Cascade Brewery First Harvest: Impressions

Yesterday, an ad (on Facebook of all places) caught my attention. It was advertising a 'Limited Edition Film' about a 'Limited Edition Beer', made by Cascade. Clicking took me through to watch a short film about the creation of the Cascade First Harvest Ale. The film was said to be only available 'to the first 5000 viewers', and they appear to have come good on that as the film is now gone. In it's place, a page describing the beer in question:

Cascade First Harvest Ale Product Page

The film described how the ale contained a 'never before used experimental hop', and was limited to 5000 cases Australia wide.

I was intrigued enough that I decided to get some on the way home. After a quick call to my local bottle shop, I had a 4-pack put aside, and collected it on the way home from uni. On to the beer itself:

The Beer in Question

Upon pouring a glass,the thing that was immediately apparent was the gorgeous, crystal clear, dark amber colouration, with the sparsest little bit of white head around the edges. Not too much in the way of aromatics, with a faint, floral sweetness and a bit of a bready finish.

The body of the beer is medium to full, with just enough carbonation to keep it from feeling flat. The initial taste is a sweetness on the tip of the tongue, before the strong citrusy body hits you with a wallop of grapefruit, then mellows out to a biscuity malt ending with a lingering, side-of-the-tongue bitterness.

In terms of flavour, the beer was quite pleasant, although I was expecting a hoppier nose and a flavour considering the way the video made the 'experimental, first harvest hops' out to be a big deal.

Overall, I'd give it a 6.5/10, owing to the lack of hop aromas and flavours, and the fact that I wasn't blown away given the hype I initially faced.