Cascade The Vine

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

Serve in Snifter, Tulip, Tumbler

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750 ml bottle. Pours a clear dark gold body with a touch of amber under a one finger fizzy off-white head that faded to a thin film. The nose is quite unusual, some light lactic acidity, moderate oak, and a weird mix of what seems like white wine and some kind of cinnamon like spice. Smells most like a Reisling. There’s some yeast, caramel malt, and light alcohol notes below the funk as well. The flavor is really a fusion of wine and Sour Ale. It’s got the brightness and slight acidity of a Cabernet Sauvignon with a slightly tart and bretty Sour Ale. As far as the beer components go, the Blonde Quad stands out as the dominant flavor with its sweet caramel maltiness and slight alcohol. I actually like this quite a bit, more than most of these wine/beer hybrid concotions that are starting to become more common. The alcohol is surprisingly well hidden on the finish by the combination of tropical fruits like pineapple and the great brett. The mouthfeel is fairly thick up front, but the brett lightens things up towards the finish. No real hint of the alcohol at all, even as I continued to drink it and it warmed up a bit. This was pretty delicious and quite a surprise, most of these other Cascade Sours were just "pretty good". I dig it.

On tap at Cascade in Portland. 2011 vintage. Pours straw yellow, with a small head. White wine and tart grapes up front. Pungent tart nose, with a bit milder flavor that brings in some grass and fig. Really good!

On tap @ the barrel house. Cloudy dull golden pour with very little head. Nose is funky, fruity, and vinous. Flavors of white grapes and white wine.

On tap at Uber, pours slight hazy blondish with half a finger of white head. Smell is almost like cider, crisp and tart, bit of vinegar. Taste is a very mild sour, refreshing, crisp, and a nice lingering finish. Good, not over the top sour, well done.

A: Pours a clear golden straw color with good carbonation leaving a nice white cap and some bubbles S: Big lacto, white grape juice and peels witha whiff of wood, apple and pear T: Immediate lacto and white grape notes, like someone stomped white grapes in front of me and poured it into my glass. The mid palate and back end leaves some Blonde and wood influence of pear, oak, Earthiness, gree and red apple persuasion and a tad vanilla with a stinging booze M: Nice body, well carbonated and the lacto/grapes leaves a burning sweetness O: Very good

2011 vintage on tap. Pours gold with little head, visible effervescence. Character is white grape skin, minerality, apple juice, refreshing acidity, minor medicinal epoxy note comes across but not really in an offensive way at all.

Vintage: 2011. Bottle with Carla. Pours a lightly hazy light gold with white foam. Smells slightly citrusy sour with hints of vanilla. Tastes sharply bitter/sour with hints of vanilla, oak, and grapefruit. Will likely get much better with age.

WOW! Sample tray. If I was not driving I would have had a glass or two or more. Smells sour! White grapes and smoooooooth flavour.

A nice elegant beer, medium to high sourness. Nice nice notes form both the oak and the grapes.

Opening up this beer was kind of a pain in the ass. Their corks are so in there I felt like I was in a strongman competition. Finally after a minute or so of fighting the beast a loud pop roared out of the bottle. It I was to aim this cork at a wall I might of put a hole in it. I had heard stories that this beer was a total gusher and people lost half the bottle to the floor. So with glass in hand I was ready but luckily it acted like a good little sour and didn’t gush over. What pours was a golden colored ale with bubbles shooting everywhere. Fizzy head like soda quickly disappears to a small lacing around the glass. Up front this is one of the most sour beers I’ve ever laid my nose on. But as you let it warm up the sourness calms down a bit and the other aromas shine through. The grapes come through nicely with a small hint of funk and the presence of oak. The taste on this is very juicy and full of grape. The taste starts out very sweet with the grapes but is quickly taken over by a deep oak taste, sourness, funk, and earthiness. The ending is nice. It finishes dry and the oak sits on the palette. One of the most drinkable sours I’ve ever had. Didn’t even taste like a beer. Oak aged grape juice anyone? The mouthfeel was pretty well done too. Full bodied and like I said above, dry. It was carbonated from start to finish.

nose is heavy gold, thin bubbles frothy white head, thick and constant. Nose is horse radish and cocktail sauce, very pungent oak, little Chardonnay. Flavor is lightly acetic, white grape, very spritzy carb soda, light vegetal bitterness through finish.