Bourbon DIPA - Hardywood Park Craft Brewery

Beejay

Virginia

4.13/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Opened this one today in celebrationof yesterday’s election results!

A: A nice orange brown color, almost the shade of bourbon itself. Nice foamy tan head on top. Looks awesome.

S: Light citrus peel, and some pine aroma. Caramel sweetness with vanilla, as well as a bit of oak. I really like the sweet smell of this brew.

T: Nice hoppiness, some grapefruit and citrus peel coming through with a touch of earthiness. The earthiness leads into rich caramel, with some slight burnt brown sugar notes. Oakiness, and a hint of bourbon round out the finish. Very nice.

M: Medium to thick, with a nice richness to it. There is a subtle smoothness that I really dig. The carbonation is certainly present, but not overwhelming.

O: Overall a good brew. I dig the hoppiness combined with the sweet combination of brew and barrel. A great beer to crack open to celebrate!

Serving type: bottle

02-23-2013 03:54:12 | More by Beejay

rudzud

Massachusetts

4.55/5  rDev +9.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75

Received in a trade and shared with JLindros at the End of the World party. Reviewed from notes.

A - Poured into a Kate the Great tulip a hazy dark honey hue with a one finger creamy head that left lots of sticky side lacing. Very, very good looking here. Lots of potential.

S - Almost barleywine like malts jump out from this beer. Delicious vanilla hits the nose thanks to the barrels along with rich, smooth bourbon. Nice hops too. Good pine/citrus. Definitely a bourbon DIPA!

T - Bourbon and vanilla exposed from the pallet awash with barleywine like malt qualities (toffee/caramel). Wet hops, nice bitter finish. So much barrel and bourbon here mixing with the piney hops. This is very, very tasty.

M - Mouthfeel is smooth and creamy and delicious. The barrel has done this wonders.

O - Overall this was an excellent beer. Glad to try it, was nervous due to it not being fresh but those hops held up wonderfully. Well done Hardywood!

Serving type: bottle

01-24-2013 19:28:48 | More by rudzud

jlindros

Massachusetts

4.43/5  rDev +6.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Big thanks to rudzud for cracking this puppy with me.

Pours a big creamy almost 1 finger head that fades slowly with soapy thick lacing, over hazy reddish caramel colored beer.

Nose is wow! Complex as hell, a blend of a barleywine, big earthy DIPA, and bourbon vanilla barrel all in one. Sweet caramel and toffee malts, candy reddish malts, big earthy pine citrus hops, floral citrus hops as well. The candied malts and hops normally combine to a candied orange peel but not in this one for some reason thankfully. Light fruity esters in there as well. Rounding it off is the sweet candied bourbon flavor, with toasted vanilla oak.

Taste is sweet to start but smooth, malty, creamy like candy molasses, caramel toffee, chewy malts. Very light booze for the abv, and overall lighter sweetness as it mellows. Hops are big but not too bitter, light tropical fruit, citrus, earthy and a little spicy, herbal leafy tasting too. The candy barleywine flavors smooth the bitterness and balance the booze, as it moves into the bourbon barrel. Nice bourbon that's not too heavy, sweet candy like bourbon flavors, vanilla oak, little toasty oak. Light esters, fruit from the yeast, and woody from the barrel. Finish is bitter, more earthy spicy hops, light tropical citrus fruit, leafy grassy, long bourbon oak finish.

Mouth is med to fuller bodied, nice fluffy carb, light booze.

Overall great! Not much else needs to be said except a lot of great flavors combined well that balance each other for a big drinking beer that's tasty and smooth at the same time.

Serving type: bottle

12-31-2012 21:39:34 | More by jlindros

thagr81us

South Carolina

4/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

"Belgian Double India Pale Ale Aged in Virginia Bourbon Barrels. Hardywood Bourbon DIPA is hopped with a heavy dose of Columbus, Cascade and Summit hops, fermented with an abbey ale yeast that imparts some subtle tropical fruit and peppery notes and conditioned twelve weeks in freshly emptied Virginia bourbon barrels from the A. Smith Bowman Distillery, where earthy, vanilla, toffee and bourbon notes lend an exquisite mellowness to Bourbon DIPA."

Big thanks goes out to beeruser and funkydelic for sharing this one at a recent tasting! Served from bottle into a Sweetwater 15th Anniversary snifter. Poured red-orange with a one finger off-white head that subsided to a minimal amount slowly. Maintained excellent lacing throughout the glass. The aroma was comprised of sweet malt, wood, earth, earth hop, and fruit. The flavor was of sweet malt, wood, earth, fruit, caramel, and vanilla. It had a light feel on the palate with medium carbonation. Overall this was a good brew. I went into the one not really knowing what to expect if I am completely honest. However, what I found was a very pleasant all-around brew that had a nice touch of complexity on all aspects. It maintained all of this while still remaining refreshing. I probably would not have been able to guess that this one was in a bourbon barrel, or any barrel for that matter, but that didn’t change the fact that it was quite tasty. Really glad I got the opportunity to try this one with good company. Even if you don’t have the good company part, I still suggest you trying it. Tick.

Serving type: bottle

09-27-2012 10:52:36 | More by thagr81us