The Ale Apothecary
Microbrewery
in Bend,
Oregon,
United States 🇺🇸
Associated Venue: The Ale Apothecary Tasting Room
Established in 2011
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.
mcberko (47456) reviewed Sahalie from The Ale Apothecary 12 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9
750mL bottle, pours a cloudy orange with a medium white head. Aroma of pineapple, brett, a little funk, and some slightly tart notes. Flavour is very complex, bringing out notes of brett, pineapple, Belgian yeast and some farmhouse notes. Uber complex, with the pineapple notes adding a wonderful dimension on of the bretty, funky body. Wonderful depth, with very lively carbonation, which is perfectly fitting. A most excellent fruity bretty wild ale.
Theydon_Bois (46224) reviewed Sahati from The Ale Apothecary 12 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Bottle shared at Bruce’s, sourced from Crows Feet Commons Bend, 06/08/13. Hazed light golden amber with a thin bubbly off white head that clears to thte edge. Nose is tarte orange rind, ear wax, tarte peach, orange sherbet, apricot, spice, herbal, wood. Taste comprises spruce and bark, tarte apricots, soured peach melba, herbal qualities, apricot jam. Medium bodied with bite, fine carbonation, dry finish. Interesting beer, complex and lots of depth to the flavour profile, the alcohol is very well integrated. I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as their sours though!
Scopey (25115) reviewed Sahati from The Ale Apothecary 12 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Bottle at Jack’s farewell tasting, many thanks to Colin. It pours cloudy golden yellow with a thick white head. The nose is earthy, herbal, dough, peppery, wood, sour apricot and peach. The taste is sour, orange, apricot, peach, wood, light acidity, yoghurt, parma violets, sherbet, Starburst sweets and some alcohol with a dry finish. Medium body, highish carbonation and foamy mouth-feel. Interesting and rather tasty stuff!
Leighton (34941) reviewed Sahati from The Ale Apothecary 12 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8.5
Bottle at Bruce’s in London during Jack’s farewell tasting. Big thanks to Colin for yet another beer from this brewery. Pours cloudy gold with a light, creamy white head. The aroma is full of herbs and spruce, pine, hints of lemon. Light sweet flavor, plenty more spruce, touches of alcohol, a bit of tangy lemon, mild acidic sourness. Light to medium bodied with quite lively carbonation. Mild warmth to finish, further lemony tang, some doughy bread, hints of bubblegum, lighter spruce, thyme. Pretty tasty and quite unique.
Theydon_Bois (46224) reviewed El Cuatro from The Ale Apothecary 12 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Bottle at Bruces, from TGG Bend, 31/07/13. Hazed golden amber with a thin off white head. Nose is vinous, tarte apricots, bitter orange, light funk, subtle burnt citric fruit notes. Taste comprises tarte orange, soured apricots, lemon rind, light boozey tones, funky notes, grassy farmy light earthy notes. Medium bodied with a little oomph, fine carbonation, dry finish, The alchohol is very well integrated or a double digit affair - great work!
Scopey (25115) reviewed El Cuatro from The Ale Apothecary 12 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Bottle at Bruce’s, many thanks to Colin. It pours cloudy golden orange with a medium white head. The nose is hay, floral, orange, sour apricot, peach, mild sourness, sherbet, yoghurt, vanilla and light coconut. The taste is sour apricot, peach, nectarine, pleasant sourness, sherbet, hay, floral, touch of vinegar, butternut squash and some alcohol warmth. Medium body, high carbonation and foamy mouth-feel. Hides abv rather well. Very well-integrated flavour. Great stuff!
Leighton (34941) reviewed El Cuatro from The Ale Apothecary 12 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
Bottle at Bruce’s - London. Huge thanks to Colin for providing yet another beer from this fine brewery. Pours cloudy orange-gold with a foamy white head. Nice sour, lightly acidic lemon in the nose, hints of peach. Light sweet flavor, good funk,some ripe lemon, light semi-dry dough, subtle, light brett, sweat. Medium bodied with fine, massaging carbonation. Lightly warming finish, more lemon and peach, some tangerine, soft dough. Very smooth for the strength. Nice nuance.
Scopey (25115) reviewed La Tache from The Ale Apothecary 12 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Bottle, big thanks to Colin. It pours hazy pale yellow with a thick white head. The nose is earth, lemon, sherbet, vinous, lemonade, wood, white grape, kiwi and a touch of lime. The taste is lemon, grapefruit, hay, dough, green apple, kiwi, watermelon, brett, earth, mild icing sugar, vinous and white grape with a dry, lightly tart finish. Medium body, moderate carbonation and velvety mouth-feel, Smooth, lightly tart and very well-balanced. Nice work!
Ferris (26026) reviewed Sahalie from The Ale Apothecary 12 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
Bottle - Candied pineapple, lemon and barnyard funk. Cloudy yellow with a rich white head. Pineapple and tropical fruit with some coriander, no sourness which is expected from the smell. The grapes from the barrel give it an additional depth. Very neat. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone
popery (1998) reviewed La Tache from The Ale Apothecary 12 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Pours a darkened yellow. Slightly cloudy - you can still see through it. Fizzy white head. Little lacing and the head dies away quickly. Very faint diacetyl note. Nice acidity. Some raspberry, lime, orange, lemon, apricot, plum. The taste is quite tannic, very woody. The carbonation gets in the way of the flavor, but there’s also some more tart fruit in there. Blackberry, raspberry, lemon, plum. Everything under ripe. A little bit of butter in the finish. Mouthfeel is prickly, effervescent. Carbonation is too high for me. Otherwise, the feel is rather light for the abv. It’s just ok and, really, a bit of a disappointment to my expectations for this brewery. It’s overcarbonated and somewhat lacking in flavor, ultimately. Still, it’s also easy to drink and hides is strength well. Kind of a mixed bag.