Richly fruited limited edition ’09 barleywine deviates from typical brutish stylistic rampage. Instead of a veritable meal in a bottle, it’s a well-integrated strong ale with lagered champagne yeast perfect for dessert. Honeyed cereal grains sweeten French oak-aged Sauvegnon Blanc grape juicing and gorgeous floral bouquet. Creamy butterscotch midst secures green, red and purple grape illusions as well as lustrous peach-tangerine-pineapple-nectarine exotica. Pronounced cherry uprising, buttery Chardonnay subsidy, and tertiary raisin-date-fig dryness add further depth while peppery herbal hop zip enlivens modest spicing.
GRAND TETON HOWLING WOLF WEIZENBOCK
Decent 2009 cellar-reserved bottle-conditioned ‘strong wheat beer’ with pleasant citric acidity and surprising mocha tenacity bides time as loud 8% alcohol luster gets heard. Creamy caramel-cocoa-chocolate malts ride above peppery clove-spiced fig-sugared vanilla sweetness and orange-bruised banana tartness. Molasses-like Sugar Daddy keepsake forges doppelbock-like character over musty yeast-creased candi-sugared Belgian ale peculiarity.
ESTRELLA DAMM INEDIT
Meek straw-yellowed moderate-bodied witbier-likened Catalan lager in green-tinted wine bottle could use better up-front doughy insistence and richer fruitiness (though its mild nature complements vinegar-based salads, tuna, and salmon). Seltzer-like citric spicing wavers below wet-papered sorghum flouring, wheat-honeyed crystal malting, and gentle ginger herbage. Washed-out lemon candied tartness, floral mandarin orange wisp and unripe peach subsidy gain acidity while under-whelming orange peel, coriander, and lime illusions prove negligible for fizz-toned summer session beer.
RIVER HORSE DOUBLE WIT
Instantly likable golden-hazed crystal-malted Belgian-styled witbier maintains fruit-spiced integrity. Coriander-clove spicing engages lemon zest, mandarin orange, tangerine, apricot, papaya, and pineapple illusions countering peppery-hopped orange peel bittering. Subsidiary whiskey-soured white wine tenacity overrides banana bubblegum undertones to doughy white-breaded wheat spine.
MAGIC HAT WACKO SUMMER SEASONAL
Impossibly clear pinkish amber hue proves even lighter and more transparent than soft-toned session beer itself. Faint orange dryness and distant grassy-hopped bittering coerce washed-out beet-sugared strawberry-melon-apricot astringency. Subtle pale-malted Pac Mac yeast influx doesn’t suffice and vacuous citric-soured finish leaves slight metallic twinge. Sadly, summer retreat ain’t nearly ‘wacky’ enough re-tweaking Magic Hat’s equally pallid beet-crazy precursor Kerouac Ale.
ROGUE MAIERFEST LAGER
Understated moderate-bodied Marzen-styled session beer perfect for lawn mowing. Sugary dough opening and crusty white bread plainness counter softly spiced sour citrus splurge. Sporadic orange, apricot, and fig nuances splash across spritz-y Seltzer fizzing of crisp, clean refreshment, avoiding bland neutrality by a whisker.
HARPOON HELLES BLOND BOCK
Casual moderate-bodied amber-hued German-styled blond lacks overall distinction and fruity pizzazz. Buttery pale-malted honey-roasted barley graining enjoins basic floral-hopped orange-peach-cherry tang and pastry-like sugar cookie sweetness. Vanilla, iced tea, and wet paper illusions receive tertiary whiskey-zapped ransom.
BREWDOG PUNK I.P.A.
Vibrant ‘post-modern classic pale ale’ brings tangy orange marmalade, pink grapefruit, and tangerine fruiting to lemon-seeded pine-needled bitterness and hop-toasted mineral-grained bottom. Zesty orange briskness rises above resinous herbal-floral latency and tropical finish retains nice currant bite.
BREWDOG MIKKELLER DEVINE REBEL
Easy-sipping whiskey-barreled Scottish barleywine with hearty 12% alcohol projectile needs a smidgen more up-front character for ‘big beer’ connoisseurs. Ripe black cherry overtones relinquished by candied apple, bruised orange, pear syrup, and spiced fig illusions gliding through chewy brown-sugared caramel malt creaminess and slim bourbon-sherry drift. Toasted marshmallow, fruitcake and vanilla nuances find tertiary solace.
BREWDOG CHAOS THEORY
Respectable ‘predictably random ale’ best suited as greenhorn crossover than rapturous hophead delight since medium-bodied IPA never distorts piney-fruited bitterness. Musk-y lacquer appropriation saddles spice-tingled red cherry, candied apple, cantaloupe, melon, peach, and pineapple sweetness as well as honey-sugared biscuit-y malting. Bittersweet orange and grapefruit zest plus diminutive floral bouquet round out busy Scot.
BARD’S GOLD
Advertised as ‘the original sorghum malt beer’ and brought east from San Jose brewery with subtle name change and less interesting character. Not far removed from Flying Bison’s negligible gluten-free version, its cloying honeyed sorghum motif sacrifices earthen mineral graining for compost-informed rice cake, white grape, sour orange, and sugar beet usurpation. Phenol-hopped coarseness seeps into wet clay glaze, augmenting tepid superficiality.
CASCADE BREWERY / RACCOON LODGE
PORTLAND, OREGON
At the hilly southwest outskirts of Portland in Beaverton’s Raleigh Hills section lies freestanding hunter green stable-like restaurant-brewery, RACCOON LODGE, which conveniently houses CASCADE BREWERY’s enthusiastically experimental beers. Visited 11 AM, December ’09, this immaculate ‘sour ale mecca’ truly is on the verge of widescale popularity (and closed 2024).
Going from the covered backyard patio into the side door, patrons experience ‘The Den,’ a downstairs pool hall sportsbar with full bar service, billiard tables, dart games, and TV screens opposing left side glass-encased brewery set-up full of fermenting wood barrels storing mostly lactic oak-aged sour ales.
Brewers Ron Gansberg and Curtis Bain have also been busy assembling a warehouse down the street for more barrel-aged offerings. Cascade’s unique sour ales have become highly sought-after commodities so it was a pleasure to share some suds with Bain after lunch. By keeping the vinous brettanomyces yeast in check, the sour ales never get mired by ethyl alcohol acidity.
Upstairs, the Raccoon Lodge’s green-walled main space featured a high ceiling, wood furnishings, and cafeteria-styled dining, reminiscent in some ways, of a ski lodge. An open kitchen served clam chowder, grilled Cajun Caesar wraps, sausage-pepperoni pizza, and burgers. At the left side bar, a large TV entertained lunchtime customers while the bartender, originally from cross-country Long Island, served up several large samples.
The most exulted libations on tap this brisk clear-skied December ’09 afternoon were unsurprisingly barrel-aged selections. Happily, several stylistically popular brews were also spot-on.
Firstly, highly anticipated Vlad The Imp Aler proved grandiose. Its soft whiskey setting received sharp barnyard-funked red wine pucker, tart cider sparkle, tingly peach-pear-apricot seduction, and unripe blackberry souring to magnify caramel-vanilla-spiced rum raisin ice cream finish.
Heady Belgian-styled double porter, Bourbonic Plague, had more of a white-wined Sauvignon sourness with oaken chocolate nibs nipping at chestnut-date-mulberry conflux. An older vintage Bourbonic version placed dry bourbon, burgundy, and Riesling wine illusions below fig-date-soured chocolate-vanilla malting.
Tried tapped versions of Cascade’s bottled oak-aged Belgian-styled beers (buying 22-ouncer of fantastic Cascade Kriek for the road). Oak-soured peach-tannic Cascade Apricot Lambic, dark-fruited Belgian tripel/ Flanders Red mix Cuvee Du Jungleur, and lactic white-grape-parched Cascade ‘The Vine’ were endlessly intriguing. In a similar vein, tap-only Autumn Gose had a salt-hopped cherry-cranberry sourness abutting advertised orange peel bittering, cinnamon-nutmeg spicing, and tertiary lemon-soured cider acidity.
Better still, vinegary gueuze-like Flanders Red sour ale, Nightfall, a busy blonde wheat ale, brought eye-squinting blackberry-embittered theme to cranberry-limestone tartness and Sauvignon Blanc elegance.
Crystal-watered sour ale sparkler, Apricot Ale, dovetailed green grape, white apricot, and cranberry tartness into tangy tangerine-orange segue.
Bringing some more warmth to this cold wintry day, Cascade’s seasonal Frostkiller pleated chocolate-spiced fig-sugared hazelnut into rich molasses malting.
An as-yet-unnamed Stout offered chocolate-spiced hop-grained macadamia-walnut illusions. Those same macadamia-walnut illusions firm up peanut-shelled cocoa-seeded molasses-tinged stove-burnt coffee thrust of chocolate-stained Cascade Porter.
Chipotle-jalapeno-spiced rye-breaded malt-roasted Celtic Copper Ale broadened stylistic approach.
Less adventurous brewhounds should try citric-peeled coriander-spiced lemon-honeyed licorice-tinged Spicy Blonde, corn-dried wheat-honeyed orange-fruited grassy-hopped Vienna-malted Cascade Pale Ale, hop-spiced fruit-dried mocha-backed Tap Ten Amber Ale, and peat-malted sesame-seeded pumpernickel-breaded cola-nutty O-Rye-On. Woody dry-hopped India Pale Ale forfeited stylistic fruity malt spangle for orange pekoe tea-embittered herbage.