By Annie Tobey. Photos by Patrick Hannan.

The Hardywood Park Craft Brewery founders expressly chose richmond for their new venture. they saw that our city has only one brewery (the well-known legend brew-ing company), and had room for more. And they also saw Richmonders’ appreciation for local history, arts, adventure, and, more importantly, for fine beer.

The new brewery, located in Richmond’s Northside, welcomes the community with tours and tastings. visitors can taste the brews, including rotating samples from the pilot system, and fill reusable growlers. To ensure that their impact on the community will be entirely positive, Hardywood facilities will be sustainable being wind powered. even their spent grain will be used locally for composting and as supplemental livestock feed.

Determined to contribute to the “support local” movement, initial distribution will focus on independent restaurants and retailers. “After all,” McKay explains, “it’s the small independents that have helped spread the excitement for craft beer, so we want to be sure to give back to them.

”Hardywood’s most unique idea for engaging the community is the “RVA iPA.” the india Pale Ale style depends upon hop plants—the fresher the better. to make this RVA community beer, hardy-wood will give away rhizomes of hops to home hop growers and then use the harvest for the finished brew.

Hardywood’s goal is to create quality beers that are unique, rep-resenting less common styles, and to avoid competing with popular craft beers. Hardywood Singel, their flagship beer, is a Belgian abbey-style blonde ale, dry with a whiff of tropical fruit. it has a complexity that can appeal to beer geeks, yet it’s also very drink-able—mild, without overpowering flavors.

Their seasonal pumpkin beer uses farmhouse ale as the base. The pumpkins are grown locally and the spices are unique: allspice joins traditional spices, while fresh Ceylon cinnamon sticks and chopped ginger replace ground spices. The result is earthy and aromatic.

So far, it seems that Hardywood’s local focus is working. “We’ve been overwhelmed by the reception,” says McKay. As more local beer drinkers try their beers, that reception will certainly improve.

Hardywood Park Craft Brewery
2408 Ownby Lane • 804-420-2420
www.Hardywood.com