I don’t make it to very many bottle releases. Life is incredibly crazy with the new baby plus work, a toddler and everything else that goes into being a mildly functional human being, so making it to a specific brewery on a bottle release day is rarely in the cards. I’ve been fortunate to mix in a few exceptions lately, where the cards align and I am able to slip into a brewery to grab a special offering. A great example happened last week when Cambridge Brewing Company released Cerise Cassee. I have the good fortune of working right down the road from CBC, so when they announced the release of this beer I was able to run over at lunch and grab a couple bottles (plus a long overdue addition to my glassware collection). Cerise Cassee is a special beer too, it has been a work in progress for 14 years. This is a solera style sour, each year a new batch of ale is brewed, fermented in stainless steel with the house ale yeast, then re-fermented in French oak wine barrels with sour cherries. The barrels aren’t emptied all the way at the end of the year, so each year a new batch is blended with what is left in the barrels from the previous batches. This is the first year Cerise Cassee is being released in bottles, I grabbed one to enjoy now and another to cellar and compare to next years batch. This is a limited release, so head to CBC soon if you want to try the beer!
Cambridge Brewing Company Cerise Cassee pours deep red with a minimal white head. The scent is a mixture of acidity and some cherry aromas. The flavors imparted by the fermentation lead the flavor, notes of green apple, lemon, barnyard funk and peppercorn. There is also a solid tartness, but it isn’t mouth puckering. The sour cherry is well represented and complements the other flavors well. There is a mild malt backbone, hints of crackers and bread crust. Cerise Cassee is pretty light bodied and easy to drink but packs some serious punch at 9.0% ABV. The finish is tart with some lingering fruit and funk. This is a delicious beer, complex and flavorful but still approachable and drinkable. Grab some of this years batch before it’s gone! Hoppy Boston score: 4.5/5.
Previous Cambridge Brewing Co. Reviews:
Cambridge Brewing Co. Working Class Hero, Cambridge Brewing Co. Arquebus, Cambridge Brewing Co. Pearls of Wisdom, Cambridge Brewing Co. Le Saisonniere, Cambridge Brewing Co. Hay is for Horses, Cambridge Brewing Co. Sgt. Pepper, Cambridge Brewing Company You Enjoy My Stout, Cambridge Brewing Company Remain in Light, Cambridge Brewing Company The Audacity of Hops
Hoppy Boston 
