Month: May 2016

Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, Richmond, VA

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Thanks to the kindness and generosity of Alex of Hardywood Park Craft Brewery in Richmond, Virginia, I stopped in for a tour and tasting outside of normal business hours.  Shout out to Alex!  Thank You!

Alex took me around the entire brewery, told me the whole history and described their current plans. Wow!  He did all that just for me.  We spend well over an hour together.

From humble beginnings, Hardywood has great plans.  I hope to stay in touch and visit again in the future to take part in their success.

In terms of tasting, Alex started me with the Singel which is a delicious Belgian Blonde Ale.  It’s an on-ramp for regular beer drinkers to get them into craft beer.  Well done!  It’s delicious.  From there we went to Pils which is a wonderful German style Pilsner.  Very drinkable and easy to enjoy.  Next I tried the Peach Tripel which I enjoyed so much that I bought a bottle and enjoyed it at home with the family.  Finally, I enjoyed the Bourbon Cru which also rose to he status of bringing a bottle home, but I’m going to age that.  Although I didn’t try it at the brewery, I brought two bottles of Poplar IPA home.  I enjoyed one with the family and it is awesome.  And I shared a bottle with a good friend.

Alex told me about other styles and I could share them with you but I’ll wait until a return  trip and the opportunity to taste them firsthand.

Hardywood is a great place with great people.  Do yourself a favor and stop by!

Final Gravity Brewing Company, Richmond, VA

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I stopped in at Final Gravity Brewing Company (conveniently co-located with Original Gravity Homebrew Supply) in Richmond, Virginia.  For a nano brewery they certainly had a number of beers to try.  I first enjoyed the Red Rooster Red Rye IPA, then the Irish Goodbye Stout.  Both were very good.  Their Venus IPA was delicious and their Grapefruit IPA (Venus IPA through Randall with grapefruit) was so good – even had bits of pulp in it – yum!

Ardent Craft Ales, Richmond, VA

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I stopped in at Ardent Craft Ales in Richmond, Virginia with a colleague to try their beer.  We both enjoyed their VA Common which is much like the better known California Common (aka Anchor Steam Beer).  The beer is delicious.  Very drinkable with a malty finish.  Just a touch of hoppiness to keep it from being too sweet.  I also sampled the Stone Arrogant Bastard which was brewed at Ardent Craft Ales – one of my favorites – and it was tasty as always.

 

Legend Brewing Company, Richmond, VA

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I stopped in Legend Brewing Company in Richmond, Virginia with a colleague for dinner and a beer.  We greatly enjoyed dinner on their deck in wonderful weather – thankful for a clear day after dozens of days of rain.  We each enjoyed great salads – Cobb and Greek.  We paired them with the brown ale and my buddy also enjoyed an imperial brown ale.  Both the food and the beers were delightful and enjoying them outdoors overlooking the James River in Richmond made it all the better.

Isley Brewing Company, Richmond, VA

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I stopped in at Isley Brewing Company in Richmond, Virginia.  One of their flagship beers is Choosy Mother Peanut Butter Porter.  This is an awesome beer.  The flavor is right-on!  Of course, you pretty-much need to be a peanut butter lover (at least, liker) to enjoy this.  The porter is not as heavy as a stout.  This is very easy to drink.  The peanut butter flavor is very present but not overpowering.  Delicious.  Stop in and try some!