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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7.3
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

750mL shared by dice. Bottled sometime in 2014, the rest of the numbers have been rubbed away. Abv is 9.45. Pours dark golden with medium head. Aroma is strong with spikey esters, some light pear, wild flurries, berries. Flavor is too sweet for the beer, not super sweet but the context for this beer is off. Some light sweet apple juice with light tartness. Cool beer but too sweet. Rerate. October 2015 bottle. Sweet, lightly fecal aroma. Brett and fruitiness messing around, some sweetness, light herbal character. Lots going on. Flavor has some cider, too sweet for style. Mostly cidery and sweet, hiding the funk and brett. Still too sweet and still to appley.

Tried from Bottle on 20 Sep 2015 at 21:36


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

Small rim over fully hazy yellow beer. Liqueur, perfumey, but in a very good, slightly vinous way. Fruit as citrus, banana; vanilla, maybe even Bourbon. Citrus², like drinking a sweet(ish) lemon, would that exist. Again vanilla. Sharpish feel, faint astringency, light to meidum body. Very good one! Many thanks to Don!

Tried on 09 Aug 2015 at 04:14


8.1
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

Poured from a 04/26/2013 vintage bottle. Aroma is rather fruity with a lot of pineapple, pear, tropical and stone fruit. Some moderate wine notes and tannins with some light oak. Light citrus and acidity. A hint of alcohol. Pours a hazy, gold with a large, pillowy, white head of moderate thickness that recedes fairly quickly. Really light lacing and small legs. Flavor is slightly acidic with a hint of grain. Moderate fruit notes with some pineapple, pear, grapes, stone fruit skins and melon. Medium light tannins with some light oak notes. A bit of alcohol spice in the very dry finish. Mouthfeel is medium light bodied with high carbonation. Low astringency and medium low alcohol warmth. Overall, a surprisingly enjoyable beer. I remember hearing this batch was off when I bought the bottle so I sat on it and whatever was wrong has definitely cleared up. Great fruit notes with nice complimentary wine notes. Very fruity and dry.

Tried from Bottle on 03 Aug 2015 at 22:08


8.1
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

This was a gift from friends who visited the brewery. Cloudy, no head. Aroma is nicely tart and fruity. Stylish, fruity, rustic. Tart, clean lactic, fruity, really nice. Malty, firm finish. Fun brew, would like to study it more.

Tried on 15 Jul 2015 at 10:43


6.3
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Bottle. Pours gold white head. Nose/taste of citrus, oak, grapefruit and old malt - medium body.

Tried from Bottle on 08 Jul 2015 at 00:18


8.3
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Bottle. Thanks Bobby - Pours amber white head. Nose/taste of herbal sourness, oak, florals, sour tree bark and sour earthy lemon - medium body.

Tried from Bottle on 08 Jul 2015 at 00:05


6.8
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6

Bottle. Pours hazy amber, large beige head, nice lacing. Aroma is hay, caramel, field grasses, juniper. Flavor is medium sweet, light bitter, pine, juniper, honey, herbal notes. An odd beer. Medium body, high carbonation.

Tried from Bottle on 24 Jun 2015 at 23:23


8.4
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Bottle. Pours yellow gold white head. Nose and taste of oak, wine, sour oranges - medium body. Funky.

Tried from Bottle on 05 Jun 2015 at 20:14


7.9
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

750ml bottle thanks to Derick. Pours out a hazy golden topped with a white head. Nose is hoppy notes peach apricot lots of tart funk. Taste is more of the fruity notes hops and lots of nice funky barnyard tartness.

Tried from Bottle on 22 May 2015 at 22:38


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

Bottle. Pours peach. Nose and taste of currant, oak, sour funk and ginger. Medium body

Tried from Bottle on 09 May 2015 at 05:36