Hardywood beers now available in Georgia! Isn’t that fantastic! I know this because I bought a few over the fall, both at Taco Mac and Total Wine. The Hardywood Gingerbread Stout was the first I snagged, that on draft at Taco Mac, and it was the alert to me that Hardywood beers were here in the Peach State. I had had that one before from friends in Virginia, you see. The first new beer for me from this Richmond brewery was Hardywood Farmhouse Pumpkin, a bottle of which I scored at Total Wine.
Hardywood Farmhouse Pumpkin is not your average pumpkin ale, but in fact is a saison with pumpkin and pumpkin spice. This has been done before by Boston Beer (Samuel Adams Pumpkin Batch), or maybe it was the Hardywood Farmhouse Pumpkin that came first. Either way, I find this interesting since Boston Beer used to make a Gingerbread Stout, too, called Merry Maker.
Hardywood calls this a Wallonian-style Farmhouse Ale with Pumpkin and Spice and further says:
Hardywood Farmhouse Pumpkin is brewed with a classic saison yeast, Virginia-grown sugar pumpkins from Grandma’s Pumpkins (Midlothian, VA), whole nutmeg, clove and allspice from C.F. Sauer (Richmond, VA), and fresh ginger root from Casselmonte Farms (Powhatan, VA). Our farmhouse ale presents a soft mouthfeel with balanced, rustic fall flavors.
Hardywood Farmhouse Pumpkin has an alcohol content of 8.5% by volume with 21 IBUs. I paid $6.49 for a half liter bottle at Total Wine.
Hardywood Farmhouse Pumpkin pours to a deep orange amber color with a medium head formation on a vigorous pour and a thick spicy nose of ginger, clove and nutmeg. Sediment is visible as well in this bottle purchased just a few weeks ago. Taking a sip, the beer has green peppercorn notes up front like a saison, chunky vegetal pumpkin, nutmeg, clove and ginger spice to dry. It’s slightly tart in the finish and very, very good indeed.
The meaty pumpkin flavor works well here with the spice from, well, spice and yeast. The price is a little high, but this one can back it up. I loved it.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft