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About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (April 21, 2022)
PAGE 16 • GO! MAGAZINE THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022 • THE BULLETIN BEER, HAPPY HOURS & MORE bendbulletin.com/godrink Goschie Farms Estate Beer from The Ale Apothecary Story and photo by JON ABERNATHY • For The Bulletin W hen we consider terroir, it’s usu- ally in the context of wine, how the particular aspects of a “place” impact the nature of wine —factors such as soil and environment, climate, and even farming practices. Less often do we apply this concept to beer, but if any brewery can be said to embody it, it’s The Ale Apothecary. One of brewmaster Paul Arney’s objec- tives in founding The Ale Apothecary was to source all or as much of the ingredients from Oregon as possible: “Our goal,” he writes on the website, “is to tie the brewery to the land and create beer with a sense of place.” Malts are primarily from Mecca Grade Estate Malt in Madras, while hops come from Goschie Farms in Silverton. Honey and fruits come from various Oregon farms, and the yeasts and microorganisms that ferment the beer are native to the Deschutes National Forest that surround Arney’s small brewery. All of these factors combine to confer a terroir to his beers that give them a uniquely Oregon character. Recently, Arney released a beer that tightens the focus on this sense of place, Goschie Farms Estate Beer. As the name implies, this beer was cre- ated with ingredients entirely sourced from Goschie Farms, a fourth-generation family RESERVE SPACE FOR YOUR PRIVATE EVENT We offer four unique spaces for different sized groups. Our exceptional team will work with you to assure your event is perfect! events@worthybrewing.com 495 NE Bellevue Drive | Bend, OR True to form for an Ale farm that primarily grows hops and wine Apothecary beer, Goschie Farms grapes, with a mix of other crops including exudes a richly complex aromatic barley, clover, corn, sugar beets, and more. acidity that invokes balsamic It was the first hop farm in the country to vinegar, red wine tannins, oak, and sherry. earn Salmon-Safe certification, and grows all of its crops in accordance with these guidelines, which promote ecologically sus- viognier wine version will be released in the tainable practices to help protect water qual- fall; the dry-hopped version is currently on ity and river habitats. the shelves and is the one I tasted. “This beer came about when I was talking True to form for an Ale Apothecary beer, to (owner) Gayle Goschie,” said Arney via Goschie Farms exudes a richly complex ar- email. “Gayle mentioned that she was grow- omatic acidity that invokes balsamic vine- ing barley and with our gar, red wine tannins, oak, use of her hops and the and sherry. There are the Top 5 beers of the week honey … made from her telltale notes of wild yeasts farm, the idea was, ahem, that offer up funky tang, • Par Save Pale Ale — spontaneous. Gayle sold as well as sharp citrus, Bevel Craft Brewing the malt to Tiller malt and hints of sweat, and even a • Crooked Pilsner — we set to brewing.” touch of cordite followed Boneyard Beer The honey is from Pa- by earthy hop aromatics. • Super Bad Apple Imperial Cider cific Honeybee; owner On the tongue it’s bright — 2 Towns Ciderhouse Leo Rumley travels with and tart, with big notes of • White Sun Belgian White Ale — his bees to various parts of fresh-picked, underripe Immersion Brewing Oregon to produce honey berries splashed with red • Tricerahops Double IPA — influenced by the local wine vinegar, delicate flo- Ninkasi Brewing flowers and environment. ral notes, citrus fruit skin, Honey is a component and some sweet-roll malt in every Ale Apothecary flavors. It has a bracing beer, typically used as a priming sugar to amount of acid with a layered complexity condition and carbonate the bottles. bringing to mind aged balsamic with spritzy The brewing process for Goschie Farms levels of carbonation. followed a typical regimen for the brewery. It has a moderate strength of 6.83% alco- The malt is mashed overnight in converted hol by volume and is available in corked 375 puncheons (oak barrels) before undergoing milliliter bottles. an extensive boil; the resulting wort subse- While there are no specific plans on the quently cools overnight before being trans- horizon for a similar project with Goschie ferred to open fermenters and inoculated Farms (beyond the viognier version releas- with the brewery’s house wild yeast culture. ing later this year), Arney continues to pri- This particular beer diverged at that marily use only Goschie Cascade hops for point. all of his beers. “We produced two beers from the main “We will probably bring in some other va- fermentation,” Arney said. “One we dry- rieties as well as obtaining more fruit from hopped with Gayle’s hops, and the other we her farm,” he said. pressed viognier grapes she grew and added Oregon terroir isn’t just to be found in the the juice to barrels. The grapes were grown state’s pinot noir wines; it imbues all of the during the wildfire season so we avoided brews crafted at The Ale Apothecary, and skin contact. Both of these additions added Goschie Farms Estate Beer is a complex yet microflora from Goschie Farms to the beer.” approachable introduction to this beer ter- The idea to press the grapes to avoid the roir. Jon Abernathy is a beer writer and blogger and launched smoky character came from brewer and The Brew Site (www.thebrewsite.com) in 2004. He can be partner Connor Currie, who has been with reached at jon@thebrewsite.com. the brewery since nearly the beginning. The
