Happy Earth Day (weekend)! My latest print article for The Bulletin is out this week, and while it’s not tied directly to Earth Day, I did consider the observance when coming up with ideas for it. I wrote about Goschie Farms Estate Beer from The Ale Apothecary, which leans heavily on the ideas of terroir in beer as well as sustainability.

When we consider terroir, it’s usually 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 objectives 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.”

As the name implies, [Goschie Farms Estate Beer] was created with ingredients entirely sourced from Goschie Farms, a fourth-generation family farm that primarily grows hops and wine grapes, with a mix of other crops including barley, clover, corn, sugar beets, and more.

“This beer came about when I was talking to (owner) Gayle Goschie,” said Arney via email. “Gayle mentioned that she was growing barley and with our use of her hops and the honey … made from her farm, the idea was, ahem, spontaneous. Gayle sold the malt to Tiller malt and we set to brewing.”

Go read the article for the usual tasting notes and extra tidbits!