingly, then slightly dry texture. Lively carbonation. Lightly tart, heavily sweet, fruit, grape, oak, and slight vanilla finish is slightly dry. 8.33%ABV is completely hidden throughout.

750 ml brown bottle. Vintage 2009. Consumed July 2010. A hazy orange beer with a small quickly faded head. The aroma is very tart, sour, citrus, green apples, funky, and maybe even some pepper and wood. The aroma reminds me of a gueze. The taste is acidic, wood, moderately mouth puckering. I can’t say I taste grapes but is has a green apple or white flesh fruit taste. The mouthfeel is spritzy and really makes me think I’m drinking a Sprite with extra lemon.

A: The pour is a clear dark golden-amber color with a big white head on it. S: Quite a bit of sweet grape juice to the nose, but plenty of lactic tartness comes through as well. The oak is not all the prominent, I must say. T: A good amount of lactic acidity, but not quite as biting as some of the other Cascade beers (especially Apricot or Sang Rouge, for example). The grapes are really up front and slightly sweet with a mild buttery chardonnay quality (in a good way). M: The body is a bit heavier than I was expecting, and the carbonation is plentiful as well. D: Not the best of Cascades beers, but quite good none-the-less. I still had no problem enjoying my sample.