Cascade

 

So here's the first of the "Time Hops" series from Siren, it features the hop Cascade (obvs) and is modelled on a beer first produced by the Sierra Nevada Brewing company back in 1980. The head brewer of that company was experimenting in his home brewing with the newly available cascade hop and was loving the green, resinous citrus flavours it bought to the beer. The hop was used in the first couple of beers that SNB produced commercially and even though by todays standards those beers weren't particularly heavily hopped they were a hit, people loved the new aromatics and flavours in their pale ale in particular (released in 1981) The beer is more malt forward than most pale ales these days and quite dark in colour but so well balanced, the whole flower Cascade used late in the boil and as a dry hop (rarely done in the 1980's) really shines and made this beer a huge success, the rest is history, a whole new style and wave of brewing had begun!