Cascade Brewing Barrel House

Conclusion first: my rating is 4 cause I was unattended for like 10-20 min after getting a table while there were only like 2 or 3 parties at the brewery, and was greeted very dry when I tried so hard to grab the waiter's attention and to make an order.

Now about the beer, I loved this brewery's sour beer in a can so much (tried before visiting), so went all the way to the brewery. There is certainly a fine line between good sour beer vs bad one because bad ones usually fail to have its sourness well balanced with other taste components of the beer. But once that sourness is set at right point, then those well-made sour beers start to feel very similar because characteristic of the sourness is way too outstanding as a charming point, hence other flavors matter less.

That being said, I felt that some sour beers here too were quite similar to each other. If I have to pick my favorite here, then it was Framboise; raspberry and sourness perfectly amazingly balanced. Mac and cheese was quite a nice snack for sour beer.

It seems to be a famous place for new beer. It was my first time trying canned beer and I was so intrigued that I ended up going to the brewery. From personal experience, I think that when it comes to new beer, likes and dislikes are very divided. This is partly because the new beer itself is not popular enough to appeal to people, but also because it is difficult to create a good balance (because it is sour). It's the same. In the case of new beers that are frowned upon, the sourness is so excessive that people often drink it alone or go crazy on their own with other flavors mixed in to counteract the sourness. (e.g. fruit flavor)

The new beers here generally don't have that problem. The balance of sourness is very good, so it's delicious to enjoy on its own, and it's also great to eat and drink with greasy food. However, because new beer has a very strong “sour taste”, when you drink it, you get the feeling that everything is the same as the alcohol.

Of the five types of drinks I've tried here, if I had to pick one that was my favorite, it would have been Framboise. It was delicious because the raspberry flavor and sourness were balanced in just the right ratio. I have no idea which part of Makgeolli Gose is the taste of makgeolli that Koreans remember, but it tasted good as a new beer.

The reason for the 4 stars is that even though there were only two or three groups of people in the brewery, I had to just sit there and be ignored for about 10-20 minutes. I was hungry and thirsty, so even after waving my hand hard to get the waiter's attention, I had a damn attitude. Because I was treated well.

Visiting here was such a hallmark experience that it was one of the reasons i moved to portland about 5 years ago.

Now that they're permanently closing, I'm making this my eulogy to one of the only breweries I've ever loved in all my time on earth.

Rest in pepperoni. May I magically come across your bottles on markdown in random stores in the area.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

There were so many sours to pick from that we just asked our waitress to pick for us and the selection was great! Every pick was solid and the staff are very friendly

Beers were decent. Happy hour, even on the weekend is a bonus!

Atmosphere: 3

Service: 4

Recommended dishes: Craft Beer

Beers here are just as weird and wonderful as you imagine. If you like a traditional sour beer then really look no further because these guys probably master it. Great selection available and I like the layout of the taproom, a good amount of different sizes of beer available. Staff maybe a bit too attentive with how much they kept coming over asking if we needed more beer but other than that a good place.

Atmosphere: 5

Service: 3

I usually enjoy all visits to breweries! Just too be clear, this is not a slight to this brewery, as others may enjoy the beers here, but they were not my style! I did not find one beer that I thoroughly enjoyed.The food though was Amazing! Bring on some Amber's and Brown ales, and they would have it's covered.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 4

Didn’t get any food but the beers are fantastic. I love sour beers and this place did NOT disappoint. Service was great and the open space was amazing!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

This is the place to go for sour beers. We ordered a bunch of 2oz pours and tried everything. The Bruschetta was unique and awesome. Risotto was great. They have a huge bottle list and sell lots of things in cans. The service was spot on and the location was great. We will be back.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Craft Beer, Bruschetta

The Mac N Cheese was MEH??Totally just tried a tiny little spoonful ?

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Their mac and cheese with smoked pork belly was out of this world.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Beer selection was impressive, tasty food too

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 4

Recommended dishes: Ceviche

They had some good sour style beers ! Alot of options. Got a flight of 4 different sours and they were all tasty

Atmosphere: 4

Service: 4

We were coming from out of town for my daughter’s birthday to enjoy the hopscotch museum across the street from this brewery. They had outside seating. My kids did not want anything in the menu but my wife and I were going to grab some lunch and a beer. My kids decided to grab some chipotle from across the street. The server saw my kids with the chipotle and knew they were eating outside prior to taking our drink order. After our drink order was placed and dropped off (while the kids were eating) they decided to kid my kids out. Ultimately costing us 30$ for absolutely no reason since we could not even drink our beers we purchased. This was a very bad experience and we will not be back nor be recommending this place to anyone we know.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

Best sour beer, hands down. Happy hours Wednesday and Thursday all day and Friday to Sunday 4-6 pm. The end.

Parking: Mon-Fri 8 AM TO 6 PM PAY TO PARK. Otherwise free street parking.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

The patio is really nice in good weather.

Atmosphere: 5