Hello Cascade friends. Join us tonight at 6 pm for a momentous occasion: the tapping of our 100th live barrel! Tonight’s Tap It Tuesday is LIVE: Pink Bellini, a NW Style sour blond ale barrel aged with apricots, then blended with apricot nectar and raspberries. Tart aromas of apricot skins and hints of raspberries are noticed up front. Bright apricot, followed by raspberry late on the palate, leads to a crisp, tart, candied apricot finish. 7% ABV, $6.5/glass.
This Thursday at 4 pm at the Barrel House we’re releasing The Diesel #2 (2012), the chocolate version of our Diesel Stout. This barrel aged stout was brewed with chocolate and roasted malts, black strap molasses and dark Belgian candi sugar, and then aged for nine months in Heaven Hill rye whiskey barrels on Bourbon vanilla beans and dark fruit. Dark sweet chocolate, coffee, Bourbon and molasses with hints of vanilla greet you in the nose. Notes of dark coffee and milk chocolate intermingle with the roasted malts and dark molasses to finish with a slight Bourbon heat and a lingering sweet dark chocolate flavor. This is a draft only product with no distribution, so get it here while you can. 10% ABV, $8 glass, $3 taster.
We still have some barrels for sale, mostly Bourbon & a few wine. Available Wed-Fri this week from 9 to 5 pm or until they’re gone, $30 each, cash only, available on the production side of the Barrel House. These are for water barrels or planters; they are retired barrels that have been sitting outside for a few weeks and are not meant for brewing. Proceeds go to get the brewers and blenders new boots!
We recently hand-bottled our 2011 Kriek (this photo shows how labor intensive our bottling efforts are!). The Kriek will now bottle condition for at least a month, so look for it in early October. This Northwest style sour red ale is barrel aged on a blend of sour pie and Bing cherries from the 2011 growing season. Aromas of rich, dark cherries, oak and slight hints of cinnamon in the nose give way to sharp, tart cherry notes and dark fruit on the palate, leading to a bright, sharp, tart finish of deep, rich fruit and a lingering dryness.
There are still a few cases left of Figaro, but it’s going fast. This NW style sour strong blond ale was barrel aged in fresh Chardonnay barrels for three months, then further aged with dried Adriatic white figs and Spanish lemon peel for an additional six months. 750 ml bottles sell for $25 and there is a limit of two bottles per person. There are NO online sales for this beer, due to limited quantities. It is only available at the Cascade Brewing Barrel House and the Raccoon Lodge.
If you live in Southern California, note that our head blender Preston Weesner will be at Churchill’s 3rd Annual Sour Fest on Sept. 15 & 16 with no fewer than 10 different Cascade sour beers, including some special Live barrels. The event will be held at Churchill’s Pub & Grille, 887 West San Marcos Blvd in San Marcos. There is no admission fee, although they do accept donations to the Cancer Research Foundation. They will be tapping an incredible lineup of 50+ very special sour ales from some of the top sour beer making breweries.
This week’s Barrel House food specials include Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup ($6.5), featuring our purple Kriek sour bread with pungent taleggio & Humboldt Fog (chevre) cheeses, panini grilled crisp & served with a cup of our zesty tomato soup; a Lentil Veggie Burger ($7.5), made with lentils, onion, celery, mushroom, carrot, red bell pepper, garlic, ginger & seasoned bread crumbs and served with lettuce, tomato & red onion on a toasted brioche bun dressed with garlic aioli; Pickled Quail Eggs & Speck ($8) featuring sweet & dill pickled quail eggs, Speck (smoked/cured pork), compote, Portland Ale crackers & our famous whipped Dork Fat; and Diesel Cherries w/Kriek Ganache ($4), dried Bing cherries rehydrated in Diesel Stout and covered in a Kriek dark chocolate ganache.
Soup this week is House Beer Cheese and Zesty Tomato, offered daily, and Clam Chowder starting Friday and running through the weekend while supplies last.
Have a great week – Servus!
