Cascade Brewing - Strawberry 2012

Cascade says: "This NW style sour ale is a blend of wheat ales aged in oak barrels for up to 12 months, then aged on strawberries for an additional three months." Cascade doesn't distribute through established channels as far as I know, but they do ship to several US states via online orders. Of course for in-house only beer, you'll need to have a friend in Portland, OR -- what a handy thing to have! The Strawberry is available online, so this one was just ordered through their website shop.cascadebrewingbarrelhouse.com.

Appearance: This looks like a strawberry beer! It's an inviting pink-red color, with a foamy, effervescent head. It may seem obvious to say that carbonation is effervescent, but lambics and sours do, in my opinion, offer a distinctive type of head on the top of the glass that appears so immediately refreshing.

Smell: There is a strong breadiness as well as an oaky presence. The strawberry is there as well, and a lactic sourness that isn't overwhelming but definitely apparent.

Taste: Here, I was expecting a lot more sour. And don't get me wrong -- it is sour, but I was expecting more. There is only a slight funkiness with the tart, and the sweetness from the strawberry even seems a little subdued compared to the bready body from the wheat and yeast. Others who I tried it with did get a more strong sour character, so maybe my palate was a little off, but it was just less than I expected.

Mouthfeel: This beer comes across as fairly light-bodied, which is interesting, since it's being pulled in a few different directions. In the first place, it's dry and effervescent, which makes for a light body, but since as I mentioned the taste comes across as very bready and full, that gives the illusion of thickness to the mouthfeel. Still, overall, it's more refreshing than not.

Overall: I really like Cascade sours, but this may be my least favorite of the ones I've tried. I wanted more strawberry and more sour, but I think a lot of sweetness that the strawberries may have contributed got lost in the wheat base. It's still a really tasty, drinkable beer, but Cascade makes such knockout beers that this one fell a little short.

3/5

Robert & Ryan / Rip Current / Stone R&R Coconut IPA

Stone says: "Originally dreamt up by homebrewers Robert Masterson and Ryan Reschan, who earned themselves the top prize in our 2013 American Homebrewers Association homebrewing contest, this innovative beer marks a refreshing sea change for IPA lovers everywhere. It was brewed with 280 pounds of coconut and an unusual blend of hop varieties, including a few from faraway lands or just brand spankin' new, and is guaranteed to taste like no IPA that's gone before. Prepare yourself for a tropical breeze of a brew that will lull you to a place of tranquil contentment for a little R & R."

This IPA is a limited summer 2013 release and it checks in at 7.7% ABV. Since it's distributed through Stone, it's been pretty widely available and easy to acquire.

Appearance: This photo turned the beer a lot more orange and cloudy than the beer actually was; in person it was a warm gold and pretty clear, with a small head that receded quickly and left no lacing on the glass.

Smell: The most predominant notes are apricot and peach. The coconut is there but very faint -- I had to search for it and take some really deep whiffs that nearly involved snorting the beer.

Taste: The coconut is a bit stronger on the palate for me, but it's still not the most predominant flavor. Peach and floral notes have that honor here, and there is a juicy pineapple sweetness at the end.

Mouthfeel: It's creamy, slightly oily, and overall medium bodied.

Overall: I liked the juicy stone and tropical fruit notes in this beer a lot, but I was expecting a much bigger punch of coconut both on the nose and on the palate than I got. Thus, I left this beer feeling rather disappointed, which may not seem fair; if I didn't know there was supposed to be a big coconut flavor, I would have probably just enjoyed this IPA on its own merits for its big fruit flavor. However, since it's billed as coconut, and particularly having tried the Bruery's Humulus Palm (a pale ale also brewed with coconut that was just bang-on in flavor) I have to say that this didn't quite cut the mustard.

3.5/5