Cascade Sang Noir

I picked this bottle up when my wife was pregnant with the express purpose of waiting for her to be able to drink it. Well, Pax is here, she can finally enjoy beer again, and so we opened the Sang Noir this weekend. This is a complex sour, aged in two types of barrels and then with bing cherries added to it. Or something close to that.

Lots of vanilla creaminess and a decent amount of sour cherry in the nose. Draws you in for sure. Thick body, low carbonation too. First sip is a bit of a punch in the mouth. Hugely acetic and then a large amount of sour cherry in the finish. Even with the crazy start, I felt like it ended remarkably smooth. As I drank more, the cherry presence was much stronger as well. Solidly powerful sour, probably not one for novices, but fun for those that like a bit of brashness in their wilds.

Cascade Blueberry

Last week I splurged and decided to pick up a bottle of Cascade Blueberry. It's a blueberry sour from out in Oregon. I actually thought it was a Cascade pub exclusive and didn't expected to find it here in Philly, but it was available and so I figured I'd give it a try.

Strong blueberry nose with a hint of funk. It's nice to actually smell the fruit instead of just crazy vinegar or sourness. Very impressive flavor. Blueberry up front, balanced by a pleasant sourness that isn't too strong. The fruit actually grew a bit as I got used to the sourness and it was just really flavorful. This may be the first blueberry beer I've actually liked! Not too surprising it's in a sour. I'm honestly inclined to say this is nearly worth the price or at least worth splurging on once. Also makes me wonder if the Apricot sour they often sell is worth the steep cost. Maybe I'll find out at some point.

Random Tuesday Tasting Part 2

Continuing yesterday's post, there are four more beers left from the Random Tuesday Tasting. After the Olde Burnside cool ranch beer, we opened a bottle of Marin Barrel Aged Old Dipsea Barleywine.

You may not have heard of Marin's here on the east coast, but they are connected to Moylan's which sends a few beers over here. It's more well known on the west coast though. Slight bourbon nose with a bit of tartness. Not sure on the latter flavor but I wrote it down so who knows. Lots of bourbon followed, some barrel, but not much barleywine. Nice looking beer but the base just wasn't strong enough to hold up to the bourbon.