The One for One Rule
I have a simple rule when it comes to buying beer: I can spend up to one dollar per ounce. That means: $12 for a single twelve ounce bottle and $24 for a 750 milliliter wine bottle. Of course, I’ll adjust that calculus when I really want something. Fifteen bucks for a single Cherry Adam? Yeah, okay. I’ll hide it in the back of the cart.
So how did I end up with not one but two bottles from Ale Apothecary each with a pricetag of $35.50? Answer: I didn’t pay for them. My birthday is on December Twenty-first. (Yes, it was hard growing up with a birthday so close to Christmas.) My beautiful wife Sarah went out and bought me two bottles from the Ale Apothecary because she knows I wouldn’t buy them myself. She’s a great gift giver.
The Beer Formerly Known as La Tache – another trademark dispute victim – is the Ale Apothecary’s seven percent alcohol “table sour.” If you’re looking for a puckering experience, this is the beer for you. La Tache is very similar to Sahalie in it’s creation – malted wheat, malted barley, Cascade hops – but it takes a detour to sour town.Â
La Tache fizzes and pops in the glass. My first sniff is full of granny smith apples. It’s going to be sour; I prepare my tongue. It’s lemony and fresh. The lively carbonation prickles. I taste lemonade and old wood. I think I saw La Tache described as a Northwest Berliner Weisse. I can see it. It’s much cleaner than Sahalie, with only hints of wild yeast. It’s spritzy and fun, but definitely drink it with food. On it’s own, the acid is a bit much.
