The Ale Apothecary is not only a great name for a brewery but it is in the mega-beer town of Bend. (Now I really have to travel to Bend to drink).
But what caught my eye is that their flagship ale, Sahalie is a mixed fermentation ale. It is brewed by Paul Arney who was at Deschutes and is now working with the wild yeasts. They also brew a “version of Finnish Sahti brewed in a traditional kuuma and spiced with fresh spruce tips.” And most intriguing of all, a hopless beer aged in brandy barrels called El Cuatro.
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The Gruit I had was Mountain Rose Gruit from Oakshire Brewing in Eugene. Oakshire used a crazy variety of herbs to spice the beer: mugwort, dandelion root, dandelion leaf, burdock root, licorice root, milk thistle seed, blessed thistle, chamomile flower and grapefruit peel. The result was an herbaceous, almost sweet beer that finishes dry (7 percent ABV). It’s not totally dissimilar from a saison brewed with herbs, or even rose tea, but you do notice the lack of any hop flavor whatsoever. Interesting, and a good sipping beer, but not a beer you want to toss down your gullet. The Oakshire Gruit was pouring at The Bier Stein in Eugene, which beer journalist Lisa Morrison says has the biggest selection of bottles between Portland and San Francisco. Gazing at the stocked refrigerators, it’s easy to believe. Perhaps the best beer I had on the trip came from Upright Brewing , a small brewery in Portland that makes innovative farmhouse ales meant to be paired with food. The Gose, a spring seasonal, is a slightly tart wheat beer brewed with a light touch of salt and coriander. An old German style (detailed information here from the Portland blog Brewpublic), Gose is seeing a minor comeback on the West Coast.