Foudre #1
Cascade Brewing / Raccoon Lodge & Brewpub

Foudre #1Foudre #1
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From:
Cascade Brewing / Raccoon Lodge & Brewpub
 
Oregon, United States
Style:
Wild Ale
ABV:
9.2%
Score:
93
Avg:
4.18 | pDev: 7.42%
Reviews:
9
Ratings:
107
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Feb 27, 2022
Added:
Aug 10, 2014
Wants:
  9
Gots:
  25
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by BMart:
Photo of BMart
Rated by BMart from Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Oct 21, 2015
More User Ratings:
Photo of BBThunderbolt
Reviewed by BBThunderbolt from Kiribati

4.27/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.75
Cork & caged 750 poured into 16oz tulip. Some sediment from being stored on its side in the fridge, but a careful pour yielded positive results. Poured a light hazy dark orange color with just a thin cap of white head (although there was good carbonation, and the beer was not a gusher) that had minimal retention and very good lacing.

A nice tart scent popped out on opening, and closer inhalation revealed very nice wood. There was a bit of a fruit scent, likely from the yeast, that was floating around the background.

Take all those components from the scent, and multiple them by 5, and you have the taste. Tartness dominates, certainly, but the wood and fruit are definitely have a solid stake on their territories.

The body was a touch fuller than anticipate, more than light, less than medium, had a light, pleasing coarseness, and a very dry finish. The beer carried good carb throughout.

Drinkability was very good, especially for a 9+% brew. It was no chore finishing the bottle.

Overall, a great brew. Wish I'd have had the foresight to have bought, and held onto, more. An absoloute must-try if you ever see it.
Feb 27, 2022
 
Rated: 4.48 by Duncian from Pennsylvania

Jan 03, 2019
 
Rated: 4.5 by redfox405 from Virginia

May 07, 2018
 
Rated: 4.2 by BAsbill from California

May 05, 2018
Photo of angrybabboon
Reviewed by angrybabboon from Massachusetts

4.06/5  rDev -2.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Consumed 3/18/18

Note: Yes, this is 5 years old. I've been sitting on this for a while.

A: Burnt orange with some notes of light amber - lightly hazy with some floaties - pours with a medium sized white head, fades to a wispy cap, retains a medium collar, leaves some nice lacing

S: Funk and oak, in abundance - nicely funky and tart with some musty basement and touches of barnyard - some acidity, but the barrel is really center stage here - nicely woody, with some oak and chewy wood - decidedly sour but not overly so - some light sweetness and a touch of booze

T: Funky, tart, yet also chewy - loads of funk, with some barnyard weirdness - some lactic notes with damp cellar and damp barrel - touches of acidity, with some sharpness, but mostly lactic notes - tons of barrel, chewy wood, sharp yet also lactic oak - some sweetness, works well with the funk

M: Medium body, medium carbonation, smooth but also sharp

O: Foudre? You guys want food?

This is a nicely tart, nicely funky barrel-aged beer. I suppose it may never exist again, but for what it's worth, this is great. It's funky sour and nicely sweet.
Mar 18, 2018
 
Rated: 4 by jgunther71 from Illinois

Feb 02, 2018
 
Rated: 3.39 by Erik-P from Canada (BC)

Dec 11, 2017
 
Rated: 4.4 by liamt07 from Canada (ON)

Sep 10, 2017
 
Rated: 4.3 by grover37 from District of Columbia

May 27, 2017
Photo of wisrarebeer
Reviewed by wisrarebeer from Wisconsin

4.26/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Orange to light brown color. Acidic notes with fruitiness in nose. Good not all just pucker like most American 'sours' but malt balances acidity. Poured with small bubbles.
Mar 26, 2017
 
Rated: 4 by pwoody11 from Delaware

Feb 01, 2017
Photo of Jugs_McGhee
Reviewed by Jugs_McGhee from Colorado

3.4/5  rDev -18.7%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
BOTTLE: Brief impressions at a tasting. Big format. Cage n cap over a cork. 2013 project.

"Ale aged in oak tanks and oak barrels." "9.2% ABV."

Sour and lactic, with a nice acidity. Blonde malt backbone bends to the bacteria. ~3-4/10 in terms of sourness intensity.

Balanced and enjoyable if a bit simple. Smacky, wet. refreshing, smooth, and well-carbonated (almost perfectly so).

It's well put together, though some fruiting would help bring it to the next level.

A nice sour from a great sour producer. Well worth trying, and good American work in this style.

B- (3.40) / WORTHY

***
04/21/20 impressions from another 2013 project 750ml hood-and-wire caged brown glass bottle:

Aged in my cellar since acquisition years ago. Served chilled into stemware.

APPEARANCE: Head fizzles out within seconds, leaving no lacing on the sides of the glass. Body colour is a vibrant copper. Boasts excellent clarity, appearing well filtered and capturing the light well.

AROMA: Barnyard funkiness, acetobacter, acetic acid/vinegary notes, apple cidre sweetness (like a fine Brittany cidre), beautiful oak-derived vanillin (indeed, some of the best vanillin aromatics I've ever encountered in a beer), smacky lactobacillus bacterial acidity, pale malts/neutral Belgian malts, and microfloral intricacy.

When I think of Cascade sours, I usually think of sterile lacto-bombs (great lactobombs, but lactobombs nevertheless). This has more microfloral subtlety, lively oak/wood, and bacterial complexity than I recall experiencing in any of their beers I've tried to date.

TASTE & TEXTURE: Smacky and acidic almost to the point of parching the palate...there's some heavy bacterial twang here and it's set off by the cidery acidity and estery green apple smackiness...wow that's a lot! A very aggressive mouthfeel, though despite the beer being a blend of Tripel style ales, this lacks the booziness I usually find in American-brewed expressions of the Tripel style (though, obviously, its sourness and emphasis on lactobacillus renders it decidedly not a Tripel but rather a sour/wild ale).

ABV is well hidden. There's plenty of bacterial flavour here but none of the microfloral character I thought I found in the aroma. The oak gets clobbered by its loud acidity and sourness but I can still pick out some vanillin. Easily a subjective 7-8/10 in terms of sourness...I've a tough palate to pucker but this beer really goes for it, not shying away from sourness or acidity. Some may find it unpleasantly bold, but I do like it.

I can't shake the feeling that this would be better fruited; so many of Cascade's best sour ales are. I've certainly had more dialed in sour ales with more bacterial, microfloral, woodsy, and yeasty complexity, but this is a solid effort from Cascade. Not your Allagash coolship sour or your Russian River wine barrel sour...less well defined but still quite well executed given the more neutral (if I can call it that) flavour profile they're targeting.

OVERALL: If the goal was to emphasize pronounced oak flavours, you'd think they'd have used barrels, not foudres. I guess I'm not sure what they were really going for...a sour Tripel style ale, I guess, but they really seem to try to market the oak on the label.

I want them to either steer into the sour ale skid and go big on the oak and maybe add some fruit - or alternatively to swing big for the microflora/cidre angle and supplement this with some cedary woodsy notes, clove honey/crazy Fantome-like spices, barnyard funkiness/Brettanomyces yeast, etc. As-is, there isn't enough to really latch onto beyond the shallow acidity and enjoyable but one-dimensional lactobacillus sourness...beneath those layers, there's just a vague impression of faint oak and a very neutral malt backbone.

This is more drinkable than it ought to be given its high ABV, but then its palate-stripping acidity and puckery sourness render it a beer that I don't know I necessarily want to finish a whole wine bottle worth of.

Would pair beautifully with a vinaigrette-dressed spinach salad.

High B- / WORTHY
Dec 27, 2016
 
Rated: 4.46 by tshanahan from California

Jun 06, 2016
 
Rated: 4.25 by Dave_Treat from Virginia

May 01, 2016
 
Rated: 4.24 by kylehay2004 from Illinois

Apr 06, 2016
 
Rated: 4.16 by nmann08 from Virginia

Mar 19, 2016
 
Rated: 3.47 by Whatup14 from Canada (QC)

Mar 07, 2016
 
Rated: 3.79 by frasergrove from California

Jan 24, 2016
 
Rated: 4.85 by tleventhal from Missouri

Jan 24, 2016
Foudre #1 from Cascade Brewing / Raccoon Lodge & Brewpub
Beer rating: 93 out of 100 with 107 ratings