Cascade First Harvest 2012

It seems harvest beers are becoming a bit more widely used, even if at times they have nothing to do with the harvest.

This at least is a faithful brew using fresh picked hops of the season and as a result it's a distance better than the other recently reviewed macro seasonal. There's not a lot of floral / fruity character but it's a bit more bitter than typical, and pretty rounded and drinkable throughout.

Probably still not a real 'gateway' to craft beer as such, but much better than average and I'd be happy enough putting these away if they were free of charge. Leaves me with some confidence this was a genuine effort rather than a cynical cash in. 4.5

Cascade Stout

Yes, it's from Cascade, of Tasmanian fame.

But to cut to the chase, it's really not a bad beer for the price and availability. There's no indication on opening the bottle that the beer is even alive - no pop, no response from the liquid, nothing. I like that. 5.8% not a bad mark for the ABV either.

On pouring it's a pretty one note but pleasant enough choc nose, and the taste is pretty likewise. It's a little watery as is common with these, and finishes with that odd note strangely common to macros.. just not quite as smooth as it could or should be.

Overall though and much like its cousin from the Coopers stable, this is a good choice in circumstances when you don't have access to much else. 5.5