VA – The Tap Takeover

Beer Review: Hardywood Park’s Gingerbread Stout

Name: Gingerbread Stout
Brewing Company: Hardywood Park Craft Brewery
Location: Richmond, VA
Style: Stout – Imperial / Double Milk | Imperial Milk Stout with Ginger and Honey
ABV: 9.2%

Christmas in a Glass – it has been said about this beer by others, but it is no less true. A delicious, iconic stout that is a must have during the Yuletide season.

From the Hardywood’s landing page for the beer:

Made with baby ginger from Casselmonte Farm and wildflower honey from Bearer Farms, Hardywood Gingerbread Stout captures the terroir of Central Virginia in a rich, creamy libation with a velvety mouthfeel and an intriguing evolution of notes from milk chocolate and vanilla, to honeycomb and cinnamon, to a snap of ginger in the finish. We hope Hardywood Gingerbread Stout contributes to your merriment this season.

I’ve been circling around this beer for a few years now, going back to 2019 when I featured the beer in that year’s Christmas Six Pack before Hardywood began sending their beers into New Jersey. Just a year later, that changed when Hardywood beers begain appearing on NJ shelves. Since then, I’ve had a few variants: Christmas Morning, Barrel-Aged/Kentucky Christmas Morning, and last year, the Barrel-Aged version of this beer. Now, at last I finally picked up a four-pack of a beer many people put on the “Mount Rushmore” of Christmas Beers.

That’s quite a bit of preamble with perhaps some unfair expectations set on the beer, I realize. Be that as it may, I’ll dive into the beer…

Pop of the can and the beer pours jet black into my Delirium Noël glass. I get strong aroma of ginger coming off the beer, along with cinnamon. In other words, the beer very much smells like gingerbread cookies and Christmas.

I take a sip and gingerbread is the most prominent element of the beer. Shocking, I know. The same is true for the beer itself, very heavy on the ginger, which is to be expected. If you have the least bit of a problem with ginger or gingerbread, don’t go near this beer. Me? I like ginger (the tea I drink has ginger in it) and gingerbread cookies so this is all fine by me. There’s also a prominent cinnamon element to the beer, which nicely compliments the ginger.

My wife leaves out Gingerbread cookies for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve so the aroma and flavor of Gingerbread cookies is one of the elements I most associate with Christmas. As I tasted and enjoyed more of the beer, that Christmas in a Glass theme really hits home. An element of the beer that stands out as the beer warms and I get beyond that wonderful gingerbread element is the honey. Ginger is a potent spice/root that can be quite aggressive, fortunately, isn’t overly aggressive here and that may be due to the generous amount of honey in the beer. That natural sweetness that pleasantly balances out the ginger.

The milk sugar further brings the sweet balance to the beer, plus the lactose adds a silky smooth feel to the beer. The combination of flavors also evokes hints of chocolate and vanilla for a perfect Christmas dessert beer. Bottom Line: The beer lived up to be what I hoped it would be.

Highly Recommended, link to 4.25 bottle cap untappd rating check in.

Beer Review: Hardywood’s Bourbon Barrel GBS (Gingerbread Stout)

Beer Review

Name: Bourbon Barrel GBS
Brewing Company: Hardywood Park Craft Brewery
Location: Richmond, VA
Style: Stout – Imperial / Double Milk
ABV: 11.5%

An outstanding Stout that practically sings Christmas songs when you drink it.

From the Hardywood Park Craft Brewery’s landing page for the beer:

Hardywood Gingerbread Stout, described by BeerAdvocate as “freagin’ Christmas in a bottle,” is an imperial milk stout brewed with vanilla beans, cinnamon, fresh Casselmonte Farm baby ginger and Bearer Farms wildflower honey. Gingerbread Stout is then matured in Virginia bourbon barrels, where it adapts an incredibly mellow character with oak, caramel and bourbon undertones, and emerges 12 weeks later as Bourbon GBS. A festive blend of spice character laces this rich, chocolatey stout, which warms the palate and the soul.

For years, Hardywood’s Gingerbread Stout had been one of the most sought after Christmas beers and one of the most acclaimed for holiday enjoyment. Recently, the brewery began distributing some of their beers to New Jersey, including this amped up version of the renowned Gingerbread Stout aged in Bourbon Barrels. It also seems like this year, 2021, they shifted from bomber bottles for this beer to 4 packs of the beer, a much more consumable portioning of the beer.

What about the beer itself?

The beer pours a dark black into the glass, as one would expect a stout to pour. There’s a sliver of a khaki head on the beer, which is fairly typical for barrel-aged stouts. I typically don’t see big fluffy heads on barrel-aged stouts. The aroma is strong on the gingerbread and bourbon. Again that’s to be expected given the name of the beer, but it is still quite pleasing.

”Sweet Christmas!” That’s what I think when I have the first sip of the beer. This beer has a lot going on in its flavor profile, but the description can tell you that, too. Tasting it all is really enjoyable but let me unpack that.

I initially get hints of vanilla and the bourbon with the lactose providing a very creamy feel to the beer. The cinnamon and ginger come in at the end like the grand finale of flavor orchestra playing Christmas Eve/Sarajevo by Trans-Siberian Orchestra (A band I’ve seen live a couple of times, I highly recommend the experience).

I’ll be honest, initially, the ginger was a little overwhelming. I know, “gingerbread” is in the name, so that should be the most prominent flavor. But as the beer settled down, breathed, and warmed to room temperature the other flavors balanced out that pop of ginger. I can’t compare this (yet) to the non-barrel aged version, but I can say this is a deliciously crafted beer. The only reason I don’t put this at the top of my list of Christmas Stouts is because I’ve had Hardywood’s Christmas Morning (another variation on the popular Gingerbread Stout, with coffee as an another adjunct), which blew me away last year.

When it is all said and done, Hardywood Bourbon Barrel GBS is a beer well-worth seeking out. It has all the holiday flavors blended expertly with the bourbon barrel seeping in like a thick, comfy coat to warm the soul. Santa might prefer a glass of this to the standard milk and cookies. I’m pretty sure I would.

Highly Recommended, link to 4.25 bottle cap untappd rating check in.

Draught Diversions: December 2020 Six Pack

Draught Diversion

Draught Diversions is the catchall label for mini-rants, think-pieces, and non-review posts here at The Tap Takeover. We hope you don’t grow too weary of the alcohol alliterative names we use…

The Final Six Pack of 2020…contains the usual mix of NJ and non-NJ beers and stouts and IPAs. A couple of new-to-me breweries in with the usual suspects.

All Out Stout (Athletic Brewing Company) | Non-Alcoholic Beer/Stout – Oatmeal | 3.75 Bottle Caps on untappd

Non-Alcoholic beers are one of the growing trends in beer and Athletic is producing them exclusively. My wife did a trail run (where she kicked ass!) and Athletic Brewing was a sponsor, which afforded me the opportunity to sample this very tasty stout. There’s no hint in the flavor/taste that this stout doesn’t have alcohol. A slightly roasty, tasty oatmeal stout is all that I get, which is a good thing…and better than some stouts I’ve had with alcohol in them!

Morning Breeze (Untied Brewing Company) | Pilsner – Other | 4 Bottle Caps on untappd

I wrote about Untied Brewing in the fall and visited them again because I wanted to get a bottle of their Russian Imperial Stout and to try this beer. I was very impressed with their take on a dry-hopped pilsner. It has the bready/crackery elements I like in a Pilsner and yet the dry-hopping doesn’t come through too strongly on the finish. This is simply a well-made lager, which is a great thing in my book.

Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Porter (Boulevard Brewing Co) | Porter – Imperial / Double | 4.5 Bottle Caps on untappd

One of the last of Boulevard beers from a work colleague is a dandy! The roasted elements that can sometimes be too dominant for my palate are subdued, I’m guessing, from the bourbon barrel aging. There’s a perfect blending of elements of the beer and barrel in this bottle (and subsequently, my glass), that I most certainly took my time and savored each sip. The beer was delicious and my only regret is it is gone.

Bang Kitty (Icarus Brewing Company) | IPA – Imperial / Double New England | 4.25 Bottle Caps on untappd

This was one of the more strange and interesting IPAs (in a good way) that I’ve had. Grassy, citrusy, with a little kick from chili on the end, these ingredients worked really well together. Then again, I shouldn’t be surprised at anything less than extremely good coming out of the brewery in Lakewood, NJ,

Christmas Morning (Hardywood Park Craft Brewery) | Stout – Imperial / Double Milk | 4.5 Bottle Caps on untappd

In my Christmas Six Pack last year, I wrote about Hardywood’s Gingerbread Stout, this beer is a variant on that renowned beer. Christmas Morning sees the addition of coffee to the standard vanilla, ginger, and honey for a savory sipper. This was one of the best milk stouts I’ve ever had, absolutely delicious.

Abyss Series – Shadowsphere (Czig Meister Brewing) | IPA – Imperial/Double New England | 4.25 Bottle Caps on untappd

My wife and I stopped in at Czig Meister after dropping off some Christmas presents at a family member who lives nearby and decided on a flight rather than a full pour. Czig has been doing really nice things on the beers in their Abyss series and this one is no exception. The Citra and Strata hops give the beer a wonderful tropical hoppy taste and there’s no lingering aftertaste.

I also want to give a little shout out to Grains & Taps brewing in Lees Summit, MO. One of the companies I work with for my day job sponsored a virtual happy hour and the featured brewery was Grains & Taps. We had four beers to sample, all of them quite good: Wheat Told you So, tasty Wheat Ale; Jet Chip Wasp, a malty Amber Ale; Dry Stout, their take on an Irish Stout; and Raspberry Sherbet a fruited Gose.

Beer Review: Mamaw’s Mean Cobbler from Hardywood Park Craft Brewery

Beer Review

Name: Mamaw’s Mean Cobbler
Brewing Company: Hardywood Park Craft Brewery
Location: Richmond, VA
Style: Belgian Tripel
ABV: 8.2%

“A Belgian Tripel perfectly complemented with some added elements make for a deliciously crafted dessert beer.”

From untappd’s page for beers:

Mamaw’s Mean Cobbler is a delightful variation of our Peach Tripel with vanilla, cinnamon, coconut, and milk sugar additions delivering the classic flavors of a southern-style peach cobbler baked fresh in grandma’s kitchen.

Another great beer from “The 20 Years 20 Beers” gift provides for an introduction to another new brewery! Hardywood is a brewery I’m well aware of and a brewery I featured here for their whale beer, Gingerbread Stout. This installment of 20 Years 20 Beers also gives me a new Tripel to try, a style I thoroughly enjoy, but isn’t quite as common in the American Craft Beer scene.

The initial small pour my wife gave me so I could try guess the style of beer gave off the fruity vibes. I tasted banana and thought perhaps peach might be involved. The yeast was very prevalent, I knew I had some kind of Belgian-style.

This beer, fully poured in my goblet, looks extremely inviting – some Tripels are filtered, some are a little cloudy like this one. Looks great, and the aroma is equally pleasing.

I’m getting massive peach aroma from this beer, fortunately peach is a fruit I enjoy a great deal. The nose leads to the taste, but with more than just a small pour, more than just peach emerges. The Belgian-style yeast is very prominent, but other elements come through, primarily the cinnamon. It is subtle, but present enough and a welcome complement to the peach and yeast. The lactose and coconut are even more subtle, lactose usually adds more texture and sweetness than a distinct flavor which is the case here. I didn’t get too much coconut as a standout, it was more in the background.

I was utterly entranced by this beer. The peach is a perfect complement to the strong, yeast element in the beer and the cinnamon is just a lovely component that ties the two elements together. I’ve had peach cobbler and this beer is a perfect interpretation of the dessert into a beer. Dessert beers are often associated with sweet, “pastry” stouts, but this beer right here? Give me this as a summer dessert beer and I’ll be a very, very happy guy. The peach is sweet, the lactose/milk sugar is an added sweetness, and the yeast helps to generate sweetness, so there’ quite a few sweet elements working together. However, the sweetness is not cloying and those three sweet elements are in balance with each other.

Mamaw’s Mean Cobbler is a beer with a funny name, but a great taste. My wife is continuing to knock it out of the park with the 20 Beers 20 Years theme so far.

Highly recommended, link to Untappd 4.25-bottle cap rating.