Cascade Lakes Brewing Company is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

Redmond-based Cascade Lakes Brewing Company celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, with new beers, new owners and a new brewmaster. If you haven’t enjoyed a Cascade Lakes beer recently, now is a great time to do so. But first, let’s cover a little history.

Brothers Steve and Dave Gazeley started Cascade Lakes in 1994 on a shoestring budget. They had pieced together a 20-barrel brewhouse from salvaged equipment, including used dairy tanks from the nearby Eberhard’s Dairy. Locating the brewery in a 5,000-square-foot industrial space just west of the Redmond Airport, they initially only planned to operate as a production brewery.

In 1996, they opened the Seventh Street Brewhouse in Redmond, in response to the community’s desire for a local pub to drink the beer. The location proved popular, but as the decade came to a close, the beers were plagued with quality issues and production was well below projections.

The brothers sold the brewery in 2001 to Doug Kutella and Ray Orazetti, who were joined by Chris Justema the following year. The team was interested in revitalizing the business and expanding the brewery’s footprint in Oregon. This included the expansion of the pub locations; they opened The Lodge in Bend in 2004 and rebuilt the Seventh Street Brewhouse the same year to double its capacity.

Cascade Lakes subsequently saw fairly steady growth over the next decade, expanding into Washington and Idaho as well as modernizing the brewhouse. And earlier this year, the company announced new ownership; according to the press release, “The majority ownership of Cascade Lakes Brewing Company was purchased by Andy Rhine and his father, Bruce Rhine. Cascade Lakes Brewing president, Chris Justema, remains in his role and as a shareholder in the company.”

Andy Rhine additionally became director of brewing operations, which was a key factor in the brewery’s other big hire, that of new brewmaster Ryan Schmiege. I reached out to Schmiege to find out more, and to get the scoop on new beers coming out.

Schmiege, a 15-year veteran of Deschutes Brewery, was drawn in by “new ownership who brought a desire to advance all aspects of the brewery from safety and process, to improvement of both existing and new products,” he said via email. “Joining the team provided me an opportunity to be part of further elevating the brand while simultaneously taking another step in my brewing career.”

You may have already tasted some of the results of his brewing labors, with new beers OG Kush and Keller Pils on tap now. OG Kush is a hoppy Northwest-style pale ale, while Keller Pils is a crisp, clean lager with a lightly spicy hop bite. “The Keller Pils is a traditional German style, unfiltered, pilsner,” said Schmiege. “It’s mostly pilsner malt, with a dash of acidulated, and Czech Saaz hops. It went through traditional lagering in our cellar after fermentation.”

The pils will be on tap throughout the summer, and Schmiege revealed additional details on upcoming beers, including a hazy IPA and an imperial IPA. “We have a Kölsch which is aging in Tempranillo barrels from my favorite Oregon Winery, Abacela,” he said. “And we have a special beer which is going into bourbon casks tomorrow for release in late fall or early winter.”

And don’t overlook the brewery’s anniversary beer, 25th Anniversary IPA, released at the beginning of the year on draft and in cans. Brewed with Cascade, Ekuanot and Mosaic hops, it’s a showcase of classic and modern hop varieties in a deceptively simple yet flavorful beer. The brewery describes the beer as “juicy,” and indeed I found aromas of tangerine and orange marmalade, ripe pineapple and even a bit of savory cannabis.

It’s flavorful as well, with spicy greens, citrus zest and green peppercorn notes highlighting a solid hop bitterness. A firm malt backbone balances the minty, spicy herbal character well, and the beer finishes with a lingering herbal aftertaste with a hint of eucalyptus. With its 7.6 percent alcohol by volume and 78 IBUs, I found it quite drinkable.

Schmiege, ever the master brewer, is tinkering with the recipe. “I’ve been working with our brewers on modifications. We’ve dropped the bitterness and played with the hops in an effort to make the aroma less muddled and more appealing, at least in our eyes.” I’ll look forward to tasting the results.

Cascade Lakes hit its quarter century and is still going strong. Be sure to stop by one or both of its pub locations this summer to raise a pint of its anniversary ale and try some of the new beers coming out.

— Jon Abernathy is a beer writer and blogger and launched The Brew Site (thebrewsite.com) in 2004. He can be reached at jon@thebrewsite.com.