how do you feel about Cascade's prices?

it's hard to name a better easily available apricot fruit lambic. (Obviously Fou'Foune wins easily but it is way harder to get and frequently more expensive in the US)

 

I don't believe Cascade Apricot is anything like a fruited lambic. Is it a decent Apricot sour? Sure...but there are better out there (Persica, AC Golden, Fantasia, b1 PnB).

 

easily available. i can order cases of Apricot Cascade online. persica batch 1 is trading up there with brandy vanilla dark lord, i don't agree with AC Golden, but if i did, it generally sells out in a couple weeks in denver only, the good fantasia was made over a year ago, and peche n brett, while the easiest and probably the best of this list that i've had (never had persica), is still only available on the west coast.

also i am pretty sure that persica, fantasia, and PNB are peach, not apricot sours.

 

A few years ago, I would have heartily agreed with you. The 09 Apricot was amazing - it was subtle, refined, and complex. However, whether from over-aging the beer to possibly producing too much of it to create the same consistency as in the racoon lodge days, the latest batches have been very one note in terms of being sweet-tart with some fruit.

I'm with goodbyeohio overall, because I think he hit the nail on the head. A lot of us are jilted lovers at this point. And without knowing what the beer used to be like, the 'hate' might be surprising, but the evolution of Cascade's beers has gone backwards not forwards.

 

you may be right there. i've had '10 apricot, but only in 2012. i've had sang rouge and sang royal aged as well. and i've had the last two years of cascade beers. my favs are sang royal, noyaux, and apricot. and for an easily accessible fruit sour, i'll pay a premium. cheaper than etre...

 

This is probably something that's tough for non-locals to understand. The Barrel House was very exciting when it opened, but at some point you really the the endless parade of one-offs with fantastically detailed tasting notes of complex and subtle flavors turn out to all taste the same. Yeah, occasionally some thing really good shows up, but 95% of the time it's just the same sweet-tart thing.

It's a little hard for me to say if it's just the evolution of my palate, but Cascade's beers were revelatory for me when I first encountered them. The original batches of Sang Noir, Noyeaux, The Vine, Vlad, Bourbonic were amazing. And, perhaps as important, each highly distinct. 4-5 years later, the Cascade line-up seems less interesting rather than more, while many other breweries have started up wild programs producing stuff that's considerably better and more varied.

 

I keep hearing about how Tilquin is an inexpensive alternative. It's the best gueuze that I've had yet (haven't had many), but I have yet to see a 750 for less than around $24, and I think I paid around $14 for a 375. I wouldn't call that a "fraction" of typical Cascade prices. Can't even get Cantillon or 3 Fonteinen within a 200-mile radius.

 

These, in my opinion, are the two most relevant posts to this thread.

I personally think this conversation is very pertinent to the beer industry as a whole. More places, IMO, need to focus on maintaining a level of quality while sticking to the roots of what made their brewery blossom. Growth is important, obviously, but loosing touch with the product & consumer is just as important. And referencing the original question, price & value will always be significant to the consumer.

There's another thread right now about Boneyard not canning to focus on quality. Maybe if they started canning instead, we'd be having a conversation about them 4 years from now, discussing how they sold out and shit just isn't the same since they started canning and pumping out tons more beer. Slowing things down a little seems like a more introspective business choice. It's a balancing act of quality & quantity, while maintaining a continuous evolution as the beer industry grows.

I was at Cascade Barrel House day 1 & they truly are not the same. My palette and tastes have certainly evolved, but as kscaldef said, so has the quality local wild/sour programs that have emerged in the last few years. Cascade just stopped keeping up and/or de-evolved.

It's a local band with great music gone famous, turned into the same crap that sounds the same as everything else. Every song is reminiscent of the last & that raw energy that got them to that point is gone.

 

Is this true? 3F is everywhere in Southern California

 

This is true for Washington State. 3F isn't distributed here. (I think it's distributed by Shelton Bros, which doesn't distribute in Washington, but I could not confirm this.)

 

But hey, I heard Shelton Bros is coming soon!

they aren't

 

Oddly though, we do get Anchorage beers, which are distributed by Shelton. I haven't figured that one out, but I'm not complaining.

 

I agree with the comments about Cascade going downhill. So many of their beers seem to follow the same formula:

1) Sour "quad" base (this is a continuous pipeline)
2) Blend (by tapping off from the pipeline)
3) Add fruit/spice to secondary
4) (Optional) Come up with name to make it sound as if it is really a unique beer

Their fruit fest this year really highlighted this for me. So many of the beers on the list were almost indistinguishable from each other.

Cascade can still make a good beer (Bourbonic), but they have way too many "variants" that all taste the same.

Locally, Upright and Commons get more business from me these days.

Also, I have huge respect for Block 15. They had to cancel their bottle release for Figgy Pudding last year since only about half of their barrels met their quality standards. Despite that, they are releasing more (unique) barrel aged beers than ever. Their sours aren't exactly cheap either, but I'm happy to support them because you can see the risks that they are taking.

Cascade just looks lazy by comparison. I would feel better about paying high prices if I thought they were actually putting that money to good use.

 

I will follow the comments about loving Cascade when they started. Bourbonic, Vlad, Apricot, etc, were revelatory.
I have to think it's palate evolution, as they've been ale yeast followed by lactic fermentation from the beginning. I have a hard time believing that such a 'simple' process could yield qualitatively different beers. Character may vary, particularly when you use so many variables (barrels, fruit, spices, etc) on top of typical beer ingredient variables, but are they really worse?

I think they just lost me with the pricing coupled with the advanced competition.
I mean, a lactic acid only sour is bound to taste similar to another of the same. It's a creative world of brewing, and the same process for every beer, when that process (lacto) is the driving character, makes pretty damn similar beer. But I guess it's reliable...

Yeah, it may not be cheaper for all the other producers, but at least it should be new and/or interesting. Throw some Brett in the mix, some Pedio, whatever, and let the beer become unique. At least it won't taste the same every damn time. And will have true character.

That's why I'll take the same damn Geuze or lambic over another 'new' Cascade. Sure, it's probably only a touch cheaper, but at least it's got complexity.

 

Market of Choice terwilliger and west linn has monks cafe sour ale for like 3.59, thats my go to sour when i get a hankering for a sour and its super cheap!

 

Today I saw a 12 oz bottle of Lost Abbey's Red Poppy, a Flanders Red, for $17. That makes Cascade look like a bargain.

 

Lost Abbey is also ridiculously over-priced in my opinion. Like their stuff, rarely buy/trade for it based on the cost.

Like a lot of folks here, I've gotten bored with Cascade. Their prices are inflated and their beer has gotten less and less interesting. There are some that are just great (Noyaux) but a whole lot that are entirely forgettable. Plus, they have a good amount of competition as far as NW sours go these days, which I think makes both their pricing and the similarity of their beers that much worse.

Block 15 is my go to for PNW sours right now. At $6-8 a 375 they're a bargain and Nick is constantly trying new things. Strawberry Fields was delicious even though it was flat and a million times more interesting than Cascade's Strawberry...oh and Golden Canary *drool*...

That said, I'm a proud Block 15 fanboy and would move to Corvallis just so I could drink there every day

 

Is this a joke?

375ml x 2 would be 34$

 

I thought it was priced wrong at first, but then I read some of the reviews and many mentioned the high price of it. The last reviewer said he paid $20.