Cascade Cuvée du Jongleur

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

Bottle shared at local BA tasting. Poured a hazy copper color with an average frothy white head that mostly lasted with good lacing. Moderate to heavy tart cherry and yeasty aroma. Medium body with a smooth texture and soft carbonation. Medium to heavy sweet flavor with a medium to heavy bittersweet finish of moderate duration. My expectations where exceeded.

Bottle shared by Daknole. Cloudy burnt orange color. Lots of wood character in the aromas, attended by grains, fruit skins, and citrus peels. Lively effervescence. Unique sour flavors and fruit profile. Lots of apples, pears. Some green olives, apricot stone, apple cider vinegar and acetic acid.

Bottle shared by GodOfThunder. Pours cloudy copper orange color with off white head. Sour aroma with some wood and eartiness. Flavor is sour with oak, fruits and earthiness. Light to medium body with average carbonation.

bottle purchased fromt he brewery. Pours a cloudy brownish color wtih a light head. Aroma is nice. Woodsy, funky, fruity, earth tones and some caramel. Flavor is tart and funky but not overly sour. This type of sour I enjoy. I can taste different levels of barrel aging, tart fruits, and some yeasty notes. Very nice effort here.

750ml corked and caged bottle acquired in a couple of trades. Poured a deeper and cloudy brown color with a smaller sized off white head. Aromas of citrus, dark fruits, grapes, some yeastiness, and wood. Tastes of dark fruits, cherries, grapes, some vanilla, wood, and citrus. Acidic. Lighter tart and sour finish.

Thanks to hopdog for cracking this 750. Pours a murky brown with a medium bubbly off white head that left some lacing. Aroma of lots of Belgian estery notes, floral, toffee, some dark fruits, peppery tripel notes, some nuts, lightly tart notes and tobacco. Flavor of lactic tartness, acidic, dark fruits, toffee, nuts, sourness that lingers a bit, tingly carbonation, Belgian yeast, light cherry notes. Interesting and I give them credit for messing around with this one.

Courtesy GodofThunder. Pours a hazy,dark orange color with a small cream colored head that settles quickly to a thin film. Little spots of lacing are left behind. The nose shows sour citrus, peaches, grapes, and a touch of funk from the sour oak. Some sweet lactose and candy sugar keeps the tartness in check. THe flavor is again very tart with cherries, apricots, and peaches. The funky oak and lactose sweeten things up a bit and add complexity. The oak seems a bit old though which lends that funk in there. Medium bodied with a lot of carbonation, but still easy to drink. The finish is long and dry as the tartness lingers in the background. Nice little sour ale.

In short: A weird sour ale focussing on woody/barrel flavours. Far from clean. Not very good but interestingly strange.
How: Bottle 750ml, corked and caged. Consumed (probably fresh) a few weeks after purchase
The look: Cloudy dark golden body topped by a little off-white ring of foam.
In long: After letting the beer warm-up a bit the nose was intense with lots of barrel, strong vinous character, dirt, wet wood and a little vinegary touch. Intriguing to say the least. Taste is surprisingly not so intense. Lots of wood (oak, cedar, pine-tree), a little bit funky, a few drops of cheap wine a little vinegary tartness/acidity, medium sourness. An overall impression of a dirty old beer. Definitely an odd little brew. Bottle describes the process used to make this beer and it seems to be an extremely complex recipe, especially for someone like me who sometimes make really messy grill-cheese sandwiches when I don’t get the “bread-cheese-bread” order right.