Monday night, I had the opportunity to visit Hardywood Park Craft Brewery and sample a few beers they plan to offer.  Hardywood will have 3 beers in their lineup start:

• Singel — an Abbey style Belgian Blonde Ale. Hardywood is looking for this to be their flagship beer. Personally, I’m happy they chose a style other than an IPA like at so many other breweries.  Look for it in stores and restaurants the second week of October.
• Farmhouse Pumpkin — this will be part of Hardywood’s Reserve Series. Co-owner Eric McKay grilled the pumpkins for the pilot batch we were tasting. While I wish this step could be carried through to the larger batches, I realize the difficulty makes this impossible. You should be able to find this one early to mid October.
• RVA IPA — Brewed using locally home-grown hops.  This will mark Harywood’s first annual community hopped beer.  I think it’s the first time I’ve ever heard of a brewery sourcing hops from their community.  Take a look as as Eric McKay gets the hops ready to go into the brew here.  Make sure you come out to the launch party October 22 for your first taste of this beer.

But the real question is will Hardywood be a success. My Magic 8 Ball says “All Signs Point to Yes.”

• Community Focused — Take a look at some of the suggestions made in the forum on their website then walk in to their tasting room. A short look around the room and I saw at least 3 examples of where site suggestions were used.
• Commitment to Locally Sourced — RVA IPA uses locally sourced hops. They plan on taking things one step further by giving out hop rhisomes for people to grow in the hopes of getting a portion of their bounty.
• Weber Grill Onsite — OK, so maybe it’s a lame reason but if there is one thing you should know about me, it’s that I love my Weber Grills.  I did not get a chance to ask him but I’m pretty sure that Eric McKay grilled those pumpkins on that grill.  So for that, they get bonus points from me.

So mark your calendar for October 22nd and come out to Hardywood’s Launch Party. Go over to the Facebook event page to see more of what they have planned here.