Cascade Blueberry Ale
Cascade Brewing / Raccoon Lodge & Brewpub

MesaDan from Minnesota

3.16/5  rDev -23.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25

2015 Project: Consumed 1/24/21: Slight musty blueberry nose; amber-orange hue with white clinging lace; light mouthfeel with a zippy / soda pop fine carbonation, taste is of musty oak & tart, but not sour, non-sweet blueberry skins; finishes very dry with a fruit flatness. Beer may pair well with a piece of fruit pie to bring some sweetness forward.

Jan 22, 2021

stortore from Illinois

4.21/5  rDev +1.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

750 ml bottle into a tulip glass. 2015 edition, had 9/20/20.

Pours a fairly clear pinkish red, with a one and a half inch foamy head and some foamy lacing. Active carbonation. Smells somewhat sour and lightly tart. Aromas of blueberries- strong, some malt, some oak, light cherries and cranberries, a light funk. The taste has a decent amount of sourness and a light tartness, with the flavors of blueberries- as strong as the aroma, malt, oak, light cherries and lemon, light funk, light raspberries as it warms. Smooth for what it is, a very good medium body, well carbonated.

Excellent blueberries that dominate the aroma and flavor, but there’s more depth and variety than that. Time may have worn down the sour and tart aspects a little, as well as the acidity. Very enjoyable.

Sep 29, 2020

gatornation from Minnesota

4/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours an blue color with some red highlights. Smell had blueberry,with some citrus. Taste had a sour blueberry hit in a good way mixed with some citric tartness Medium carbonation with a dry finish..

Aug 17, 2018

KensWorld from Florida

4.52/5  rDev +8.9%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

2012 Project. cellared for years. Has held up way better then expected. Tuns of oak character but not much Blueberry left. Not as sour as other Cascades I've tried. A little watery and lacking much aftertaste but it is still very complex.

2016 Project. Smells of ripened Blueberry. Mellow sour Blueberry taste. Much different then 2012 as expected. hard to pick a winner, both are very good

Jun 16, 2018

zeff80 from Missouri

4.16/5  rDev +0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured out a dark amber color with golden highlights and a small, tan head of foam. It smelled of blueberry, wheat and toasted caramel. Nice blueberry taste with a good deal of sourness and toasted caramel.

Mar 04, 2018

JPNesker from Canada (ON)

4.39/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.25

So I’ve had a bunch of cascade beers. I’ve visited the brewery.

I took home some tulip glasses.

And I still cannot believe there is no Brett in here. So barnyard/horseblanket.

Not as lacto sour as the usual cascade brews but seriously acidic- heartburn City.

It’s awesome but expensive in other states/countries, and cascade have other offerings that,imho, slay it.

Still, the wifey lurves this one,so I’m getting it on the regular.

Feb 15, 2018

RaulMondesi from California

4.19/5  rDev +1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Bluer than the state of Kansas, this one is speakin’ to me. Sour blueberries on the nose, meet the tongue like that one French girl that gave Raul some action back in ‘09. Good stuff, but Raul ain’t hella trippin’.

Feb 05, 2018

macrosmatic from Florida

4.02/5  rDev -3.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Reviewed from (long-standing) notes. 2015 Project, drank in August 2016. Poured from a 750 mL bottle into a Cigar City Brewing goblet.

A: Pours like dark cranberry juice in color, with a thin pink head that forms and disappears quickly. A good amount of visible carbonation, and remains translucent like stained glass. This is fairly pretty.

S: Lactic acid and a nice funk. More funk than some Cascade offerings I've had. Nice fruity blueberries, and a big tangy and tart punch. Some lemony citric acid. A touch of vanilla-forward oaky tannins, and these increase as the beer warms a bit. A nice aroma for sure.

T: Tart blueberries and cranberries, lactic acid, and a mild funk (though much less than present on the nose). A mild malt sweetness. This isn't overly sour, but it is quite acidic. Oak and mild vanilla here as well. Blueberry tart and oaky dry on the finish, and some more funk on the exhale. The funky flavors do increase some as it warms as well.

M: A crackly mouthfeel between a good amount of carbonation sensation and the tart acids. The body has a fair amount of heft to it. Low alcohol presence.

O: Enjoyable, but I didn’t like it as well as the Bruery's Beauregard from a couple years ago. It’s not as much of a lactic bomb as some of Cascade’s offerings, but this isn't their best. I’m not sure it’s worth the money that Cascade bottles go for around here, but it’s enjoyable.

Oct 08, 2017

Lucular from Maryland

3.91/5  rDev -5.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

A tasty, not overly puckering blueberry sour ale. Oddly enough it tastes more like cherries than blueberries to me. I was hoping for more complexity from the barrel aging.

Jul 24, 2017

jrenihan from Canada (ON)

3.84/5  rDev -7.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I love Cascade, but this one doesn't quite do it for me. The blueberry is very present, but tastes jarring rather than nicely blended into everything else. Leaves the funky flavours sticking out on their own. Not bad (does this brewery do bad?), but not one of Cascade's better offerings.

Apr 19, 2017

Thomas_Wikman from Texas

4.39/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

I am having this Blueberry Ale aged in Oak Barrels from Cascade Brewing ABV 8.23% (0.75 liter bottle). It is classified as an American Wild Ale / Sour. With “blueberry” I think they mean wild blueberries (the real blueberries) not the sweet garden variety.

Look: semi-clear dark purple, with a thin bubbly pink head.

Aroma: Tart wild blueberries

Taste: The taste is blueberry, lots of it, but not the bland sweet garden variety of blueberries, but like wild blueberries you find in the forest. It is thus tart, the wild blueberry way. The oak also comes through. I love blueberry, especially wild blueberry, so I think this was a real treat.

Feel: medium body, a bit dry

Apr 04, 2017

clayrock81 from Florida

4.03/5  rDev -2.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Poured a reddish purple body with no head and lace but had a sour blueberry aroma with hints of oakiness. The beer is smooth and light and easy to drink with clean finish; the blueberries dominate the taste and somehow manage to be sweet yet retain some sourness at same time.

Mar 18, 2017

SHODriver from North Carolina

4.25/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

A: Poured into a Duvel tulip to a reddish purple topped by a finger and a half of dark pink head that fades to a collar around the edge of the glass with minimal lacing
S: Smells of blueberries, sourness, oak and funk.
T: Taste is juicy blueberries, a nice sourness along with some funky barnyard and band aids as well as some pleasant oak. Swallow is lingering sourness and funk with a little more blueberries and hints of band aids.
M: This beer is on the lighter side of medium with soft carbonation and a dry finish from the acidity
O: Overall this one has some really nice flavors and some decent complexity. Cascade does some really nice work with their beers and this one is outstanding. Definitely one to try if you like fruited sours.

Feb 03, 2017

billshmeinke from California

4.09/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured into a wine glass

Very unique colored beer, sort of purple with almost hints of grey. Tightly carbonated white head that pours about a finger and a half. Head disappears leaving no lacing behind.

Smells of vinegar, fancy vinegar, like balsamic vinegar. Berries, and rose petals, some rubbery/medicinal phenolics. The phenolics are apparent at first, but become very subtle as the beer breathes.

Cranberries are the first flavor to enter my mind. Lots of different dark berries, with notes of refined vinegar, and a hoppy bitterness that, combined with the other berry notes, exude a cranberry like flavor. There is a round malty flavor as well.

Tart, but not puckering, offset by a nice bitterness. A fruity sharpness/tartness. Feel is on the thing side, and carbonation is subtle.

Delicious, tart, dry, would do great with some fatty cheese or meats. Brie, salumi, and baguettes would pair wonderfully.

Jan 22, 2017

TX-Badger from Texas

4.25/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

2014 bottle. Pour a hazy/cloudy reddish/purplish color with light fizzy pinkish colored head. Funk, tartness, blueberries, and wheat on the nose; follows onto the palate. Medium bodied. Finishes with blueberries and funky tartness.

Jan 05, 2017

BoldRulerVT from Vermont

4.29/5  rDev +3.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Shared with a good friend on New Year's Eve.
Poured from the 750 into a stemmed teku.
Pours a beautiful deep garnet color that allows good light on the edges. One finger of bubbly white head.
Aromas are tons of sour yeast, some mild levels of fruit but yeast is strong.
Flavor is also dominated by tons of yeast created huge sourness. I love sours and this was formidable.
Mouthfeel was dry and clean.
Overall, well made and impressive. Beautiful beer.

Jan 01, 2017

johnnnniee from New Hampshire

3.72/5  rDev -10.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.75

Bottle shared by Kelly and Paul, thanks for the opportunity!
Deep blue tinged amber with a decent but short lived head. Lemony citric tartness with bits of berry skin and fruit to counter. Quite puckering but pretty tasty in a sour patch kids kind of way,

Dec 05, 2016

jngrizzaffi from Texas

4.35/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pours a deep cloudy red color with a finger width carbonated head. Head retention is minimal. Lacing is good. Aroma is as expected. Tartness and blueberries. Brett? Brett yeast taste with blueberries and the right amount of tartness at the end. Lighter bodied with heavy carbonation. Definitely one of the best sours I have ever had.

Sep 02, 2016

biboergosum from Canada (AB)

3.86/5  rDev -7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

750ml caged and corked bottle, the 2015 project @ 8.23% ABV - more 'NW sour ale' meets yet another fruit variant.

This beer pours a clear, bright medium magenta colour, with a near teeming tower of puffy, very loosely foamy, and rather fizzy pale pink head, which leaves pretty much nothing resembling lace anywhere near the glass as it quickly blows off.

It smells of sharp, nose-twitching lemon peel, acidic, underripe blueberries, mild earthy Brett funk, a bit of yogurt-like milkiness, bready and doughy pale malt, a lesser wan wheatiness, musty red wine barrels, leather, and some indistinct hop bitterness. The taste is tart black fruit (cherry, prune, and sure, blueberry), high-test red wine, funky white cheese, gritty and grainy wheat malt, a bit of damp chalkiness, oaky vanilla, and a suggestion of herbal and floral (hop?) bitters.

The bubbles are fairly active in their swirling and touchy-feely frothiness, the body a decent middleweight, and sort of smooth, I suppose, as the general tartness can't help but interfere at least somewhat here. It finishes trending dry, and yet still fruity, in a fermentation vessel sense.

Overall, the guest blueberries pretty much get obfuscated by all that yeast, wine barrel, and funk floating around, or maybe they just morphed into the muddled dark fruitiness that does predominate. At any rate, a pleasant enough strong sour fruity ale (the strangely specific 8.23 points of alcohol duly well-hidden), and yet another that I don't think I can afford to revisit, economy-wise.

Aug 25, 2016

Moose90 from Washington

3.54/5  rDev -14.7%
look: 5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Served on-tap at the Barrelhouse

A — Deep brown hue, no head.

S — Vinous red wine, grape must, a bit vegetal.

T — Taste is tangy and musty with notes of red grapes and red wine.

M — Medium bodied with a dry finish.

O — Nicely done but a bit too vinous and vegetal for me.

Aug 18, 2016

bluejacket74 from Ohio

4.3/5  rDev +3.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

750 ml corked and caged bottle, 2015 Project, 8.23% ABV printed on label. Served in a Prairie Teku, the beer pours a slightly hazy reddish/purple color with about an inch light pink head that fizzled away quickly. Not much lacing at all. I like the aroma, the brew smells like tart fruit, oak, earthy funk, vanilla and some blueberries. For the most part I think the taste is similar to the aroma, but with some wheat/grainy malt noticeable. Also, I think the blueberry is stronger in the taste than it is compared to the aroma. It's fruity and tart with some sweetness, too. Mouthfeel/body is light/medium, it has a good amount of carbonation and it's easy and enjoyable to drink. I liked this brew a lot. It took a while for me to pull the trigger on buying this because of the price, but I'm glad I picked this up. I'll have to try some of the other Cascade brews soon. $25.99 a bottle.

Jul 04, 2016

rodbeermunch from Nevada

4.18/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Comes out with some purple color to it, no doubt the impression left from blonde and wheat ales having blueberries thrown on them. Aroma wasn't overly sour, nothing really jumps blueberry about it.

Good taste though, nice and mild, not overly acidic, the sour is on the low end for Cascade stuff, but still plenty enough to qualify as a wild ale. A very enjoyable but expensive beer. Probably better off from a cost/value perspective just spending $10 on the almanac 375s.

Jun 26, 2016

StJamesGate from New York

3.77/5  rDev -9.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

On tap at the brewery, Portland.
Glowing ruby-blue. 4
Lime zest and chalk, musty barrel, and a hint of berry. 3.75
Thread of wheat, some cheese rind, funk, and vague berry. 3.75
Thin, crisp, bright. 3.75

Straight chalky sour - blueberry gets lost. No heat, at least, but wheat does nothing for the body. Almanac does this better. Kinda nothing going on here. 3.75

Jun 20, 2016

Mateo2699 from Texas

4.54/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Pour is a very deep purple hue. Fizzy loud big bubbled white head that dissipates fairly quick to nothing at all. Definitely getting that tart blueberry in the nose, acidic tartness and hints of oak and musty funk. Taste follows the nose with an overall dominate tart fruit flavor. Oddly enough getting just as much apple as blueberry. The oak is more dominate as it warms, as well as some vanilla and biscuit malt. Mouthfeel is pillowy and medium to heavy carbonated.

Jun 09, 2016

Pourharddrinkslow from South Carolina

4.22/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Pours a medium blue with a white head. Smell is the weakest aspect - not very strong but smells fruity and acidic. The taste is amazing! Love the blueberry taste and the great acidity level, smooth and bubbly. Awesome wild ale.

Jun 03, 2016