Black is Beautiful
Hardywood Park Craft Brewery

 

 

Described as Imperial Stout with Coffee. Produced by Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, Richmond, VA. Coffee from Southeastern Roastery.
Very smooth. No aftertaste. One of my new favorites.

The beer pours a nice brown and creamy head that looks really nice. The beer itself is a dark chocolate brown that looks really good and is almost black.

The smell is good. It has a nice sweet dark chocolate smell with good mix of a roasted berry note from the coffee notes. There is also a nice roasted malt note that is pretty light.

The taste is also very good. The coffee stands out the most with a delicious blueberry flavor surrounded by a roasted malt note and bittersweet dark chocolate and cocoa note. There is a light vanilla in the finish.

The feel is good. It has a nice creamy texture from beginning to finish with a light carbonation to it. It has a thin body that isn’t watery but makes it very drinkable.

Overall, a very good interpretation of the style and does justice to the reason for the beer program. It’s the most drinkable one I’ve come across and the notes aren’t super powerful, which should make it very accessible to people.

 

Can into snifter

L- Black 'cause black is beautiful right?!! Not much head retention, started out pale and faded quickly
S- Light roast coffee smell, pleasant and I should mention that I hate coffee
T- Nice, smooth and appealing. Light roast taste that doesn't linger much. Good overall daily drinker kinda stout
F- Light with a smooth mouth feel that doesn't really coat or stick, good overall
O- I like what this beer is, overall generalized stout that is pleasing to drink without being anything crazy.

Can:
A mocha head of about a finger holds up atop the black body fairly well. The nose is a nice mix of roast - both malt and coffee with casual sniffs having the coffee being the lead player. Deeper whiffs uncover a bit of sweetness that helps evoke a bit of a chocolate cake doughnut impression.

Beer opens with a hint of molasses and a hint of a root-like bite (maybe ginger) that brings a root beer impression. Despite the sweetness this description evokes, it's not; the flavors are there, but the sugar/sweetness levels are lower than one typically thinks of. Even with this, the coffee swoops in quickly to smooth out the bite and mellow the sweet notes even more with some true bitterness.

Medium thickness, the beer does not weigh on my palate that much at all. The carbonation and spice actually keep the beer lively and clean so that I am ready for another sip almost immediately after completing one. That restrained sweetness from up front sneaks back into the end, although the coffee bitterness outlasts it into the aftertaste.

I didn't expect a thick, coating beer from Hardywood, and I didn't get one here. The sweetness was a little more than I wanted, but as I tried to convey - isn't killing me either. I guess maybe another way of looking at it, I wanted a little more malt char to join the coffee bitterness.