Cascade 1st Harvest '06

[sinkas]

Hi all,
Had a signifcant exam the other day, so thought i should mark it with a great beer, Vintage cellars had the new 1st harvest "Very rare beer" from cascade, $18 for 4,

The skinny:

5.5% alcohol or there abouts, bitterness is up there, maybe low 30's, hop aroma, nealy absent, hop flavour, barely nooticable,colour, looks like a great IPA head retention is low.

either this is a poorly executed "hop driven " beer, or the current Hop crop from Tasmania, is rather poor... has anyone brewed with the craftbrewer bulk hop purchase hops yet..?

 

[shonky]

Hi Sinkas,

I tried the same one when I was in Tassie 2 years ago and I must admit had exactly the same opinion. I bought a case with a friend after doing a brewery tour and hearing how they (the brewers from Cascade themselves) pick the flowers fresh of the vine and then dump them, fresh, into the kettle.

Very drinkable beer from memory quite well-balanced but severely under-hopped (flavour and aroma) for what it was purporting to be.

I would suggest (admittedly without anything to back it up) that it was less the quality of the hops and more the amount.

Possibly intentionally trying to appease the average beer drinkers' desire for an average tasting beer??

Cheers

Jon

 

[beers]

I bought a 4 pack only because it uses some new Australian varieties of hops (nova & emerald from memory) & i was keen to try.
last years 1st harvest (cascade & willamette i think) wasn't worth the price tag either IMO. & I agree that this years is a tame effort too.. the hop flavour is subdued but interesting (sort of similar to the js hop theif i reckon)

 

[Weizguy]

G'day brewers!

I bought one (count 'em, just one) of these yesterday @ Dan Murphy's (Greenhills - no affiliation) for $3.99. I couldn't understand why a 4-pack cost $16.99. I also remembered my disappointment last year, so I only got one at that price.
BTW, I was there to buy a case of Kozel, but they only had 17 bottles left in the entire shop, so I spent a few extra dollars on the Zlatopramen case.

I'll post back to this thread later this evening, with tasting notes. Don't expect too much, though.

Seth

 

[mhan7073]

Yeah I gave this beer a shot, bought a 4 pack. Nice colour, but that's about it. I was pretty dissapointed. It really failed to match up to other beers in that price range.

Mic

 

[scotsdalebrewery]

I bought one of these last week for $3.50 (could we start another thread about price differences?) and I had to say I was not impressed.

After reading the bottle I was reading for some sort of some sort of hop explosion.

Explosion? No way. Wasnt even a pop!

 

[Weizguy]

Gee, I think some of you guys have burnt out your tastebuds with too many highly hopped beers.
Maybe the bottle I bought was stored better than yours, coz I could both smell and taste the hops, and I'm surprised that experienced tongues could miss it! It could be that this beer shows a characteristic that you don't see very often - balance.

On to my evaluation...

The colour is copper and the beer is quite clear/bright, as you'd expect from a large brewery.

Aroma?: Malty, some roast evident and definitely hops in there. Quite floral, with perhaps a dash of fusel.

Flavour gives me some roast up front, with a fair whack of malt. I get some distinct hop flavour (or two), with a little roast astringency and a lingering hop "sting". I don't feel that the hop should linger this way, but it may be a high alpha bittering hop. The body is a little thin, suggesting a typical Aussie premium beer (with a bit of sugar, of course) and a dry finish with a little hop aftertaste, followed by the aforementioned "sting".

In a large glass, I get a distinct aroma of roast malt and grassy/floral hop. Probably some late or dry hop.
As the beer warms (yep I took my time with the review) I get more malt aroma, rather than hop

Overall, probably a fair deal for the money, being a limited release etc. But I'd recommend that you buy a single and taste it before you spend money on a case. Coz if it don't appeal, you can't blame me.
The label states that the hop varierties are Ember, Nova and Galaxy. (I know the last 2 are car names, Holden Nova and Ford Galaxy, but I don't recall a Chrysler/Mitsubishi Ember)

BTW, on the same day I bought a Coopers lager and a Baltika Wheat Ale #8. Quite enjoyed both, with the Coopers being the nicer of the 3. I should review them later, after I buy more.

Seth (beer taster/ money waster)