The past few weeks of my life have been super busy. Between getting a promotion at work, beer/music festivals, helping out at Hardywood as much as I can, and moving into a new apartment, I haven’t had much time to relax. With my next 2 weekends being booked with JMU’s Graduation and an M83 concert, I can say I’m really looking forward to one weekend where I can just relax.

Anywho, if you’re in the Richmond, VA area you need to get your hands on some of Hardywood’s Bourbon Cru. It was brewed like an abbey quadrupel and aged in half-decade old bourbon barrels from A. Smith Bowman Distillery from Fredericksburg. Since I was working when I had the opportunity to try this beer for the first time, I didn’t want to drink too much of it since it comes in at 10.2% ABV. But from the little bit that I did have, I can tell you this is something phenomenal. I was able to get 4 bottles total this past weekend, so I’ll hopefully have some free time in the next week or so to get my wrap my mind around it. I’ll definitely be aging the others to enjoy sometime this coming winter.

Hardywood has done extraordinary things since they opened about 7 months ago. One of their beers, the Gingerbread Stout, received a perfect 100 from BeerAdvocate Magazine. I am really looking forward to what they do in the future as they continue to expand!