"It will cure what ales you...Ale Apothecary"

Several months ago Danny and I drove through the great Northwest and tasted through some delicious breweries...what was very apparent to us was the attention to sour beers.  What is a sour beer?  Without going into too great a length,  these are beers that have either been intentionally inoculated with a bacteria like Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus or Pediococcus, combined with fruit to spur a secondary fermentation and/or often aged in barrels.  Breweries have to take great measures while doing this because these bacteria and wild yeasts can infect otherwise "normal" beers.  One very unique micro-brewery was a must for us...Ale Apothecary in Bend, Oregon.

Ale Apothecary is the brain child of Paul Arney, former Brewmasters Assistant at Deschutes Brewery.  As Deschutes grew and prospered, Paul was encouraged to step away from the brewing and take on more of an executive roll...that just didn't sit well with him.  In 2011, Paul established his own little brewery, Ale Apothecary.  This is a nod to the 3 generations of independent drug-store
operators that he descends from.

The Ale Apothecary Brewhouse

Paul's concept is to use the knowledge and hindsight gained from the last 200 years of industrial brewing, strive to create beers that embody the spirit of the last 2,000 years of cottage and farmhouse beer: unpredictable, wild and totally independent.

Step into Paul's laboratory 

Now meet Paul Arney

Each barrel has it's own name

Inside the Brewmasters workshop

Upon leaving Deschutes, they sent him off with these two signed barrels

It's all about the sour

This is the view off the back porch...Deschutes National Forest

This bridge was just 100 ft down the slope from Ale Apothecary...pristine!

Yours truly at Thunder Bridge

If you are ever in Bend, Oregon make sure you plan ahead and make an appointment to come see this one of a kind, hand-crafted, oak barrel brewery.  Thank you Paul for being such a gracious host!  Cheers to you, your family and the staff!

Myself, Paul and Danny

http://www.thealeapothecary.com/