Cascade Barrel House is one of Portland's most distinctive breweries - well-known for its single-minded focus on creating interesting sour and barrel-aged beers.
They also hold the honor of being the brewery I've visited with the most beers on tap at once - there were a total of 23 at the time of my most recent visit.
What really impresses me about Cascade isn't necessarily the beer itself (although there are plenty of excellent and worthy beers on offer). Rather, I'm much more interested in the crazy passion that drives a brewer to make such strange, niche-market beers almost exclusively. Lots of breweries will make the occasional sour, gose, or lambic, but I've never seen a brewery like Cascade that seems to approach things the other way around - mostly sours with the occasional IPA.
Here are some highlights from my visit:
Raspberry Wheat. Hands down Cascade's best non-sour beer, this is a lovely light ale with great raspberry flavor and just a hint of acidity.
2014 Gose. Probably the best American gose I've had - this is the closest a beer's come to rivaling Cantillon's world-class gueuze. It's crisp, salty, and well-balanced against the finishing sourness.
2013 Strawberry. Strawberry sours are sadly rare, but this is an excellent example. It's sweet and jammy, and finishes quite tart, inviting another sip to refresh the sweetness - a delicious cycle that could easily carry me through a pint or two.
2014 Blackcap Raspberry. The standout among a field of mostly excellent sours, this sour's darkness is in stark contrast to its light body, wonderful dark raspberry sweet/bitterness, and a potent sour hit on the finish.
Honestly, I could write glowing remarks about another half dozen of these sours and still not be down to the ones I thought were merely good. Cascade Barrel House would be an excellent place to take a sour novice - there's likely something for everyone here. Too, it'd be a great way to introduce non-beer folks to a type of beer that's very different in conception and execution.
About the only negative thing I can say about this place is that trying all 23 beers probably ruined my palate for the beers that followed - but that's in no way their fault. When in Portland, this should be among the first stops for those wishing to try truly excellent beer.
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