Category Archives: Style

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Cascade Brewing, USA, Wild Ale

Cascade The Vine

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Brewery: Cascade Brewing
Country: USA
ABV: 10.1%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Northwest sour ale. Ale aged in oak barrels with grapes. 2015 project

Brewer Description: (from bottle) House of Sour. The Vine is a blend of sour wheat and blond ales aged in white wine barrels for up to 16 months with Gewürztraminer grapes.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.28
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, 2015 project. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden colour, with a thin white head that dissipated quickly, while leaving only some sparse lacing.
Aroma: Tart, oak, funk, vinous, white wine, grape, grape skin, with light citrusy lemon and mixed berry notes.
Taste: Sour, tart, vinous, white wine, lightly sweet, grape skin, oak, wood, lemon.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Complex and balanced with good sweet and sour notes and strong vinous and oak presence.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Cascade Brewing, USA, Wild Ale

Cascade Blackcap Raspberry

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Brewery: Cascade Brewing
Country: USA
ABV: 7.7%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Northwest sour ale. Ale aged in oak barrels with raspberries. 2016 project

Brewer Description: (from bottle) House of Sour. This Northwest sour ale is a blend of wheat and blond ales that were aged in oak barrels with blackcap and red raspberries for up to 14 months.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.25
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, 2016 project. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy deep reddish maroon colour with a less than one finger pinkish head that faded quickly while leaving some sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Lightly tart, jammy, raspberry, oak, grape skin, with notes of cherry and apple cider vinegar.
Taste: Sour, tart, raspberry, blackcurrant, sharp, acidic, lemon juice, a touch vinous, and woody oaky notes.
Mouthfeel: Sharp, acidic, light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Like most Cascade wild ales, there is sharp acidity, but in this case, it wasn’t overwhelming, and balanced a bit by the sweet raspberry. This was enjoyable.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Cascade Brewing, USA, Wild Ale

Cascade Elderberry

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Brewery: Cascade Brewing
Country: USA
ABV: 7%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Northwest sour ale. Ale aged in oak barrels with elderberries and spices. 2015 project

Brewer Description: (from bottle) House of Sour. This Northwest sour ale is a blend of red ales aged in red wine barrels for up to 25 months with elderberries and spices.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.74
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, 2015 project. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy amber dark brown colour with a one finger beige head that dissipated fairly quickly, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Tart, plum, prunes, mixed dark berries, cherry, raisin, with light vinous and cinnamon notes.
Taste: Sour, moderately sharp, tart, vinous, mixed dark berries, blackcurrant, grape skin, blueberry, oak, raisin, with notes of vinegar, and other spices.
Mouthfeel: Moderately sharp acidity, medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Flavours are nice, but the feel may have been slightly too sharp with a lack of balance, which didn’t make it as easy to drink as it could have been.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, H.K. Lovecraft, Hong Kong, International Pale Lager

H.K. Lovecraft Adventure Pepper Lager

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Brewery: H.K. Lovecraft
Country: Hong Kong
ABV: 5.2%
Style: International Pale Lager
Other Notes: 20 IBUs. Aroma 3.5/5, Thickness 2.5/5, Adjunct – kampot pepper

Brewer Description: (from can) Fine maltiness, gently spicy. Far continent to lands broken by flood, two years journey from the old world to domains of strange gods. The Preserver and his god-kings reigned, black giant stones lined avenues of gold. Few had mourned when all was swallowed. Cities of gods are built by slaves.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.81
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 330ml can, with a best before date of 18th November 2021. Poured into an Anderson Valley beer can glass.
Appearance: A clear golden colour with a one finger white head that dissipated quickly and left sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Smoky, smoked malt, sweet, light citrus zest, with spicy pepper notes.
Taste: Smoky and slightly bready from the smoked malts. Some light sweetness, followed by floral and citrus zesty notes which I think are from the kampot pepper, and I’m getting a mild but lasting spiciness on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Crisp, light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: This has some interesting flavours in it. The smoke was probably a bit strong and may have overwhelmed some of the floral and citrus zesty notes that I think came from the kampot pepper, although I’ve not tried kampot pepper before, so I can’t be sure. The mild and lasting spicy finish was a nice touch though.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Carbon Brews, Hong Kong, IPA - New England / Hazy

Carbon Brews Little Rich Lupulins v.7

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Brewery: Carbon Brews
Country: Hong Kong
ABV: 6%
Style: New England / Hazy IPA
Other Notes: 22 IBUs. Malts – Pilsner, Oats, Vienna and Carahell. Hops – HBC 630, Talus and Motueka. Yeast – London III. Experience – Fresh, juicy

Brewer Description: (from FB page) We release a new version of our Little Rich Lupulins every three months. In our recent release of v.7, we dry hopped it with Talus, HBC 630, and Motueka. It pours with light gold colour and exhibits pineapple, mango, candied berry and grapefruit aromas. Drinks smooth, juicy, and dank.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.02
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 330ml can, with a best before date of 26th May 2021. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden orange colour with a just over one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly while leaving some sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Mango, peachy, pineapple, orange, citrus zest and rind.
Taste: Fruity, mango, pineapple, grapefruit, citrus zest and rind, grape hi-chew candy.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Nice, juicy and easy drinking. I preferred v.7 over v.6, but overall still felt that the original was the best so far.