Deschutes’ Cascade Ale is one of their year-round beers that I don’t drink very often. Not because it’s not good—it certainly is—rather, you just don’t see it on tap very often outside of the Brewery, and when I’m buying their bottled beer, I usually go for something darker and heavier.

(When I’m not buying up the coveted limited release stuff and seasonals, you know.)

Nevertheless, Cascade Ale is one of their staple offerings, a true session ale at 4.5% alcohol by volume, and it’s been around for a long time. It used to be called Cascade Golden Ale, in fact, and more often than not I still call it by that name.

I like to call this type of beer a “gateway” beer… light and easy-drinking enough for people used to drinking macrobrews, but with plenty of flavor and character to open their eyes to alternatives.

Appearance: Light, golden yellow, honey-colored really. Off-white head.

Smell: Hoppy and grassy over toasted biscuit malt. A sweet note, otherwise fairly clean.

Taste: Grainy, toasty malts—bready wheat—with a nice, crisp, but not overpowering hop presence… floral and not overly bitter, with a touch of lemongrass.

Mouthfeel: Shy of medium-bodied, and a bit fizzy, but sports a nice presence with a nice herbal bitterness in the aftertaste.

Overall: Crisp, clean, dangerously drinkable and a great lawnmower and “gateway” beer.

On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of B. On RateBeer (which is back! That’s news in an of itself), it scores 3.11 out of 5 and is in their 52nd percentile.