Cascade First Harvest Ale
Cascade Brewery Company Ltd.

Cascade First Harvest AleCascade First Harvest Ale
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From:
Cascade Brewery Company Ltd.
 
Australia
Style:
English Pale Ale
ABV:
5.5%
Score:
76
Avg:
3.19 | pDev: 14.42%
Reviews:
29
Ratings:
36
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jun 25, 2021
Added:
Jun 17, 2002
Wants:
  3
Gots:
  0
No description / notes.
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Ratings by soju6:
Photo of soju6
Reviewed by soju6 from Missouri

2.94/5  rDev -7.8%
look: 3 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
A: Pours a good amber color with a fair head and some lacing.

S: Aroma of clean citrus with some malt sweetness and fresh grain.

T: Mild citrus flavor with amalt sweetness and fresh grain. Mild bitterness and a clean finish.

F: Fairly moderate body, smooth with a decent balance but a bit dull.

O: Decent drinker, although I was expecting more of a hop character.
May 30, 2013
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.11 by Daneve76 from Australia

Jun 25, 2021
 
Rated: 2.48 by TheCrowsEye from California

May 03, 2018
Photo of Andrewziggy
Rated by Andrewziggy from Australia

2.58/5  rDev -19.1%
look: 2.75 | smell: 2.25 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.25 | overall: 2.75
Mild citrus , malty sweetness not a favourite
Dec 18, 2014
Photo of magpieken
Reviewed by magpieken from Australia

3.71/5  rDev +16.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
2014 Release. 375ml bottle. Pours a bright, pale amber colour, with a billowing, dense, beige head which lasted well. Aroma reminds me of a sweet white wine, very fruity but not in an overpowering way and caramel. Taste has a nice balance of mild sweetness and bitterness. Light to medium body. From what I remember the hops were more prominent in last years release. Don’t approach this expecting an American Pale Ale, instead you’ll find a nicely balanced and pleasant drop.
Aug 05, 2014
Photo of admiral
Reviewed by admiral from Australia

3.72/5  rDev +16.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
First harvest - picked and brewed March 2014. I assume hops have diminished somewhat since bottling as it is now more ESB than pale ale. However, it still tastes great, if you are not concerned by that and enjoy ESB's (as I do).

aroma: toffee, light citrus (mainly lemon), malt and light banana

taste: caramel, toffee, citrus (mainly lemon), sultanas/raisins, light banana and sticky pudding and herbs/spices. A lasting flavour and good mouthfeel for the style and amount of alcohol it contains (all be it a hybrid pale ale/ESB it now is - or at least the beer I got!)

Flavoursome, easy to drink and a good 'session' beer with friends.
Jul 27, 2014
 
Rated: 3.25 by Shy5 from Oregon

Jan 24, 2014
 
Rated: 3.25 by Joel12 from Illinois

Aug 24, 2013
 
Rated: 2.5 by pin from Australia

Jul 23, 2012
Photo of bylerteck
Reviewed by bylerteck from Canada (ON)

3.2/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Pint at Great Northern.

A - Poured a golden colour with decent carbonation. Bright. Half finger of white head faded fast. A few spots of lace and little island of retention. English Pale Ale?

S - Grassy hop, lagery note, grainy sweetness.

T - Malty sweetness comes out like honey, sweet grain and a bit of grassy hop.

M - Fairly strong carbonation, medium body and a touch of bitterness in the finish.

O/D - Probably not something I'd grab again. An interpretation what essentially seems like a Lager, with a bit more malt and hop character. Nothing to write home about. Not bad, just not worth the trouble or price.
Jul 03, 2012
Photo of SmashPants
Reviewed by SmashPants from Australia

3.7/5  rDev +16%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Bottle: brown 375mL bottle, reasonable label for a macro.

Appearance: copper colour, with a large finger of fluffy head with good retention.

Aroma: toasted biscuit malts, fruity hops with herbs.

Taste: some coffee and toffee malt characters, roasted grains also.

Aftertaste: some fruit which are difficult to place, considering Cascade is in TAS, possible apples and blackcurrant. They suit the coffee and toffee quite nicely.

Mouth feel: medium bodied, and medium carbonation - an ale designed with higher carbonation than usual ales, so as to more readily suit the average Australian palate and serving temperature.

Overall: quite a nice beer to have come from a macro brewery, but the price tag is simply unacceptable. Good beer if it was in the $50 - $55 range per case, but for AU$78 a case (2012)? Possibly not.
Jul 02, 2012
Photo of doktorhops
Reviewed by doktorhops from Australia

3.3/5  rDev +3.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3
Another year brings another first harvest from Cascade - by far the best brew from an average at best Australian brewery (I can't understand the prejudice Cascade drinkers have against Boag's drinkers, and vice versa - it's like comparing apples with apples, their lagers taste the same and I wouldn't be surprised if the beers are being pumped out of the same brewery). Campania, Triabunna and Ellendale hops were used in this years harvest.

Poured from a 375ml stubbie into a nonic pint.

Note: 2012 harvest/vintage.

A: Clear rust body with a thin foamy off-white head.

S: The aroma is faint earthy hops followed by a sweet bread (Brioche) malt grain body and a hint of caramel. It's not very exciting here but as I recall last years first harvest was also light on aroma.

T: The caramel body is upfront, then we have a hit of citric sour hops and a long bitter hop mid palate to finish. There is also some sweetness in the flavour, a golden syrup hit to add a little complexity. It's good but I thought last year was just a touch better.

M: A little too watery for my liking. Carbonation is also lighter than expected.

D: The bitterness really lingers in the after taste. It's like a clumsy American Pale Ale in this respect. Otherwise it's another interesting brew for Cascade (though that's not saying much). I would like to see Cascade produce an English style bitter as they certainly have some talent in this area, however it would need to be sold much cheaper than what the first harvest is sold for to make it worthwhile.

Food match: Tart and bitter flavours would match this well, try something Thai like a salad with lemongrass, coriander and tamarind. For dessert - lemon curd tart would go down well.
Jun 24, 2012
 
Rated: 3 by hopnerd from Australia

Jun 09, 2012
Photo of Stew41
Reviewed by Stew41 from Thailand

3.2/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Another acceptable effort from one of the world’s worst brewers. Attractive red / brown hue with little head - similar to the 2005. Nose is reasonably mild but shows nice sweet herbs and a touch of wood. Flavours start well with well defined green herbal hops but gets sloppy at the back as the dreaded CUB house flavours (ie shitty stale malts) kicks in, albeit faintly. Good enough.
Aug 14, 2011
Photo of joecast
Reviewed by joecast from Australia

4.1/5  rDev +28.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
2011 release. Best of those I have tried. Easily. Hops are much more to the fore than previous versions. Not out of style, but very fresh and unubstructed by the malts. A nice clean refreshing beer.
---
not one i seek each year, but hadnt been to a bottle shop in a while and felt adventurous. first harvest '08 in the new and "improved" 330 ml bottle.

has a substantial look about it. considerably darker than any of the usual cascade products. deep copper color with a thin off white head. light carbonation and crystal clear. i can even see the water marks from the other side of the glass. good head stability and decent lacing.

aroma comes out strong when pouring. a bit grassy and floral with a good hit of malt sweetness. the hoppy aspect fades pretty quickly to leave the crystal malt sweetness dominating the aroma. well, "dominating" may send the wrong idea as the aroma is fairly subdued as it warms.
possible it has already faded from the fresh-hopped brew. this cant be more than a few months old, but now wish i had tried one closer to the release. eh, i wont beat myself up over it.

...ok focus on the positives. be constructive...
sorry, was going off on a tangent.
this beer just comes across so clean tasting. very refined and almost delicate. has a good dose of bitterness, but they must have really been determined to balance it out and used heaps of crystal malts.
another thing is they do mention it as an ale on the back label, but i would not be surprised if they used their normal lager yeast. very little yeast character and, as i said, really clean taste and finish.
i cant fault the hop character in the taste. nothing too up front, but present and noticeable none the less.

not bad, but would only have a second look at this if i was in the right mood. score is for the 2008 release.
---
dont know why, but i got pretty excited when i saw this.
"2006 release. very rare beer" says the label. anyway,

pours a very nice amber color, with a lightly tanned head. minimal carbonation. head settles to a good enough lace.

aroma starts hoppy and fruity. very promising. the backing sweetness becomes a bit fuller as it warms, but still decent.

taste is very subdued, like its too important to be bothered showing a bit of zest and flair.
"nah, i'll just mosy on down past the tongue. no interest in making a fuss." it says.
anyway, its all a bit disappointing. has the necessary malt caramel sweetness, even a touch of hop flavor. but the bitterness is almost completely left behind. average at best.

at $5/stubbie, ouch!! much better australian beer available for much less $$. and they're available year round, so you dont have to wait for this to come out and feel cheated.
i will give them some credit for trying a fresh hop beer though.

---
2004 release
open the bottle and the grassy aroma jumps right out and says hello. yes, grassy. unexpected but not unwelcome.
clear light reddish hue with some lacing sitting on top.
the hop aroma persists (though not quite as strongly) in the glass as some sweetness joins it.
a slight hop flavor right at first, and then...well, not much else. very little maltiness in the flavor to back it up. finishes very cleanly, just a bit early.
mouthfeel is light and crisp.
ok, all the hype about how fresh the hops are is fine. but for the price, shouldnt there be a bit more to it than that? id drink it again, but pay for it??
Jun 09, 2011
Photo of MrKennedy
Reviewed by MrKennedy from Australia

3.18/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
375ml bottle, 2011 edition, purchased from Crown Cellars, Launceston, Tasmania and poured into a nonic style pint glass.

Copper colour, pouring with a large finger and a half of white fluffy foam that settles at about a quarter of the initial size and stays for quite some time.

Smells of caramel, toffee and grain. Not really to style, but distinct, clean and not muddled in any way.

Tastes of cereal grain and toffee and is pretty one-dimensional.

It is backed up by more balanced bitterness than i recall from previous vintages. Mouthfeel is solid early, falling away a little bit late on.

Overall a bit of a one-trick pony. Consistent, well rounded but dull. The Tyson Kidd of beers perhaps?
Jun 06, 2011
Photo of ADZA
Reviewed by ADZA from Australia

3.03/5  rDev -5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
This is the brewers number 10th brew and the 2011 edition and it pours a see through pale golden orange hue with decent carbonation that leaves behind creamy a two finger head and sporadic lacing,the smell is herbal hops and toffee,it has a light bodied well carbonated mouthfeel and has tastes of herbal spicy hops,toffee malts and finshed with a boiled candy sweetness and overall its average and have had better but also worse and definately one of this macrobreweries better ones.
Jun 04, 2011
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Reviewed by mulder1010 from Australia

2.58/5  rDev -19.1%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5
330 ML Poured into a Great Divide Glass

A-- Poured a reddish gold color, short lived, thin, white head that went to film quickly. Same with head retention. Nothing too exciting, or special about this. Just a little bit of film lacing on the sides of the glass.

S-- Really faint, crisp Carmel apple smell. Smells a lot like the normal macro stuff Australia puts out. Not exciting.

T-- Tastes a lot like the Australian macro stuff. With a little more hops than normal. Suped up Cascade!

M-- Beer improves in the mouth. A bit over carbonated but workable. Hops come more alive in the mouth and sour apple is more apparent in the mouth. Still way too much of the metallic taste that Australian stuff is known for. Long lingering bitter taste in the mouth. Just keep thinking that this is what Cascade bitter would be like if it was mass produced.

D-- A fresh hop for the masses. Nothing really special about it and a little over priced for what this is. Other fresh hop Ales have more to their beers than this one does. Not trying next year.

D--
Aug 09, 2010
Photo of Macca
Reviewed by Macca from Australia

3.33/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
This is the 2010 release.

3 new hops - text (aroma), glenleith (bittering) and oakley (flavour) (as per press release).

This pours an amber colour with a decent head which hangs around as a light covering. Clear.

Disappointing aroma profile for a beer celebrating fresh hops. Definitely dominated by the malts. Presser talks about "fleeting peppermint aroma". Must have been to quick for me.

Reasonable amount of bitterness on the palate but still less than I was expecting.

Medium bodied.

Not a bad beer but disappointing when compared to a lot of the other harvest ales out there.

Update 2011:

It looks better in the glass. Much better head retention.

Still more malt driven than hoppy but it seems more balanced this year.

All round a much better beer than last year. Upping score appropriately.
May 24, 2010
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Reviewed by laituegonflable from Australia

3.32/5  rDev +4.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 3.5
This is a bottle of the 2008 release I've been hanging onto for a while.

Pours a shiny amber colour with a light golden haze on the meadow - I mean, in the glass - and lots of fizz around the edge. Head is modest, white in colour and retaining about a cm of foam. Lace is quite uneventful. Not bad but looks too fizzy.

Nose is decently tangy, with a strong earthy malt base - English toffee character, tinge of cola and a fair amount of English ale esters giving off some floral notes and fruits such as blackcurrant, pineapple and melon. A decent English ale smell.

Taste is quite malty and also phenolic. Has a lot of burnt toffee character with some treacle sweetness and a hint of toasted grain. On the mid it gets very phenolic with a medicinal character and some mild POR notes, some soil flavours and a hint of burnt coffee grounds giving off an ashy bitterness but not a lot of ashy flavour. Some residual fruit esters appear late with some currants, green apple and pineapple subtly lingering behind, giving a bit of roundness to the flavour.

Mouthfeel is overly carbonated, there is a distinct burn on the tongue and otherwise fairly thin. A disappointment.

I've been hanging onto this beer for a long time and I think it's done it some good. I can imagine this being very harshly phenolic and bitter (in an unpleasant POR way) when fresh, but it's actually mellowed out quite a bit. There are still some floral notes from the hops but I think the edge has been taken off them. Either way it's a nice enough and enjoyable enough beer at this stage.
Apr 01, 2010
Cascade First Harvest Ale from Cascade Brewery Company Ltd.
Beer rating: 76 out of 100 with 36 ratings