Making cookies, if not gingerbread. But the beer was awaiting….
We gave one of the most popular Christmas beers of the last 15 years quick, but full attention tonight. We were not disappointed.
I say we, since the crew swelled to nine and everyone, even non-drinking Nate, had some of Hardywood’s by now pretty famous Gingerbread Stout. Nate gave it a raspberry and my wife, Lynn, didn’t care for it, but everyone else was on board.
Hardywood, founded in 2011, is now a Richmond mainstay with two locations and the number-one selling craft beer in Virginia, Richmond Lager. But nationwide it’s known for the Gingerbread Stout. It’s a little surprising to learn that founders Eric McKay and Patrick Murtaugh and brewer Brian Nelson produced the GBS in its second year, only the third beer it had concocted by then, and then only a few hundred bottles. It was a smash from the get-go. When the 2013 batch was released more than a thousand people lined up outside the brewery.
The beer has only grown in reputation since and has spawned an ever-expanding mini-industry of spinoffs. The 2024 Complete Gingerbread Stout set included 22 cans of 15 different GBS beer variations and was available for pickup or mail order at a neat $199.95.
I’d long heard of the GBS, but I was never successful in scoring any until Lynn and I took a southern road trip this summer, including a swing through Virginia. Going on a routine beer run to a Whole Foods Market my eyes almost bugged out when I saw a GBS eight-pack, which included two cans of the mother ship, and two each of GBS Porter (which eliminates the Milk Stout’s lactose), Fluffy GBS (which adds a toasted marshmallow flavor), and Christmas Morning (which adds coffee to the mix, and which we may or may not sample tomorrow morning).
That was back in May, and so I think I should get points for restraint. True, these are all 2023 beers, the GBS brewed that August. But beers this big aren’t going to deteriorate in that time.
Nonetheless, I was a little trepidatious, not being a big milk stout fan to begin with, often finding them too sweet. Well, the GBS is sweet, but as my son-in-law Glenn Brunetti (of Wildwood Barbeque fame) said, “It’s surprisingly unsweet, even though it’s totally sweet.”
I knew what he meant. He also said, deadpan, “Yeah, it suggests ginger all right.” The ginger actually flies out of the glass; I thought it smelled like the fresh ginger I’m frequently peeling while making dinner. The aroma almost drowns out the melange of flavors to some.
Noting a local tourist stop that sometimes overwhelms one’s senses, Glenn said, “The aroma is a little bit artificial, almost like visiting Yankee Candle. The nose doesn’t say This is about to be delicious, but then it is.”
The granddaughters both liked it. “Way better than yesterdays,” said Abby, “a little like chai tea with dark maple syrup.”
“Smells like a pie,” said Lynn.
All sorts of flavors were detected through the pervasive ginger—fruit notes (cherry, raisin, dried Chinese plum, prune), molasses, chocolate, cardamon—as well as the ones it’s known to be made with, cinnamon, vanilla and honey.
Sweet but not too sweet. Strong but not overly alcoholic. Smooth, with no discernible hop bite at the finish. Dark as night with a light tan head, a great sipping beer. That’s what the fuss is about.
Name: Gingerbread Stout
Brewer: Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, Richmond, Virginia
Style: Spiced Imperial Milk Stout
ABV: 9.2%
Availability: Seasonal, VA, NC, DC
For More Information: www.hardywood.com
[December 24, 2024]
