Cascade Kriek Ale

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

One of my favorites of the 2009 GABF. Went back to this one on day two. Really well made, with rich cherry flavors and aromas. Great amount of tartness, too. Tasty stuff.

Bottle: Poured a murky red color ale with a rather large foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of sour cherries with some lightly sweet notes and some tannin and oak notes are also discernible. Taste is a very well balance mix between some tart notes, sour cherries with underlying sweetness and some light tannin and oak notes. Body is about average with good carbonation and no alcohol was apparent. Very well done and wouldn’t pale in comparison of some good Belgian fruit lambic.

750 ml waxed and capped bottle purchased mail order directly from the brewery. Pour is a murky mahogany with a 2 inch off brownish-red head. Falls with decent lacing. Aroma of sweet floral perfume and cherries. Musty vanilla. Mild sourness. Wonderful, balanced and engaging nose. Taste is vanilla, oak wood, tart cherries and more of the soft floral sweetness. Everything is exceptionally integrated and balanced. The cherry is really fresh and brightly tart, not in your face sour, just beautifully melded with the rest of the flavors. Wow, this is really good. Palate is medium, clean and nicely carbonated. Aftertaste coats the mouth and lingers perfectly. This beer does not hit you over the head on any element, just beautifully crafted. Thanks for starting mail order, Cascade!

POurs deep amber. Nose is sour cherries, funk, sour lactic acid, sweet fruit, wood, wine. Flavor is an incredible balance of sweet fruit and sour sour cherries, big funk, tart fruit. Somehow cascade keeps their sours full bodied, never thin. Awesome! Cascade never disappoints.

Pours a redish rusty murky and cloudy. Smells sour and sweet, sweet tart candy slight funk. Funky, very sour but awesome, a little to to acidic, but delicous.

Bottle from bvc. Cage is marked with a ’K’ (assume for ’Kriek’ as Brandon got this unlabeled direct from the brewery) and ’11/8’, so assume this is a 2008 vintage. Had a small sample @ GABF09 and really wanted to try more. Pours a really inviting dirty red/pink with a light beige head. Nose is fantastic -musty earth and light tart vinegar. Flavor is the sour, lambic-esque profile up front, with some red apples. Quickly followed by really, really well integrated cherry and dusty earth flavors with a touch of yeasty funk in there as well. Perfectly carbonated and extremely balanced cherry sweetness with the tart flavors. Defintely my favorite Kriek-style beer. Thanks a ton, Brandon, this one was a winner.

750 ml bottle poured a clear dark reddish brown with a small lingering pinkish amber head. Aromas of sour pie cherries, oak, leather and light funk. Palate was light bodied and crisp with a dry tart finish. Flavors of sour pie cherries, oak, barnyard funk and a hint of leather with a crisp dry lingering tart finish.

Hazy brownish with a medium beige head. Aroma was sweet sourish with plums, caramel and wood. Flavour had sour cherries, wood, cinnamon, almonds and vinegar. Finished very sour with sour cherries. Refreshing stuff.