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
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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