Cascade Kriek Ale
Cascade Brewing / Raccoon Lodge & Brewpub

4.14/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

A 750ml corked and caged bottle, 2015 project. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.

Appearance: A lightly hazy deep amber red colour with a one finger beige head that dissipated quickly but settled to a thin layer while leaving some nice lacing.

Aroma: Tart, cherries, oak, maybe some mixed berries.

Taste: Sour, tart, cherries, oak and a hint of spices.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.

Overall: Nice cherry flavours, slightly acidic, but not overly so.

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4.28/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

2017 from the bottle...

A deep dried blood red with auburn and chestnut highlights bordering the clean body towards the browner side of the spectrum. It would be still looking if it weren't for the few rising bubbles hopelessly devoted to supporting some kind of cap above, but a failed attempt nonetheless.

Sweet and sour cherries clearly and proudly display themselves front and center with a mouthwatering acidity. Deep red wine, oak barrel and all shine from withing. A touch of pepper and damp mulch linger in the end.

Wow, this thing tastes like straight sour grape and cherry Fun Dip. I think the puckering powdery tartness not only exemplifies the feel, but must be considered a flavor to this beast as well. As it warms, oak certainly comes through along with a boysenberry sweetness.

Feel?... See above. Add some strong tannins, an initial slickness, a wood stripping acidic drying tartness,and almost no carbonation, and viola. There you have it.

This is a sour to compete with the most of sours. Delicious, well executed, but so friggin intense like most of the offerings I've had the pleasure of enjoying. Certainly not for the faint of heart.

Cheers.

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3.96/5  rDev -6.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

5 oz pour on tap. Nice sour brown ale/cherry pie flavor. Moderately complex with hints of oak and leather. Slightly sweeter than I would prefer. A tasty beer but not world-class.

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4.52/5  rDev +6.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Deep mahogany; insane pomegranate, glace cherry, port, soil + a bit of cheese rind on the nose; autumn leaf, tannins, barrel, lactic, deep cherry + winey linger.

4.25 4.75 4.5 4.25 4.5

Outrageous nose. As much barrel as sour and the cherries play well. Only more beautiful as it opens. I’m still a bit baffled by the variations in Flanders Reds, but this is possibly Cascade’s best, and that’s no small feat.

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4.25/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

It pours hazy reddish brown under a pinkish tinted cream colored cap. It has funky tart cherry smell with a hint of oak. The flavor is lemonade tart and filled with cherries. An elegant and very drinkable beer.

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4.35/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

750 mL corked bottle into a Duvel tulip glass

2013 project, opened on the date of this review.

Leather-mahogany appearance, effervescent with low viscosity, resulting in a quickly dissipating head.

Funk-forward nose, with lots of surrounding oak, tart cherries and must. A bit more cherry-forward in its flavors, while aging has mellowed any sharp sour aspects, revealing more malty sweetness. Plenty of brett-funk and dry grassy notes, layering the flavor profile. Brew has relatively long finish, dry and berry tart.

This holds up really well in storage. I've had this fresh several times, it's actually easier to throw back with a few years under its belt.

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4.77/5  rDev +12.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.75

Best US-made Kriek I've laid hands on, and in competition for my favorite full-stop. Leathery funk and cherry pit. Somehow outside the realm of what humans are usually allowed to put in their mouths. Yeah. Ok. Yeah.

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3.93/5  rDev -7.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 4

Vibrant and clear ruby gem-red with a creamy collar and a wild array of soft, creamy lace.

Smells of spiced, charred oak, and fresh cherries migrate nicely to the palate with juicy cherry pie filling and dry, spiced oak while tinglingly sour and kind of thin.

2016 vintage

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4.51/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 3 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Can't believe I never reviewed this. I believe I hauled this back from NC August 2015, beer was treated with TLC since then. Then about 6 months later, its in Arkansas, oh well

Opens with a gentle pop

Pours an effervescent blush color with a sliver of ivory colored head. Decent lacing, minimal head retention

S: Sour & tart cherry

T: Follows the nose, much oaky dress & a little woody hop up front, just a little sweetness from the cherry as well. Bone dryness with a little acidity & sour cherry once warm. Finishes with just enough cherry sweetness to counter the acidity & woody dryness

MF: Medium body, restrained carbonation. Enamel clinging stickyness

Very well done, one of the few from these guys that is worth the pricepoint. On point for the style ( which means my wife dislikes it, she likes her Krieks way to sweet )

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4.35/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

This was poured into a tulip. The appearance was a dark brown color with a quickly dissipating finger’s worth of white foamy head. No lacing. The smell had some big sweet to sour cherries up front with a dry woodiness underneath. The flavor takes the sour to the sweet to the tart and brings it around into the woodiness. Light dry to wet cherry to woody aftertaste and finish. On the palate, this one sat about a light to medium on the body with a fantastic sipping to sessionable quality about it. Carbonation seems to run nice and fairly low. Tartness really hits in the feel, long sour harshness feels good. Overall, what a wonderful American wild ale as that’s what I see. I don’t see this much as a flanders, but hey just really good stuff.

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3.75/5  rDev -11.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Sample at Mikkeller Beer Celebration Copenhagen 2017, red session. Aroma has dusty wood barrel, fruit pits and barnyard notes. Taste is dry, astringent with wood barrel, musty fruits and some acetic notes.

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4.28/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 4.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Look is a beautiful dark amber that reveals bright red highlights when looked straight through, shows itself like a beautiful rich copper colored red ale from most angles. The head is fast acting and thick but dissipates fast.
Smell is pleasant, funky with just a touch of cherry tartness. Very subtle.
Taste is wonderfully tart upfront with a thick middle body of cherry that is almost more savory than sweet. The end is a great tannic funkiness that cleans the palette splendidly.
The feel is pleasantly thin and clean. Like many sours it isn't a super heavy body but certainly fills your mouth as it passes over and leaves a very pleasant aftertaste.
I've heard mixed reviews of Cascade but this is certainly a worthy kriek. Definitely enough to inspire me to seek out more of their work and hopefully check out their barrel house one day.

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4.52/5  rDev +6.9%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Absolutely phenomenal cherry sour. Avoids the saccharine notes of Ommegang's Rosetta, and though not quite as earthy as some traditional Krieks, it's a tremendous representation of the style.

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4.14/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Point of reference here for me is the 2016 release of Rodenbach Alexander. Not to say that these are intended by the brewers to be very similar beers, but merely comparing two higher priced sour cherry beers. Alexander wins on all fronts, including price at 25% less per 750 ml.

That said, this NW sour is quite good. Ruddy orange/copper with a fizzly head that doesn't stay for the party. Lactic acid out competes the cherry on both the nose and palate. Barrel influenced notes of oak, musk, and nuttiness come through next. Lacking the deep funky notes that add complexity to the best sour beers. Cherry mingles in there but doesn't pop.

Certainly a worthy beer. I tried to review this at face value without price in mind. If you are thinking about quality vs $ / bang for buck, maybe knock this score down half a point and try to get ahold of Rodenbach Alexander.

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4.31/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

2014 Project. Reviewed from notes taken in the first part of 2016. Poured from 750 mL bottle into a Hunahpu Day large snifter glass.

A: Dark red, reminiscent of cranberry juice. A thin pink head forms and then fades quickly, as does a big bloom of visible carbonation. Relatively opaque.

S: Tart cherries up front, with fruits notes like raspberries and boysenberries as well. Lactic acid to make the saliva flow, and lightly funky. Lighter oak barrel tannins to round things out. Pretty nice here.

T: Sour overripe cherries, lactic acid and some oak dryness. Puckeringly tart. Some citric acid tang develops as the beer warms up a bit. Not overly funky, but there is some funk here, that seems intermixed with the oak as it warms as well. This definitely needs to warm after you take it out of the refrigerator. Residual tartness and cherry fruitiness in the finish.

M: Medium body, good amount of carbonation sensation, and the alcohol presence is well-integrated into the flavors.

O: Good, but is has a one–note flavor when cold. Opens up a fair amount as warms. Enjoyable and tasty, but heavy on the lactic acid and not intermixed with much funk…not world class, but quite enjoyable.

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4.32/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

750 ml bottle into tulip glass, 2015 project bottling. Pours slightly hazy deep reddish copper color with a 2 finger fairly dense and fluffy light tan/pinkinsh head with good retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Light spotty lacing clings around the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of huge tart/sour cherry, raspberry, cranberry, lemon peel, green apple, cherry skin, oak, hay, straw, pepper, toast, brown sugar, light vinegar/funk/vanilla, and yeast/oak earthiness. Incredible aromas with fantastic complexity and balance of fruity/acidic/spicy yeast, cherries, oak barrel, and light-moderate dark malt notes; with great strength. Taste of huge tart/sour cherry, raspberry, cranberry, lemon peel, green apple, cherry skin, oak, hay, straw, pepper, toast, brown sugar, light vinegar/funk/vanilla, and yeast/oak earthiness. Good amount of fruity/acidic sourness and yeast/tannic oak spiciness on the finish; with lingering notes of sour cherry, raspberry, cranberry, lemon peel, green apple, cherry skin, oak, hay, straw, pepper, light vinegar/funk, and yeast/oak earthiness on the finish for a while. Incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/acidic/spicy yeast, cherries, oak barrel, and light-moderate dark malt flavors; with a nice sour/tannic/spiciness balance, and no astringent flavors after the finish. Very dry from acidic/tannic notes as well. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, acidic/tannic/puckering, and lightly grainy mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with minimal warming present after the finish. Overall this is an incredible fruited Flanders red ale! All around fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/acidic/spicy yeast, cherries, oak barrel, and light-moderate dark malt flavors; very smooth and easy to drink, despite the high amount of sourness/acidity. A highly enjoyable offering.

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4.3/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

A 2015 bottle poured into a tulip glass. A muddy reddish-copper color with a thin light tan and pinkish head that settled quickly into wispy laces. Charred oak up front on the nose, with prominent cinnamon, cherries, and musty basement. This was puckeringly sour on the palate. Bright tart cherries, more cinnamon, plenty of oak, wine, and raspberries. The finish was dry and left a nice sticky, funky presence.

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4.15/5  rDev -1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

On tap at the brewery brewpub: 2015 version in July 2016.
Sour aroma with loads of black and sour cherries. Lovely red-brown body with a lasting off-white head. Moderate tartness. Less cherry in the taste than the aroma, although it’s not subtle in either. Nice complexity.

Overall: excellent version of the style.

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4.25/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

This is pretty much a mix of flanders red ale and wild ale, even though it uses the terminology kriek which is generally something used with lambics, but lets move on beyond that.

Looks more like a flanders, there's the substantial amount of brown and dark red. Seemed aroma wise like there was a cherry blend, not just one kind.

Taste can really depend on the age and vintage of the bottle (or draft) as expected they can be quite sour, like a good 10 on the 1-10 scale when you classify it as a flanders, really nothing short of Oude Tart in that department.

Overall its a very sour beer, American wild like sourness, good cherry flavor, flanders appearance.

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3.8/5  rDev -10.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

I must confess I drink too much of this stuff (Belgian sours, that is.)
It is a taste I've tried to acquire, but can only do so if I try more infrequently.
This beer started well, but the taste eventually became too sour. (Probably not made well enough, despite a decade of work.)
I could not convince the wine drinkers to take more than a sip.
Dinner with garlic was about to start, so I corked it and had it for lunch the next day. Better.

I note when a beer is listed in one of my three books comprising my classical beer education.
This was in "1001 Beers To Taste Before You Die", page 868. I would not argue that it deserves to be on the next list.

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4.52/5  rDev +6.9%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

2014, aged one year, poured into a wine glass.

This is an outstanding beer. Beautiful, bright color that is slightly muddied. Not as cherry flavored as you might expect, but it is a more complex beer than many krieks. Some dark fruit and oak. Well-carbonated and brightly effervescent.

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4.92/5  rDev +16.3%
look: 5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 5

Bit of dark fruits, some oak and vanilla, biscuit maltiness and monstrous, overwhelming cherry and lemon flavours. Easily one of the best beers I've had to date.

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4.22/5  rDev -0.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25

750ml caged and corked bottle, the 2014 Project, and 8.5% ABV, according to the label in front of me.

This beer pours a clear, dark red-brick amber colour, with one skinny-ass finger of weakly puffy, finely foamy, and somewhat creamy pale tan head, which leaves some decent view-obscuring, snowbank profile lace around the glass as things slowly sink away.

It smells of sharply tart cherry, lemon, and raspberry fruity esters, a middling earthy funk, semi-sweet bready and grainy caramel malt, a touch of roasted cocoa bean, the vinous and probably Flor-heavy cooking vinegar my mom always kept in the cabinet under the stove, and a subtle musty bitterness. The taste is rather acerbic and tart lemon rind, underripe backyard cherries (especially in Edmonton - holla, Piotr!), a bit of zippy raspberry pie 'sweetness', further grainy and browned caramel malt, a pleasantly understated yeastiness, gentle barrel-borne vanilla notes, and a fading estery vinegar zinginess.

The bubbles are adequate in their quest to provide a meager frothiness (and just to stay afloat, I imagine), the body an average medium weight for this sort of thing, and smooth by the same dangling scepter - not really, but not bad, either. It finishes off-dry, but trending toward the latter, the base malt steadfast, but it's the sour, generally vinous dark fruitiness that rules this day.

I see why this one receives something other than the generic 'American Wild Ale' designation on this site - the resemblance to Rodenbach, et al, is remarkable. Cherry, yes, but that's hardly the whole of the story - wine barrels, akin fruitiness, agreeably tame funk, and robust malt, to sum it up - all of which render an incredibly complex and enjoyable soured fruit ale, full stop.

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4/5  rDev -5.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A - Deep cherry red pour with a nice pink lacing ring, calm carbonation.

S - Tart cherries with an overwhelming amount of funk (mixture of vinegar/oak/cherries).

T - The first sip draws a very strong sour cherry sensation with some tartness and a lot of funk making for a very puckering sip. Some oak lies low in the background.

M - Finishes semi-dry on top of the palate while the sides of the tongue salivate like crazy. Coats the mouth with tart dry cherries with a mildly lingering acidic sourness.

O - I sound like a broken record when it comes to this style => not a fan. However, I've found the Cascade Sours to be nicely balanced without an overwhelming amount of obnoxious funk.

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4.42/5  rDev +4.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pours relatively clear, reddish brown, with minimal head - not unexpected for the style.

Aroma is sharp, complex, musty, and sweet. Vinegar and cherries, oak and yeast. Perhaps nothing exactly new to the game, but a beautiful execution of the bouquet.

That goes the same for the flavor, as well. Cherries are ever-present but don't dominate, allowing a vinegary sourness and oak notes to consistently shine through. A touch of vanilla, and some musty yeastiness round out the profile.

Lively and smooth; slick, medium-light bodied.

This is a brew that is right up my alley: a Flanders red with Kriek! If people wonder if American brewers can produce an authentic-tasting Belgian sour, this is how you do it: with traditional ingredients and long, long periods of aging.

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