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Buckman Botanical
909 SE Yamhill St., 517-0660,
buckmanbrewery.com. 11 am-11 pm Sunday-Wednesday, 11-1 am Thursday-Saturday.
Read a list of the ingredients Buckman Botanical tosses into its beers, and you'd be forgiven for mistaking this brewery for an apothecary. Yarrow? Chamomile? Mugwort? Buckman's shtick is no- or low-hop beers, with herbs, fruits, spices and vegetables supplanting the standard bittering agent. The results occasionally taste like something your naturopath might prescribe, but more whimsical. They're fun, without losing all those disease-fighting antioxidants. The signature Chamomellow is as soothing as a cup of tea, and a recent Rooibos Red—an amber ale brewed with leaves from the South African bush—was wonderfully floral, with lingering notes of spice and sawdust. Opt for a taster tray—whatever five beers are on tap for $7.50—or show up any weekday at 4 pm for an informal tour of the 15-barrel brewing system, housed inside the hulking Green Dragon taproom. Oh, and for the record: Mugwort is an aromatic herb that was used to flavor beer long before people started adding hops. Some say it improves liver function—always a good thing where alcohol's involved. REBECCA JACOBSON.
DRINK THIS: The Ginger Pale Ale, which is faintly sweet but still spicy enough to clear your throat.
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