Featured Review – Brett Lager from Ale Apothecary/GoodLife

Though I did not make it to Bend in time to visit the Ale Apothecary taproom, I did purchase a bottle of what is probably their least expensive beer to buy. Brett Lager, a collaboration with GoodLife Brewing, their next door neighbor (literally).

I cracked through the wax top to review this exotic beer.

This mixed Fermentation collab from Bend neighbors GoodLife and Ale Apothecary was one of my target purchases on a recent trip to Bend and it lived up to my own made hype.

Brett Lager pours a lustrous and deep orange. There is a bit of leathery, tart aroma. That first taste was quite zippy. I could feel the acidity and bubbles working their magic. There is orange and tropical notes swirling here. If someone had told me lager was in the name, I would have said, “OK, if you say so”. This is mostly a medium Brett beer that just tastes wonderful. There is a satiny and tart mix that works wonders.

Ale Apothecary

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).
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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.