One of my favorite things about being a writer for RVA Mag are the local businesses and people that we get to meet and talk to around the city. One of my favorite things in general, is beer.
One of my favorite things about being a writer for RVA Mag are the local businesses and people that we get to meet and talk to around the city. One of my favorite things in general, is beer. When the opportunity arose for those two to combine, I jumped at the chance to be the writer that got to go and sample Hardywood Park Brewery [based in Richmond] and Starr Hill’s [based in Charlottesville] new collaboration special edition draft beer, Fall Line Fest Amped Up Ale.
The draft beer was created specifically for Fall Line Festival, a two-day music and food festival happening this weekend in Richmond, September 5th & 6th.
“We’ve known the guys at Starr Hill for a long time and have wanted to do something with them for a while,” said sales manager Ben Petty. “We [Hardywood] did the beer for Fall Line Fest last year, and were asked to do it again this year but thought it would be fun to do a collaboration with Starr Hill… They’re known for loving music and festivals, and we thought it would be really cool to create a beer with them for this.”
The owners and staff at Hardywood Park Brewery are incredibly enthusiastic about Amped Up Ale, which can best be described as a very crisp, clean and refreshing ginger saison.
“The ginger really came about stylistically,” said brew master and co-owner of Hardywood Patrick Murtaugh. “We [Starr Hill and Hardywood] were talking about a beer that embraced certain elements of what we both do as brewers, and they’ve brewed a number of saison beers and our gingerbread style is probably the beer that’s gotten the most notoriety from our portfolio, so we paired up with a local ginger farmer that had some ginger available that we could experiment with and test batches of this beer.”
Eric McKay, president and co-founder of Hardywood said, “it’s a great beer to get you ready for the fall season. It’s got a little bit of spice in it to warm you up as the weather cools off, but it’s still really refreshing.”
For a festival like Fall Line, refreshing is a necessity. Unlike other beers the
Fall Line Fest Amped Up Ale was created specifically to be a festival beer, which means that it’s lighter, has a low abv, and won’t make you feel full or tired. It’s perfect for crowds in the late Virginia summer because of how easy it is to drink.
Murtaugh said, “It’s a beer that won’t over-exhaust the palette.”
After trying it myself, I have to agree with the popular opinion.
Each sip is incredibly flavorful; the use of the ginger helps to creates crisp, clean refreshing citrus notes throughout and with only 6% alcohol content, I could have a few of these and still keep up with the pace of the festival.
Hardywood and Starr Hill have done a number of beer release events already with the beer, and so far its been well received.
If (for some silly reason) you can’t make it to the festival this weekend, have no fear because most bars and restaurants around Virginia will be serving it. Get it soon though, only fifty barrels of the Fall Line Fest Amped Up Ale were brewed, and if the crowds like the beer as much as those of us at the tasting did, they won’t last long.
