For my latest article for The Bulletin, I profiled the new, upcoming Tree Beer Fest (which I also wrote about here). The premise—beers made from trees, or more accurately, with ingredients foraged from trees and forests.

There may be no brewery more qualified than The Ale Apothecary to host such an event. Every one of its beers touches wood in some form during the brewing process, and brewers Paul Arney and Connor Currie often integrate foraged wild ingredients into them; it’s common to find ales made with fir tips, pine needles, manzanita flowers, and black currants, for example.

The idea for the fest took root when owners Paul and Staci Arney, looking for ways to expand usage of their tasting room space, invited Brian Yaeger to help put together an event. Yaeger, who has launched several beer fests via Grand Craft Beer, including Flannel Fest and Baker’s Dozen Coffee Beer & Doughnut Fest, came up with the tree concept.

I asked him what inspired the idea. He cited two breweries.

What are the breweries that inspired Brian? Read on to see! There’s also some details on other beers that will be pouring.

The Tree Beer Festival is coming up this Saturday, April 29, at The Ale Apothecary. You can still get tickets online right now, so don’t wait!