Hardywood Park Craft Brewery Launches River On! IPA for James River Association's 50th

Hardywood Park Craft Brewery's newest collaboration has a conservation backstory that runs fifty years deep. River On!, a 3.9% ABV Easy IPA brewed in partnership with the James River Association, debuted at the JRA's 50th Anniversary Gala on March 21 and hit both Hardywood taprooms on draft this past Wednesday, March 26. The Richmond-based brewery, founded in 2011, has built its identity around a mission to "Brew with Purpose," and River On! fits that ethos squarely: the beer is positioned as a core, year-round entry in Hardywood's lineup, aimed at the active-lifestyle crowd who wants something sessionable after a paddle or a trail run along Virginia's largest watershed.

The James River Association was formed in 1976 by a group of concerned citizens, and its half-century of advocacy has made the JRA one of the most significant conservation organizations in Virginia. Bill Street, the JRA's President and CEO, framed the collaboration in terms of access and community: "Hardywood has been an incredible partner in helping us connect more people to the James River. We are grateful for Hardywood's long standing support and their expanded commitment. 'River On!' is a fun and meaningful way to celebrate our 50th year milestone — and to invite everyone to be part of protecting the river we all love."

The beer itself is listed on Untappd as an IPA - Session at 3.9% ABV, with no IBU published yet. That number tells the story: this isn't a hop-bomb showcase, it's a crushable IPA built for the kind of people who end a float trip or a bike ride on the Virginia Capital Trail wanting something with character but not weight. Hardywood is calling it an "Easy IPA," which is a style descriptor the brewery owns here rather than a formal category, and the low ABV maps directly onto the Earth Day release window it's targeting.

Hardywood operates a pilot brewery and taproom with a pizza kitchen in greater Scott's Addition in the City of Richmond, while its primary production facility with a taproom and beer garden is located on a 24-acre destination brewery campus in West Creek, just west of Richmond. Both taprooms began pouring River On! on draft March 26. The wider statewide rollout, on tap and in 6-pack 12 oz cans, begins in early April at better beer establishments throughout Virginia, timed to align with Earth Day celebrations on April 22.

Co-founders Eric McKay and Patrick Murtaugh's path to brewing started at a sheep station in Australia, where a well-timed meet-up brought their passion for homebrewing into sharp focus. It was there, at Hardywood Park, where they shared their first glass of full-flavored home-brewed beer, and that day inspired ten years of hard work and planning before they launched the brewery. Hardywood's relationship with the JRA actually predates River On!, with the brewery previously partnering with the association to convert used beer barrels into rain barrels. River On! deepens that connection into something with a label and a handle you can order at a bar.

Hardywood has earned dozens of GABF, World Beer Cup, AIBA, and Virginia Craft Beer Cup awards, with top-selling beers that include Richmond Lager, Pils, Great Return IPA, and seasonal favorite Gingerbread Stout. Adding a conservation-branded session IPA to that roster, timed to the JRA's landmark anniversary and Earth Day, is the kind of move that makes sense for a brewery that has always treated the river as both backdrop and responsibility. River On! isn't a limited one-off. It's a core beer now, which means every six-pack sold throughout Virginia carries the JRA's fifty-year story with it.