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

Bottle pour at FHF 2024, pours a cloudy bright golden with a small white head. Aroma brings out musty white grape skins, mustiness, and a touch of earthiness. Flavour is actually okay, with tart, acidic white grape skins, earthiness, some wild yeast, and oak. Nice incorporation of the white wine grape skins, though not particularly complex. Nice stuff.

Tried from Bottle on 11 Aug 2024 at 04:35


5.2
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5

Bottle pour at FHF 2024, pours a cloudy bright golden with a medium white head. Aroma reveals bright apricots and some muffled earthiness. Flavour is muffled, with juicy apricots, tons of earthy muffled character, and chaotic acidity. This is another chaotic mess. Doesn't work.

Tried from Bottle on 11 Aug 2024 at 04:35


5.2
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5

Bottle pour at FHF 2024, pours a cloudy dark amber or are with a small beige head. Aroma has some weird farty funk, subdued grape mustiness, and earthiness — uh oh. Flavour is tart and acidic, with a thin dark grape character, light vinegar, and acidity. This doesn't work well in any way. Not infected or messed up, just not well-calibrated.

Tried from Bottle on 11 Aug 2024 at 04:35


6.4
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Bottle pour at FHF 2024, pours an opaque full dull amber brown with a medium white head. Aroma is very nice with lots of raspberry, lots of muffled earthiness, and tons of pith. Flavour is quite acidic, with lots of earthy raspberry, plenty of acidity, and plenty of tartness. Not too complex or integrated; fairly harsh.

Tried from Bottle on 11 Aug 2024 at 04:34


6.4
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Bottle pour at FHF 2024, pours a cloudy full orange amber with a small white head. Aroma brings out earthy raspberries, gentle acidity, and tart pithiness. Flavour is tart and bright, with lots of tart raspberries, earthiness, and a touch of acidity. Tart, a bit harsh and jumbled. Okay, a bit clumsy.

Tried from Bottle on 11 Aug 2024 at 04:34


5.6
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5.5

Bottle pour at FHF 2024, pours a hazy dark orange amber with a small beige head. Aroma is pith, with a sort of balsamic character, red grape must, and some earthiness. Flavour is full of balsamic, with Worcestershire, red grape skins — strikes me like poor Flemish red. Not happy with this.

Tried from Bottle on 11 Aug 2024 at 04:34


6.6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

FHF 2024. Appearance: hazy golden with a white head. Aroma: tart, fruity, some wild notes. Some nail polisher. Taste: along the same lines, very acidic. Overall: meh.

Tried on 10 Aug 2024 at 21:09


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

FHF 2024. Appearance: murky peachy copper. Aroma: bold, tart, fruity. Taste: along the same lines, quite tart, a but bready, raspberries. Overall: ok.

Tried on 10 Aug 2024 at 21:07


7.4
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

FHF 2024. Appearance: hazy golden with a white head. Aroma: bold, nice fruity notes. Taste: fruity, but very tart. Overall: meh.

Tried on 10 Aug 2024 at 21:01


6.8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

FHF 2024. Appearance: hazy copper with a white head. Aroma: very tart, fruity, oxidized raspberries. Taste: along the same lines. Overall: too acidic.

Tried on 10 Aug 2024 at 20:58