10 of the Country's Most Interesting Breweries

How does a brewery stand out in the market these days? First, the beer needs to be unimpeachable.

Second, there needs to be an ethos followed, a commitment to practices combined with that je ne sais quoi. So we asked a simple question of brewers, magazine contributors and fellow drinkers: Name a brewery doing interesting things. With nearly 5,000 breweries operating in the United States right now, we were surprised that a number of names kept coming up again and again. This is not a “Best of …” list, or to be taken as the definitive word. Rather, the 10 breweries presented here rank as some of the most interesting, intriguing, forward-thinking spots that we believe are worth your time and attention. Take a look at each and we’re sure you’ll see why.

The Ale Apothecary

Bend, Oregon

BARREL PROGRAMS are common at breweries across the country these days, with all kinds of beer resting and aging inside the wooden vessels.

Then there’s The Ale Apothecary, which actually brews all its beer in them. From mash-in to bottling, beer made by Paul Arney spends little of its 14-to-18-month journey not touching wood, including about three hours in a copper boil kettle and a few days resting in a stainless steel tank before being hand-packaged in 750-mL glass bottles. Along the way, beer is made in a variety of personalized creations, including two oak barrel mash tuns. For Arney’s Sahati beer, he also uses a lauter tun made from a 200-year-old spruce tree with branches as a filter bed.

“The first thing people often ask when they meet me is if I’m the dude that ferments in a tree,” Arney jokes. There’s a fitting truth to it, however. His brewery is located just outside Bend, Oregon, on the footprint of the Deschutes National Forest.