The Ale Apothecary

Microbrewery in Bend, Oregon, United States 🇺🇸
Associated Venue: The Ale Apothecary Tasting Room

Established in 2011

Contact
61517 River Road, Bend, OR, 97703, United States
Description
Origin beer, connected to nearby farms, artisans and the land surrounding the brewery. 100% made by us on our own equipment with our creative brains and hearts. Children welcome in our tasting room.

The Ale Apothecary is a very small artisanal brewery, located 10 miles west of Bend, Oregon in the middle of the Deschutes National Forest. Paul & Staci Arney built the brewery on their property in 2011 after Paul had decided that his career in industrial beer-brewing was officially over. Taking cues from historical breweries, Paul decided that he would take the very basic concepts of making beer and build a totally unique brewery out of them, relying on locally grown or foraged ingredients and using the most natural approach possible.

Before there were beer styles, there were just breweries making the best beer they could out of the raw materials nearby, the water from the ground, and the yeast in the air. Paul believes that the Process in making beer can be used as a primary ingredient, so The Ale Apothecary has its very own methodology that gives us our house character that cannot be reproduced anywhere.

We get our grain from Mecca Grade Estate Malt in Madras, Oregon. Our hops primarily come from Goschie Farms in Silverton. We naturally carbonate our beer in the bottle with Oregon wildflower honey and try to avoid any and all industrial processing aids or commodity ingredients. Instead of using exotic ingredients, we experiment with the process of making beer to find unique and inimitable flavors and experiences.

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7.4
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Sampled from the tap at the brewery. Pours a near light light gold with a white head that dissipates slowly to the edges and laces. Aroma has light flora with a bit of grass, sweet citrus and a light grain backbone. Flavor has light sweet fruits and grass with growing flora and some sweet grain in the finish.

Tried from Draft on 26 Nov 2023 at 00:52


8.2
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 9

Bottle at the brewery. Pours a clear deep amber brown with a bubbly brown head that dissipates quickly and completely. Aroma has some sour dark cherry and stone fruit with light barrel and a bit of booze coming through. Flavor as a nice sour stone fruit with some slightly acidic cherry with a bit of whiskey and oak backing.

Tried from Bottle on 26 Nov 2023 at 00:36


7.1
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Sampled from the tap at Broken Top Bottle Shop. Pours a clear pale yellow with a white head that dissipates to the edges. Aroma is grassy with a bit of flora, light fruits and a hint of wet pine underlying. Flavor has grass and flora throughout with light grain and a hint of light fruits backing.

Tried from Draft on 23 Nov 2023 at 03:40


8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Bottled. Amber colour, smalll white head. Aroma is tart berries, fruits, wood and some spiciness and yeast. Flavour is pretty much following the same as the aroma in a fresh way. Inspired by Sahti? Maybe if you had sour sahti yes.

Tried from Bottle on 17 Sep 2023 at 18:18


8.2
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9

2014 bottle.

Tried from Bottle on 12 Sep 2023 at 17:23


6.8
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Hazy reddish-amber, medium head. Light fruity acidity on the nose, smoke on the palate but somewhat generic - tart amber ale, some tannin, complexity. A bit yeasty and it doesn'�t 100% come together but it'�s not bad.

Tried on 02 Sep 2023 at 04:16


7.2
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.

Tried from Bottle on 29 Aug 2023 at 03:09


7.4
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

[notes] Poured from bottle @ FHF 2023 (Aug 12, 2023). Hazed gold with small white head. Mild tart funk, light wood. Okay.

Tried from Bottle on 27 Aug 2023 at 01:32


7.8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Hazy, beige, thin head. Tart but complex, a bit grapey and peachy at the same time, as expected. Good malt base. Medium acidity.

Tried on 23 Aug 2023 at 03:44


6.5
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Pale gold, with a slight haze. Medium head. toasty, with a nice bit of brett on it. Some phenol, too, however, to its detriment.

Tried on 22 Aug 2023 at 04:56