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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7.4
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Aroma has a slight lactic acid note to it. Light citrus hop note along with light fruit esters. The fruit esters are a bit floral but also tropical fruit. Hint of pineapple is present. A faint cheesiness. Pours a moderately cloudy pale yellow with a hint of hold. Big pillowy white head that quickly recedes. Light lacing and small legs. Flavor is slightly sweet to balance the light acidity. It's fairly fruity with some white grape, pear, and tropical fruit. Light citrus note with low bitterness. Oak is moderate and adds a bit of a buttery character. Slightly vinous. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with effervescent carbonation. Low acidic astringency with medium low alcohol warmth. Overall an interesting beer, but I wouldn't call it amazing. The aroma is surprisingly muted. The flavor Ian acidic enough to be a sour beer but is too acidic to e a farmhouse. It's a surprisingly refreshing beer, but nothing really grabs me. Kind of boring. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Tried on 14 Jul 2013 at 19:36


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

26th June 2013
Craft Clerkenwell Tasting. Thanks to our Colin. Light haze on this gold beer. Little white head. Light winey tartness, little grape. Touch of tropical fruits and a nice light floral finish. My kind of sour!

Tried on 13 Jul 2013 at 09:48


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

Bottle split at Craft Clerko, picked up at the Growler Guys Bend, 26/06/13. Hazed blonde with a good sized white head. Nose is tarte summer fruit, floral notes, white wine, melon, lightly soured white grapes. Taste comprises funky melon, lemon rind, farmyard, light sours, touch brett. Medium bodied, fine carbonation, crisp and refreshing in the execution. Decent fayre - light sour meets saison.

Tried from Bottle on 04 Jul 2013 at 14:02


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

Bottle shared at CBC Clerkenwell - big thanks to Colin for bringing this one. Pours cloudy yellow with a wispy white cream head. Lovely and enticing aroma, bright citrus, light funk, lemon and tangerine. Light to medium sweet flavor with some pale bready malts, light poo and funk, faint hay, lemon. Light to medium bodied with average to lively carbonation. Sweet finish, good and tangy, with more lemon, restrained citrus rind bitterness, poopy barnyard, yeast, a good dose of wild funk. Wonderful beer. Definitely one of the best of the night.

Tried from Bottle on 27 Jun 2013 at 04:19


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

Bouteille 750ml titrant à 11,03% d’alcool. De couleur dorée et voilée. Nez de levures fruitées (raisins verts aux petites notes vineuses, léger d’agrumes, traces de pêches et de pommes), légèrement sauvages aux petites notes rustiques, terreuses et épicées (poivre doux), moyennement boisé (bois humide, léger fût de chêne vineux), léger de houblon herbeux aux notes florales avec des traces de pain. Moyennement ronde en bouche avec un pétillement moyen et légèrement croustillant ainsi qu’une texture aux notes huileuses et vineuses. Goût de levures fruitées moyennement acides aux petites notes sûres (agrumes, surtout de citron et de son zeste, léger de raisins verts vineux, notes de pommes, traces de pêches et de poires), légèrement sauvages, rustiques, terreuses et épicées (poivre doux) avec un léger goût boisé (fût vineux, traces de bois humide) lors de l’entrée en bouche auquel se rajoute un léger goût de pain avec des notes de céréales sucrées et quelques traces de miel. Parallèlement, l’on retrouve un léger goût d’alcool réchauffant jusqu’en finale où s’y développe une légère amertume asséchante de houblon floral, herbeux et aux faibles notes citriques. Post-goût moyen et léger-moyen sec, composé d’un goût de levures fruitées légèrement acides (zeste de citron, notes de pamplemousse et de pelures de fruits verts) avec un léger goût boisé (fût vineux), une légèrement amertume de houblon herbeux aux notes florales et citriques ainsi qu’avec un léger goût d’alcool et quelques traces d’épices (poivrées).

Tried on 22 Apr 2013 at 20:29


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

750ml bottle pours a hazy gold with some frothy white head. Nose is herbal, tart, lavender, dusty, flower pollen, white grape, white peach, fresh squeezed orange juice. Flavor is really heavy with unripened peaches, kumquats, orange juice, lemon zest, herbal, lavender, white grape, light wood shaving. Lightly sweet, otherwise herbal finish. Very nice. Well crafted.

Tried from Bottle on 18 Mar 2013 at 17:20


7.2
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

Bottle shared at CBC - Clerkenwell, London. Thanks to Bruce for this obscurity. Pours cloudy yellow with a fine, white cream head. Citric lemon character with sweat, some hints of boozy heat, pee. Tangy. Medium to full bodied with fine, massaging carbonation. Hot and tangy to finish with farmyard, acidic and stinging lemon. Hefty stuff. Decent, but a bit too hot and heavy overall.

Tried from Bottle on 12 Mar 2013 at 05:04


7.1
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Bottle thanks to Deeblo. It pours cloudy light orange with a medium white head. The nose is farmyard, sulphur/fart, spice, sweet tangy orange and pear. The taste is dough, light tartness, orange, peach, sherbet, pear, melon, light alcohol warmth, pithy grapefruit and pineapple with a dry, lightly tart finish. Medium body and moderate, prickly carbonation. Hides the alcohol pretty well. Certainly tastes a lot better than it smells, but I would like it a bit more sour.....

Tried from Bottle on 14 Feb 2013 at 13:50


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

Bottle @ Stephen’s house courtesy of Steve_0. Bottle states 10.54% abv. Pours a clear golden appearance with a small, bubbly white head. Cheesy, quite funky, lemon, lactic, pineapple, tropical fruity aroma. Fairly sweet and refreshing, chewy aged cheese, lactic, mango, pineapple, light grape flavor. Super easy to drink and a lot of fun.

Tried from Bottle on 02 Feb 2013 at 13:30


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

Bottle @ Stephen’s house, courtesy of André . I believe he picked it up from the brewer while on his Oregonian tour. Muchas gracias, mi amigo! 750 mL bottle. Cloudy, yellow-orange appearance with a bubbly, off-white head that dissipates pretty quickly. Super funky, cheesy, herbal/woody, lemon, earthy, urine aroma. Very interesting nose with some very nice notes, but the urine scent is somewhat off-putting. Cheesy, tangy, very funky, tart lemon, rustic/earthy, woody flavor. Wow, this really was a pleasure to taste. Tons of funk and cheese, though there were a few off-putting flavors- can’t really call them off flavors, as this was spontaneously fermented. Really a nice introduction to The Ale Apothecary. Thanks again, André!

Tried from Bottle on 17 Aug 2012 at 19:35