THE PFIZT MAY BE THE PITS, BUT THERE’S GOOD ALE NEARBY.  ORNERY’S GREMLIN RED ALE

Ornery Brewing, Woodbridge, Virginia.   Gremlin Red Ale  tasted January, 2016.   Abv 6.1 IBU 29

20170112  (Our Beers of the Day in January look back to some of our favorites of 2016).  We usually visit Ornery Brewing in the summer.   We try to drink moderately enough at the Potomac Nationals games to be able to manage an Ornery post-game stop.  One reason is the Pfood at the Pfitz is Pfrighteningly bad, while Ornery puts out some of the best pub food in the DC area.   Another reason is that while the Pfitz actually presents a respectable range of craft beers at sort-of-fair prices, those beers can’t match the range at Ornery.

A January visit brought its own pleasures, though.   While the Gremlin Red Ale sported a relatively moderate 29 IBUs the citrusy and herbal hops proved a worth match for the darkish caramel and fruit.  A long rollicking aftertaste included more of the just-short-of-candy malt and some oil to the continuing hop balance.

A complex malt bill of Golden Promise, Rex X CaraMunich and Melanoidin produced more of a golden mahogany than a deep red, but it was pretty to look at.   Cascade and Nugget hops were a reminder that a brewer can do very nice work without traveling to the South Pacific.  Tomorrow:  Another of Ornery’s triumphs.  

•     * Skip It
•    ** Good Craft Beer
•   *** Well Above Average
•  **** Exceptional
• ***** Top 1%

Rating: ****  Value: *****

THIS BEAR BY ANY OTHER NAME WOULD STILL BE A TREAT:  ELDER BEAR ALE

Growling Bear, Woodbridge, Virginia Elder Bear Ale, Fruit Ale, 6%.   Tasted in January 2016.

 

 

20170111   (Our Beers of the Day in January look back to some of our favorites of 2016)     Our list of favorite beers contains a handful of Saisons – topped by DuPont’s original masterpiece and including a few rare brewpub successes such as Mad Fox’s version that uses the DuPont yeast.   On the whole, though, saisons here are often wild and are, we suspect, more often the result of experimentation and a bit of guesswork than a proven and reproducible recipe.   Once in a while, like stopped clocks, they’re near perfect, but we’ve had to wade through so many mistakes that we are ambivalent about the hunt

We’re even more skeptical, however, about the plethora of peach and papaya pouring from the vats of breweries trying to find something that hasn’t been done on the other side of town.   We love visiting Growling Bear in Woodbridge, Virginia.   We’re always greeted like lost friends and it’s a comfortable small and modern place to drink.   Their bears can wander off the path occasionally looking for berries maybe?–  and while most of their beers have been pleasant to drink, and their strong IPAs have been predictably tasty, but we held our breath as we began to sample what they called simply a “fruit ale” made with elderberries.

Surprise!  There was some fruit to it, but the elderberries that we haven’t loved in a number of breweries kept a respectable distance from the forefront of the taste.   The result, remarkably, was a beer that reminded us of a very good saison.   Dryly chalky, with drying sugar and soft fruit and some spiciness from the yeast, it almost brought a halt to our pub crawling for the day.

Reproducible?  Frankly we doubt it, but it was a clear reminder that the best way to find great beers is to ….   taste as many as you can find.

 

Tomorrow- another Woodbridge wonder, Ornery Gremlin Red Ale 

•     * Skip It
•    ** Good Craft Beer
•   *** Well Above Average
•  **** Exceptional
• ***** Top 1%

Rating: ****  Value: *****

A BIG DARK CATCH FROM FISH:  SMAUG STOUT

Fish Brewing, Seattle, Washington: Fish Tales SMAUG STOUT

20170110  (Our Beers of the Day in January look back to some of our favorites of 2016)   We slide up the West Coast to Seattle for today’s beer, Smaug Stout.  We don’t know how Fish managed to land the rights to use Tolkien characters in its Hobbit series, but the label is almost as compelling as the dark elixir within.  This is a big and yummy full bodied stout.   A rich dark roast with some fruit in a big start with dark chocolate and dark biscuit in the finish.

It’s not only a good beer, but it’s a good deal.  We’re increasing distressed by the tendency of breweries to brew good beers, but then charge for them as if they were premier vintage wines.   Fish proves here you can brew a marvelous big sipper without having to ask people to take a vow of poverty to enjoy it.

•     * Skip It
•    ** Good Craft Beer
•   *** Well Above Average
•  **** Exceptional
• ***** Top 1%

Rating: ****  Value: *****

Alpine hits the IPA heights with its Duet.

Alpine Brewing (Green Flash):    Duet IPA

20170109 (Our Beers of the Day in January look back to some of our favorites of 2016)

We’ve increasingly seen even east coast brewers refer not just to “West Coast IPAs”, but “San Diego IPAs” as they try to identify their niche within the broad range of IPAs brewed in the US.  We reviewed Alpine’s session IPA yesterday, but today’s entry is a full throated San Diegan 7% IPA and a great example of the style.  Spicy Simcoe and fruity Amarillo dance their way through the taste on their way to the bitter end that you expect from this city where beers are bitter but brewers are not.

We tasted our first Alpine beer at a Fresh Hop tasting we hosted at Washington’s RFD restaurant, but it was it was never easy to find even in the San Diego area.  Green Flash’s acquisition meant more capital for expansion and the ability to brew some of the Alpine beers at Green Flash’s much larger brewery.   As a result, they’re increasingly easy to find – we’ve seen them on tap from Charlottesville to Harrisburg.  The bartender at Charlottesville’s Beer Run, who knows a thing or two about beer, ranked Alpine’s Nelson as one of the best IPAs in the country.   We prefer the Duet’s Simcoe/Amarillo skillful blend, but other than an occasional misstep with a fruited beer, it’s hard to go wrong with any of Alpine’s brews.  

•     * Skip It
•    ** Good Craft Beer
•   *** Well Above Average
•  **** Exceptional
• ***** Top 1%

Rating: ****  Value: ****