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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7.8/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 6 Overall 8
750 ml bottle. Bottled a little over a year ago. Pours mostly clear new penny copper with a thick off-white head with excellent retention. Aroma is lemony, oaky, dusty basements, funky. Taste is sour (8/10) and acidic with funky lemony oaky peachy flavors. Champagne-level carbonation, which is way more than I like. Great complex flavors brought down by the extreme carbonation.
Tried from Bottle on 06 Oct 2018 at 04:47

8/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 8
750ml bottle. Hazy, reddish, amber colour with average, thick, frothy to creamy, moderately lasting, minimally lacing, off-white head. Tart-ish, tangy, spicy, fruity, vinous, woody, resinous and funky aroma, notes of grapes, spruce, a touch of mustard seed. Taste is tart, tangy, fruity, vinous, woody, funky, notes of grapes, red berries, spruce, raspberry vinegar, herbal-floral overtones; lingering finish With slightly bitter hoppy addendum and very late a warming touch of alcohol. Watery texture, smooth, soft and silky palate, gentle carbonation. Complex, harmonious, sophisticated.
Tried from Bottle on 28 Sep 2018 at 05:26

6.8/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 6 Flavor 6 Texture 8 Overall 7
750ml bottle pours out amber cola color no head. Nose is gin some oak barrel funky brett notes and some fruit. Taste is more of the gin notes plenty of barrel notes and funk.
Tried from Bottle on 23 Sep 2018 at 19:56

8/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 8
Bottle pour at Arrogant Sour Festival, Reggio Emilia. Hazy orange with off-white head. Fruity, wood, dark fruit, some brandy, caramel, vinegar. Medium+ acidity. Soft carbonation. Medium bodied.
Tried from Bottle on 06 Aug 2018 at 05:59

7.6/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 8 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 8.5
Bottle thanks to Ryan. Pours a hazy copper with small off white head that lasts. The aroma is oak, funk, leather, sour fruit. Thin body, oak, funk, leather, apple skin, tart, light acidity, very nice.
Tried from Bottle on 05 Aug 2018 at 02:40

7.4/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 8.5
Bottle thanks to Ryan. Pours a hazy orange gold with no head. The aroma is strong grape skin, oak, funk. Thin body, oak, funk, vinous, lingering dry finish, very good.
Tried from Bottle on 05 Aug 2018 at 02:28

8/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 8
Bottle shared at Lucky Bamboo share. Pours a clearish gold with a finger of foam that lingers. Lovely bright, citrus forward nose with tangerine, oak and leafy hop aromas. Crisp and clean on the palate with more oak, some light creaminess. Fruity hop notes sit nicely alongside mild lemony tartness and woody brett notes. Clean and crisp finish with great carbonation. --- Beer merged from original tick of La Tache - Fresh Hop on 28 Jul 2018 at 19:03 - Score: 8
Tried from Bottle on 28 Jul 2018 at 14:05

6.1/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 5 Texture 6 Overall 7.5
Bottle thanks to Patrick. Pours a cloudy orange with small white head. Th aroma is berries, funk, earth, oak. Slick body, funk, oak, leather, berry, vinegar, acidic, good.
Tried from Bottle on 25 Jul 2018 at 05:10

7.4/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
Pale and hazy. Thin bubbly head. Earthy with a touch of brett, with a fairly sharp acidity. Fun, though I'd say the cherry doesn't come through.
Tried on 16 Jul 2018 at 19:41

6.5/10 Appearance 4 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 7
Dull light brown, no head. Tart aroma, light berry / currant fruits. Bracing tartness, fairly simple though.
Tried on 16 Jul 2018 at 19:40