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

Tasting at Matt’s
Hazy amber color with small head. Sour aroma, hint of acetone and nuts. Strange flavor, on one side there is some good maltiness, on the other side there is a strong acetone feeling; the underlying sweetness tries to keep some drinkability, but the result is aggressive, too acidic. This beer is way too aggressive, unclassy; if you need a sour beer, pay for a Belgian Gueuze instead.

Tried on 09 Dec 2014 at 00:22


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

Bouteille 75cl via trade, thanks to Rado_. Actual abv shows 8.73%. Bottled 27/02/2014. Ambrée trouble, col fin blanc-cassé. Arôme est très vinaigré dès l’entrée de jeu sans pour cela sembler surfait, mais ce côté acétique en reste cependant fort présent. Note un rétro nasal de barrique proche d’un vin rouge cuit. Un bouquet malté caramel reste également bien présent. Palais rappelle une vieille brune avec un mélange agréable entre le malté et la barrique et ce profil un peu acidulé,dans ce cas ci aigrelet assez prenant. Le tout laissant penser à un cidre caramélisé accompagné d’une présence fruitée rouge de vin. Seul point faible restant ce profil aigre fort tenace qui aurait été trop gênant sur une bière de plus faible pourcentage d’alcool.

Tried from Bottle on 06 Dec 2014 at 08:23


7.8
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Bottle - Light sour ketchup, cherry and nice sweetness. Clear copper with and beige head. Big tart notes, some vinegar and cherry notes. Ketchup and quiet nice.

Tried from Bottle on 10 Nov 2014 at 23:35


8.4
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

750mL bottle, pours a hazy amber orange with a small white head. Aroma brings out loads of brandy barrels... wow, the elegance here is very high. Flavour is just as complex, with loads of brandy barrels, some candied sugar without being cloying, and more brandy. Phenomenally elegant and complex. The lack of hops is not really noticeable, as this is very well-balanced. Excellent stuff.

Tried from Bottle on 10 Nov 2014 at 23:26


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

Bottle at Astoria share. Pours amber. Nose/taste of whiskey, cocoa, wine, light smoke, nutty malt and coffee. Flat. Medium body.

Tried from Bottle on 25 Oct 2014 at 13:14


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

Aroma is interesting with a nice barrel character of both whiskey and pinot noir. Moderately strong coffee character with some light chocolate notes. Quite a bit of fruitiness with some light phenolic notes and a bit of the Oregon poopiness. Pours a dark brown with lighter brown notes on the edges. No head or lacing and small legs. Flavor has a nice light malt character with quite a bit of fruitiness and acidity. The coffee is less noticeable than in the aroma with lighter chocolate notes as well. Lots of dark berries and cherries. Lighter barrel character than in the aroma, but still quite a bit of red wine. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with no carbonation. Low astringency and medium low alcohol warmth. Overall, a very interesting beer but I am not sure I am a huge fan. It is better than expected, but still not great. Definitely works as a still beer and I am not sure carbonation would have helped, in fact it probably would have hurt the beer.

Tried on 12 Oct 2014 at 17:43


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

What the Funk, October 2014, Denver. Pours a deep orangish brown appearance with no head. Definitely some tannic notes. Obviously, no carbonation. Leather, dark fruits, and lots of wood. Pretty acidic. Some yogurt and dark chocolate. Kind of interesting but I’m not sure if I could drink much of this.

Tried on 09 Oct 2014 at 17:52


7.6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Bottle @ Stephen’s whale slaying. Thanks Stephen! Pours a big hazy yellow orange appearance with a cream colored head. Pretty funky, lemon-lime, slightly cheesy, soda-like aroma. Moderately tart. A bit gooey mouth feel. Pretty spritzy. Tropical fruity, mango, lemon flavor. Drinks pretty good.

Tried from Bottle on 01 Oct 2014 at 18:08


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

Bottle thanks to Rainer. Pours a clear amber with no head. The aroma is strong corn chips and cracklins. Thin mouthfeel with strong lacto, light roast, cocoa with light tartness. Very good.

Tried from Bottle on 24 Sep 2014 at 19:02


7.9
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

750ml bottle thanks to Rich pours out a dark mahogany color. Nose is oak pit fruit some leather and port wine notes. Taste is as the nose with a nice pit fruit oak and some tartness.

Tried from Bottle on 22 Sep 2014 at 08:17