Cascade Brewing releases Kriek 2016

Kriek is a blend of sour red ales aged in oak wine barrels for up to 17 months with Bing and sour pie cherries. The beer features complex flavors of cherries, roast malts, oak and spice, and comes in at 7.4 percent ABV.

“As one of our earliest and most recognized beers, Kriek has been a staple in our portfolio of Northwest sour ales,” explained Tim Larrance, vice president of sales and marketing. “Kriek continues to be a flagship project that represents the soul of our craft.”

Not only will this be the first offering of Kriek in the new label format, it also signifies the return of the beer rated the “Top Sour Beer in America” by the New York Times last fall. Soon after that article came out, Cascade sold out of all the remaining Kriek 2015 in stock, as well as any 2014 that remained.

Kriek 2016 is a tier one offering; Cascade’s three tiers are based on the ingredients used in the beer, the time the beer is aged in the barrel, and the type of barrel used – all of which establish the pricing tier of the project.

The bottle features Cascade’s new graphics, in which each beer within its tier has its own color to delineate between brands.