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.