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Case Study: The Ale Apothecary

Stubborn idealism meets commercial reality at one of the country’s best-regarded mixed-fermentation breweries. But as the market continues to change, how will the brewery’s strategy change with it?

Kate Bernot Mar 31, 2020 - 11 min read

Case Study: The Ale Apothecary Primary Image

Founder Paul Arney is focused on keeping the Ale Apothecary small, manageable, and authentic.

Even before its first batch of beer, the Ale Apothecary was a brewery defined by tensions.

Disillusioned with his brewing job at Deschutes, Paul Arney quit his job there. With his wife, Staci, he then opened a brewery that would produce the antithesis of what he refers to as “factory beer.” As much as their brewery outside Bend, Oregon, was meant to be an embrace of their ideals—freedom, craftsmanship, a sense of place—it was equally a rejection. It was built in purposeful opposition to the trappings of most modern American breweries. When the Ale Apothecary brewed its first beer in 2011, it had no stainless steel, no tasting room, and no staff besides Paul. He intended to keep it that way.

Then reality came knocking.

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