Mar 27, 2014

Hardywood Park The Great Return

There are two things that I really like about Hardywood Park’s The Great Return. First, it’s an outstanding IPA (more on that in a minute). Secondly, it’s existence, in part, is also to help out The James River Association:

…These efforts have culminated recently with the symbolic return of the endangered Atlantic sturgeon, a prehistoric, yet majestic behemoth of a fish, spotted as far up the James River as the fall line in Richmond. Your purchase of this beer supports the James River Association. Thank you for being a part of The Great Return.

In our commitment to James River conservation, Hardywood will contribute $10 per barrel of The Great Return to The James River Association, to support their mission to be the guardian of the James River.

Having spent some time along the James River — I still have Belle Isle gravel in my knee from biting it on my MTB — over the past decade or so, I think this is a great endeavor on the part of the brewery. It’s a scenic river that for the longest time, wasn’t the cleanest of places. That’s all slowly changing for the better and Hardywood Park is doing its part to help.

Now, for the beer itself, The Great Return is just about spot on for a West Coast style IPA. It’s got the bold resinous pine, solid bitterness (70 IBU) and grapefruit down nicely. I just wish is had a little more complexity as some of the brews of this style that I’ve had in the past.

Appearance

The Great Return pours a rich amber in color with a tawny crown of foam that left behind excellent lacing as it slowly dropped.

Hardywood Park The Great Return photo

Aroma

You can smell the tropical fruits and citrus from across the room. It certainly has the nose of a solid IPA with pine resin, grapefruit, tangerine, light caramel and soft bready malts.

Taste

To start off with the brew isn’t as fruity as many West Cost IPAs, so the nose is a bit of a tease. That said, it does have a decent amount of grapefruit to accompany a strong pine character that is earthy and to a degree catty. There’s a good bit of caramel and malt in the background as the hop bitterness strikes quickly before slowing fading to a tongue-grabbing tingle in the dry finish.

Overall

The Great Return is not a small IPA by any means. It’s got a soft warmth that follows what feels like more than a 70 IBU hop bite. It’s not quite as fruity as some of its peers in this style of beer, but it still packs a solid hop character. Regardless of what the brewery tries to label it, the brew is still pretty darn tasty.

Rating: 4/5

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