Art Larrance was no stranger to the Oregon craft beer scene when he established Cascade Brewing in 1998. The founder of Portland Brewing and the Oregon Brewers Festival partnered with Brewmaster Ron Gansberg, who oversaw the design and installation of the Portland brewhouse. Together, they took their more than 40 years of combined brewing experience to create fantastic sour beers inspired by an abundance of Oregon fruit. Each of their beers is then aged on wine barrels from the Northwestern Oregon region. In April 2020, Larrance sold Cascade Brewing to a team that owned and operated FlyBoy Brewery in Tigard and Lake Oswego. Cascade was still supported by the Larrance family with the new owners on a payment plan that would eventually result in full ownership. Last month, Art suddenly passed away with the liquor license went away 10 days after his death. Unable to financially keep it afloat, the Larrance family shut down the brewery Monday, June 17. In honor of the big impact Cascade made in the Pacific Northwest beer scene, Peaks & Pints presents an in-house flight of Cascade beer — a flight we’re calling Peaks and Pints Beer Flight: Cascade Closure.
Peaks and Pints Beer Flight: Cascade Closure
Cascade Sang Royale 2016
9.4% ABV
Cascade’s Sang Royal 2016 is a blend of double red ages aged in oak barrels and foudres for up to 22 months with Pinot Noir grapes from Oregon’s famed Willamette Valley wine region. The most regal in their series of “Sang” projects, Sang Royal captures complex fruit notes of summer berry fruit, oak and spice, with a vibrant acidity and soft tannic structure.
Cascade Sang Du Chene 2017
9.7% ABV
Sang du Chêne, meaning “blood of the oak,” showcases sour blond and triple ales aged in three distinct oak vessels: toasted French and American oak puncheons, Cognac brandy hogsheads, and aged wine foudres. Oak influences are the highlight, providing flavors of toasted sugars, vanillin and spice that are complemented by the bright acidity and fruity character of the base beers. The 2017 Sang du Chêne captures the marriage of wood and beer at its finest.
Cascade Vlad The Imp Aler 2020
10.3% ABV
Few names have cast more terror into the human heart than Dracula. The legendary vampire, created by author Bram Stoker in his 1897 novel of the same name, has inspired countless horror movies, television shows and other bloodcurdling tales of vampires. Though Dracula is a purely fictional creation, Stoker named his infamous character after a real person who happened to have a taste for blood: Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia or — as he is better known — Vlad the Impaler. The morbid nickname is a testament to the Wallachian prince’s favorite way of dispensing with his enemies. Cascade’s Vlad The Impaler is an imperial Northwest sour blend of strong blonde quads and tripels aged in oak and bourbon barrels, then further blended with spiced blondes and left to condition for an additional five months for sweet caramel malt with woody notes, light acidity, light cherry, and alcohol warmth.
Cascade Manhattan NW
11.32% ABV
Manhattan NW is a blend of sour quad and blond ales aged in bourbon barrels with sour pie cherries and apricot noyaux. A tribute to the classic Manhattan cocktail, this fan favorite features flavors of bourbon, maraschino cherries, bitter almond, and a hint of malt sweetness.
Cascade Bourbonic Plague 2017
12% ABV
A blend of sour imperial porters aged in oak, bourbon, and wine barrels for up to two years, then blended with a dark porter that had been brewed with vanilla beans and cinnamon. The blend is then aged an additional 14 months on dates. The original Bourbonic Plague won Cascade its first gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival (2009) in the wood- and barrel-aged sour beer category.
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