Ralph
The Ale Apothecary in Bend, Oregon, United States 🇺🇸
Sour / Wild Beer Regular|
Score
7.72
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Mashed overnight in an oak vat, Ralph is made of Mecca Grade Vanora malt, Skagit Valley Caramel malt, aged Goschie Farms Cascade hops, water from our Skyline aquifer, and microbes & fir boughs from our surrounding forest.
Open fermentation occurs in wooden vats prior to aging in Oregon pinot noir barrels from Domaine Drouhin. Over a year later, Ralph is transferred to a large barrel with fresh fir boughs prior to bottle fermentation with Oregon honey.
Bottles are aged 6 months minimum in our cellar prior to release.
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JAbrams72 (12812) ticked Ralph from The Ale Apothecary 1 year ago
LCI. Acetic, fir tea, funk
pictoman (9831) reviewed Ralph from The Ale Apothecary 1 year ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
[notes] Poured from bottle @ FHF 2023 (Aug 12, 2023). Hazed brown with small beige head. Oak, tartness, okay.
JAbrams72 (12812) ticked Ralph (04/08/2021) from The Ale Apothecary 1 year ago
Massive pine needles on the nose, heavily acetic. Red berry.
RennyDoig (4859) reviewed Ralph from The Ale Apothecary 2 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8.5
Pour at Dark Fields of Winter. Pours clear golden with foamy head. Aroma has a lot of honey. Flavour has a lot of honey with some sour lemon. Not getting a whole lot of pine. Nice balance of sour and honey sweetness
Drake (22940) reviewed Ralph from The Ale Apothecary 2 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Bottle shared by Jeremy at the August 2023 PS tasting, 8/19/23. New brewery! Brewery # 2214, USA # 1810, OR # 35 (that # will skyrocket in a couple weeks). Clear amber, large tan head, average retention. Aroma of spruce, soap, tart fruit. Taste is spruce, cherry, stone fruit, soap. Bright, strong tartness. Would be great but for the soapy notes I'm getting from the spruce.
tiong (21414) reviewed Ralph from The Ale Apothecary 3 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
750ml bottle. Intense pine needle notes, foresty spiciness, honey and funky sourness. Refreshing and complex.
Taboada (8889) reviewed Ralph from The Ale Apothecary 3 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Bottle, taster. @Barcelona Beer Festival 2022, Barcelona (Spain). 14/10/2022 [#5.445 Global - #822 United States of America - #2 The Ale Apothecary] Pours orange with a lacing head. Some floaters. Aroma: spruce, pine needles and oak wood. Very nice aroma. Taste: wild yeast, pear, tart and pine. Tart mouthfeel. Long tart finish. Next one please!
poisoneddwarf (5540) reviewed Ralph from The Ale Apothecary 5 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 9
375 ml corked and caged. Aroma is Pine Sol, woody, funky, floral. Pours hazy burnt orange with a one finger beige head that falls pretty quickly into a ring. Taste is highly sour (9/10) with woodsy, funky flavors. Tastes better than the aroma let on. Nice creamy mouthfeel. Delicious beer.
explosivedog (14050) reviewed Ralph from The Ale Apothecary 5 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 10 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9.5
Bottle. Pours orange brown. Funk, barnyard, pine, orange peel, slight petrol aroma, red wine, red wine vinegar, cereal, red grape, cherry, tangerine, blackberry. Medium body. Phenomenal.
fiulijn (28383) reviewed Ralph from The Ale Apothecary 6 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
Keg
Amber colour, with a red accent, cloudy, medium head size. Multiple elements in the aroma, from red fruit to seaweed, but ultimately focusing on herbal aromas. The mouthfeel is dry, the acidity is sharp, a bit lemony, just a touch or red currant, but mostly some rosemary and thyme.
Not particularly well conceived. Chaotic.