Update from Cascade!

Hold on to your glass, sour beer lover, cause we've got a lot to talk about! First, tonight's Tap It Tuesday live from the barrel series at 6 pm is "Strawberry." This NW style sour ale is a crisp, refreshing wheat beer that was barrel aged for seven months, then additionally aged with strawberries for another eight months. Bright, sweet strawberries and light candy notes greet you in the nose. A light tartness and berry sweetness intermingle on the palate, giving way to a light, sparkling fresh berry tartness in the finish. Is it better as a breakfast beer or a dessert? You decide! 6% ABV / $6.00 Glass.

This Thursday at 4 pm is our annual Four Goses of the Apuckerlips event. Gose (pronounced gose-uh) is a 1000-year-old historic sour wheat beer. Our four Goses are designed and spiced for each season; they are light, slightly soured beers, all brewed with sea salt and various spices. Each comes in at about 5.5% ABV. Enjoy tasting how the different spices can affect the flavor profile. We'll be serving them in teardrop glasses for $4.50 ($5 for the vintage Autumn), or grab a vertical flight of all four for $8. These will pour until they are gone. Spring Gose 2011 is spiced with wild chamomile, lemon peel and culinary lavender; Autumn Gose 2010 is spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg and orange peel; Summer Gose 2011 is spiced with coriander; and  Winter Gose 2011 is spiced with rose hips, orange peel and cinnamon.

 Blueberry is now on tap, replacing the 2010 draft version of Apricot (Apricot 2011 will come on draft later this year). Also, look for our Blueberry in bottles in the next few months! Sang Royal is on its last keg, and will likely be gone by the end of this week. It will be replaced by Pater, a beer named in honor of Peter Bouckaert, a friend and fellow sour beer appreciator. This is our inflection of a beer he used to make. This red ale was aged in oak barrels with cherries for 12 to 18 months. Tart dusty cherries and bright notes of acidic dark fruit vinegars and black currants greet you in the nose. Rich, tart dark cherries and pits sparkle on the palate. Tart acidic notes of sour pie cherries and light hints of sweet cinnamon, bright cherry skins and red peppercorns lead to a lingering tart dryness of aged cherries. 8.12%ABV, $6.50/glass. This is extremely limited and likely won't last long!

Also later this week, look for Raspberry Beckberry, a NW style sour ale blend of triples and strong blonds that were lacticly fermented and aged more than a year with blackberries in oak. We then did a secondary inoculation with a recently isolated plumbers strain of Brett called Beckamoyces Aasskraquii. Some sour cherries were blended in to give this beer some pucker; it was then additionally blended and aged with raspberries. 8% ABV.

Food specials at the Barrel House include our popular Chicken Royal Petit Sandwich with smoked chicken, pungent Italian Taleggio cheese & red onion, served on grilled purple Sang Royal bread dressed with tomato chutney & Apri-Fall fruit compote ($4.5); Beef Bourguignon Crepes, house-made crepes filled with tender beef, mushroom & onions in a rich cognac and red wine sauce ($8); Royal with Cheese & Tomato Soup, featuring Sang Royal bread and Rimrocker cheese from Bend, panini grilled and served with a cup of tomato soup ($6);  and Oregon Blueberry Chess Pie, a classic Southern-style custard pie in a graham cracker crust, speckled with Oregon blueberries ($4).  Enhance your beer experience by combining white & dark chocolate nibs with our Northwest style sour beers - only $1!

COMING UP: The Barrel House will be closed for a private party on Monday, Jan. 16 at 6pm. Our in-house Scottish fest will take place Jan. 25 - 29; and we'll host a Tart Fruit Beer Extravaganza in February. Look for event details in coming newsletters.

Servus!

*thanks, Chris, for the update!