Blackberry Ale
Cascade Brewing / Raccoon Lodge & Brewpub

Blackberry AleBlackberry Ale
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From:
Cascade Brewing / Raccoon Lodge & Brewpub
 
Oregon, United States
Style:
Wild Ale
ABV:
7%
Score:
90
Avg:
4.01 | pDev: 8.73%
Reviews:
56
Ratings:
165
Status:
Active
Rated:
Mar 29, 2021
Added:
Jun 07, 2008
Wants:
  67
Gots:
  29
Cascade Blackberry Ale spends over 6 months of lactic fermentaion and aging in small oak barrels. This "Belgian Flanders Style Red Ale" is refermented with fresh whole Northwest Blackberries and then hand bottled. Cascade Blackberry Ale is bottle fermented and should be refrigerated or stored at cellar temp and served at 45-50 degrees.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Roguer:
Photo of Roguer
Reviewed by Roguer from Connecticut

4.01/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Dark purplish red brew. Good retention; light pink foam.

Nose: sharp and tart; berries; tannins; slightly musty funk; oak; smells a bit like a forest.

Sour up front, giving way to a more nuanced, fruity, sweet tartness. Vinegar meets berries somewhere mid-palate, while tannins and berry skin round out the profile.

Lively, bubbly feel; despite the strong sourness, it isn't very puckering.
Dec 26, 2015
More User Ratings:
Photo of drdiesel9483
Reviewed by drdiesel9483 from Ohio

4.07/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
2014 - drank in 2021
Look - Looks old :) Thick slightly dark red with a lasting rimming
Smell - Real tart oakey slight beery
Taste - Tart berry with a slight oak, opposite from the smell but all the same things
Feel - Nice and thick
Overall - interesting nice beer and aged well!
Mar 29, 2021
Photo of stevoj
Reviewed by stevoj from Idaho

4.16/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
750ml bottle, 2014 vintage. Pops open with a small gush. Violet/ ruby body, fizzy head. Tart, funky aroma with berries on the back end. Taste hits with both sweet and tart simultaneously. Big berry/ jelly jar flavors with a sharp pucker that will leave you licking your gums. Ages well.
Mar 22, 2020
 
Rated: 4 by NickThePyro from Washington

Nov 22, 2019
 
Rated: 3.98 by Ajlvt from Washington

Nov 17, 2019
 
Rated: 4.25 by MDDMD from Pennsylvania

Feb 16, 2019
Photo of rodbeermunch
Reviewed by rodbeermunch from Nevada

3.85/5  rDev -4%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
This is another in the long line of "Cascade beers that I'm glad I had on tap because a bottle of this stuff is seriously expensive."

I don't know if I've ever had anything from Cascade that had a flanders base. Should be interesting to say the least. Has that Flanders appearance, its a muddled brown with a very thin lighter brown head in the 1/5" range. Aroma is sour, non descript berry and wood in a small way.

Taste is the usual lactic sourness with almost no funkiness to it. A lot of blackberry really pulls out all the feet like funk in a beer, but this one was clean. Sure, as usual it might seem a little simplistic innoculation wise, but I think here it made for one of the better blackberry beers out there. And why wouldn't Oregon be good at this, that shit is everywhere in August. Of course when you have a "flanders" you kind of expect a little more earthiness, leather, brown malt kinds of feels. This was halfway there I guess. Would bang on tap, $25 though for a bottle is a little much to go for.
Oct 09, 2017
Photo of macrosmatic
Reviewed by macrosmatic from Florida

4.27/5  rDev +6.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Reviewed from notes. Poured from 750 mL bottle into a Russian River snifter.

A: Dark magenta, essentially opaque, with a thin pinkish head and a good amount of visible carbonation.

S: Tart fruity blackberry, lactic sour punch. Some more funk with a touch of cheese than a lot of Cascade’s offerings I’ve had. A nice depth on the nose as a result.

T: Tart and underripe blackberries, lactic acid. Lacto funk, some feet (is there Pediococcus here?), and mild fresh cheese. Bright fruitiness. Some barrel wood tannins add some dryness to the finish with residual lactic tang. The fruit flavors happen up front; after the swallow they’re gone with just the sourness and a fading funk left.

M: Light body, good carbonation sensation, and the alcohol seems well-integrated. Sour but not obnoxiously acidic.

O: Enjoyable - one of the more complex Cascade offerings I've had recently. Better than the Kriek in my opinion…not a total lactic bomb.
Oct 08, 2017
 
Rated: 4.15 by StephenCollinsMarshall from California

Feb 09, 2017
 
Rated: 4.17 by szmnnl99 from Michigan

Dec 26, 2016
 
Rated: 4 by lupercmda from North Carolina

Dec 20, 2016
Photo of zonker17
Reviewed by zonker17 from Texas

3.96/5  rDev -1.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Poured to snifter, ruby translucent color, no head retention. Nose fruit and funk forward, Taste is mainly lacto sour with a light fruit background. Thin body and slightly above average carbonation.
Oct 22, 2016
 
Rated: 3.9 by oline73 from Maryland

Sep 07, 2016
 
Rated: 4.14 by madelf66 from Pennsylvania

May 28, 2016
 
Rated: 4 by fredmugs from Indiana

May 04, 2016
 
Rated: 3.54 by rolltide from Pennsylvania

Apr 23, 2016
 
Rated: 4.13 by kylehay2004 from Illinois

Apr 03, 2016
 
Rated: 4.54 by intransitive from Massachusetts

Apr 03, 2016
 
Rated: 3.75 by tjcamm from Oregon

Mar 29, 2016
 
Rated: 4.31 by jbaker67 from Pennsylvania

Mar 11, 2016
Blackberry Ale from Cascade Brewing / Raccoon Lodge & Brewpub
Beer rating: 90 out of 100 with 165 ratings