BETTER THAN BELGIAN–ORNERY’S SAISON VICARIOUS
Ornery Brewing, Woodbridge, Virginia. Saison Vicarious tasted January, 2016. Abv 7.5 IBU 28
20170113 (Our Beers of the Day in January look back to some of our favorites of 2016) Yesterday we featured Ornery’s Red Ale, which was one of our favorite beers in January. Amazingly, the beer we tasted next was even better. Saison Vicarious nails the hard-to-brew saison style with a finely tuned blend of flowers, sugar, metal and fruit. A hop bitter balances nicely while the beer ends with a dry and spicy aftertaste. It may have been the best Saison we’ve had in the states, and it was a good deal better than many we’ve had in Belgium. 
Every once in a while when we run into a beer like this we sort of wish that breweries would keep their triumphs available all year, but a brewery like Ornery never would have gotten around to making this beer if they had rested on previous laurels. When you get there, you’ll have other choices. Can they top this?
Ironically the cask version of the beer was a disappointment. Ginger we didn’t even notice in the draft version bullied all the delicate flavors to the sideline.
Rating: **** Value: *****
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