Cascade Apricot Ale | Cascade Brewing / Raccoon Lodge & Brewpub
Brewed by:
Cascade Brewing / Raccoon Lodge & Brewpub
Oregon, United States
cascadebrewing.com
Style: American Wild Ale
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 8.50%
Availability: Rotating
Notes / Commercial Description:
This NW style sour blond ale was barrel aged for up to nine months, then aged on fresh apricot for an additional six months. Aromas of sweet apricot blossoms and tart fruit are present as you draw the glass near. Deep, rich apricot flesh, then tart apricot notes dance on the palate and lead to a sweet apricot flesh finish with a lingering fruit tartness.
Added by ccrida on 04-18-2008
View: Beers | Place Reviews | Events
Ratings: 1,748 | Reviews: 297
3.5/5 rDev -19.4%
craft_shannie, Dec 27, 2013
4.49/5 rDev +3.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Clear golden with a fluffy white head. Amazing floral apricot, candy sugar, and caramel aroma with vanilla and oak notes. Creamy very bright and yet lively palate. Tastes of orange, apricot, lemon, caramel, green apple, vanilla, and oak with a tart, lightly acidic, crisp, dry finish.
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look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Clear golden with a fluffy white head. Amazing floral apricot, candy sugar, and caramel aroma with vanilla and oak notes. Creamy very bright and yet lively palate. Tastes of orange, apricot, lemon, caramel, green apple, vanilla, and oak with a tart, lightly acidic, crisp, dry finish.
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4.28/5 rDev -1.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Reviewed from notes from 12/14/13. Enjoyed out of a dark brown 750 mL cork & cage bottle with "2012 project" marked clearly on the label. Poured into a 16 oz standard tumbler glass for lack of anything better.
Appearance - The color is pretty flat, with an apricot, light yellow-orange hue to the body. Some translucence, but overall, you can't see through the beer, as it's mostly opaque. Head is fairly light in volume, about a finger thick before fading away into an ethereal film atop the body. Minimal lacing.
Smell - Apricot, lactic tartness, and generic fruity elements with some notes of jam/preserves. Mostly sour, but there is a funk that provides a bit of heft to an otherwise piercingly acidic aroma. It's the type of sinus-clearing aroma that I love about really sour beers. The only minor quibble I would have is that it's a bit one-dimensional, sorta like the color.
Taste - Here we depart from the one-dimensional nature of the color and smell. Lots of things going on here, with apricot, mango, some apple cider vinegar, again some notes of peach preserves/jam as well as sweet white wine, like a sauterne or muscato. Nice mouth-puckering effect that becomes more pronounced as the beer warms. This one is nicely refreshing in addition to being so sour, almost like a really tart apricot lemonade.
Mouthfeel - Light-to-medium body with nice prickliness in spite of moderate to light levels of carbonation. As noted, there is a puckering factor, as well as characteristics that prompt me to start salivating, like really sour things can have a tendency to do.
Overall, it's probably my favorite out of a limited sampling of Cascade beers. What minor shortcomings it has in look and smell, it more than makes up for with a fantastic taste and a nice, invigorating mouthfeel. As one of the more reasonably-priced Cascade beers, it's one I'm likely to try to get my hands on again. Outstanding stuff.
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look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Reviewed from notes from 12/14/13. Enjoyed out of a dark brown 750 mL cork & cage bottle with "2012 project" marked clearly on the label. Poured into a 16 oz standard tumbler glass for lack of anything better.
Appearance - The color is pretty flat, with an apricot, light yellow-orange hue to the body. Some translucence, but overall, you can't see through the beer, as it's mostly opaque. Head is fairly light in volume, about a finger thick before fading away into an ethereal film atop the body. Minimal lacing.
Smell - Apricot, lactic tartness, and generic fruity elements with some notes of jam/preserves. Mostly sour, but there is a funk that provides a bit of heft to an otherwise piercingly acidic aroma. It's the type of sinus-clearing aroma that I love about really sour beers. The only minor quibble I would have is that it's a bit one-dimensional, sorta like the color.
Taste - Here we depart from the one-dimensional nature of the color and smell. Lots of things going on here, with apricot, mango, some apple cider vinegar, again some notes of peach preserves/jam as well as sweet white wine, like a sauterne or muscato. Nice mouth-puckering effect that becomes more pronounced as the beer warms. This one is nicely refreshing in addition to being so sour, almost like a really tart apricot lemonade.
Mouthfeel - Light-to-medium body with nice prickliness in spite of moderate to light levels of carbonation. As noted, there is a puckering factor, as well as characteristics that prompt me to start salivating, like really sour things can have a tendency to do.
Overall, it's probably my favorite out of a limited sampling of Cascade beers. What minor shortcomings it has in look and smell, it more than makes up for with a fantastic taste and a nice, invigorating mouthfeel. As one of the more reasonably-priced Cascade beers, it's one I'm likely to try to get my hands on again. Outstanding stuff.
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4.46/5 rDev +2.8%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5
I really enjoyed the look of this beer. Poured into an oversized wine glass. Tons of bubbly white head that stayed throughout me drinking. I would get to the bottom of the glass and still have some of that sticky bubbles at the bottom, each new pour brought more beer, and lots more bubbles. A great peachy-orangy-ambery-yellowy color that I found extremely inviting. Aroma was a bit lack-luster: citrusy acidic tartness with some faint apricot. Taste was a punch in the mouth sour. I found my mouth watering from the aftertaste. Really dry, super tart, and great balanced fruitiness (apricot/kumquat) with some mild woody-spiciness. This beer literally danced around my tongue and had a nice light body without being watery.
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look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5
I really enjoyed the look of this beer. Poured into an oversized wine glass. Tons of bubbly white head that stayed throughout me drinking. I would get to the bottom of the glass and still have some of that sticky bubbles at the bottom, each new pour brought more beer, and lots more bubbles. A great peachy-orangy-ambery-yellowy color that I found extremely inviting. Aroma was a bit lack-luster: citrusy acidic tartness with some faint apricot. Taste was a punch in the mouth sour. I found my mouth watering from the aftertaste. Really dry, super tart, and great balanced fruitiness (apricot/kumquat) with some mild woody-spiciness. This beer literally danced around my tongue and had a nice light body without being watery.
725 characters
4.57/5 rDev +5.3%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
an absolutely gorgeous beer, totally brings cascade into my most desired breweries list. thanks to my twin brother for making this happen somehow. understated pale yellow color to this, with an active rising white bubbly head, but its the nose that hooks me hard. it smells like fresh apricot, really and truly, the most authentic fruit nose ever, its perfect. i smell the little fuzzies, the juicy flesh, the pollen, the woody pit, all of it, its genius. it has got some lactic funk too and its dry and just making my mouth water like nothing else. superb smell, best i can recall. the flavor is a little less fluently apricot, still head and shoulders more genuine than any other apricot beer ive had, but its not quite as in my face as the aroma. tart as anything too from the yeast and bugs, its funky, summery, desserty. like smuckers apricot jam its got all that sugar, but doesnt really taste sweet, thats the brilliance of this brew. great carbonation and a really intense sour prickle, more than i can almost take. dries me right out too, i cant get enough. in a night packed with world class sours, this was perhaps my favorite. its authentic fruit and tart acidity make a great combination, i would love to drink this again. incredible beer.
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look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
an absolutely gorgeous beer, totally brings cascade into my most desired breweries list. thanks to my twin brother for making this happen somehow. understated pale yellow color to this, with an active rising white bubbly head, but its the nose that hooks me hard. it smells like fresh apricot, really and truly, the most authentic fruit nose ever, its perfect. i smell the little fuzzies, the juicy flesh, the pollen, the woody pit, all of it, its genius. it has got some lactic funk too and its dry and just making my mouth water like nothing else. superb smell, best i can recall. the flavor is a little less fluently apricot, still head and shoulders more genuine than any other apricot beer ive had, but its not quite as in my face as the aroma. tart as anything too from the yeast and bugs, its funky, summery, desserty. like smuckers apricot jam its got all that sugar, but doesnt really taste sweet, thats the brilliance of this brew. great carbonation and a really intense sour prickle, more than i can almost take. dries me right out too, i cant get enough. in a night packed with world class sours, this was perhaps my favorite. its authentic fruit and tart acidity make a great combination, i would love to drink this again. incredible beer.
1,252 characters
Cascade Apricot Ale from Cascade Brewing / Raccoon Lodge & Brewpub
Beer rating:
96% out of
100 with
1,748 ratings