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Flora - Blueberry
Hill Farmstead Brewery
- From:
- Hill Farmstead Brewery
- Vermont, United States
- Style:
- Saison
- ABV:
- 5%
- Score:
- 99
- Avg:
- 4.49 | pDev: 8.02%
- Reviews:
- 33
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Retired
- Rated:
- Jan 12, 2022
- Added:
- Mar 24, 2014
- Wants:
- 268
- Gots:
- 29
Flora is the wine barrel-aged version of Florence, our grandfather’s sister as well as the name of our Farmstead® wheat ale. We selected a few barrels of Flora and aged it atop three different varieties of local blueberries: Chandler, Patriot and Liberty. The resulting beer’s vibrant ruby colors complement its subtle, elegant and slightly tart flavors.
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Ratings by LetsGoPatsBruins:
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by SierraNevallagash from Maine
4.57/5 rDev +1.8%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5
4.57/5 rDev +1.8%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5
12.7oz bottle - dated Oct. 12, 2018 - poured into a classic tulip at 50°F.
A world of thanks to Dave for this one. At last, the moment has come.
Pours a brilliant glowing ruby red - essentially crystal clear, with a fleeting fizz of quick pink foam. Sits absolutely dazzling in the glass, with the surface dancing from the rising effervescence. Absolutely stunning.
Nose: I could smell this as soon as I popped it. Big fresh aromas of berries - ripe, seedy, and wild, with secondary aromas of vinous raspberries, blackberries, and a slight kriek-y cherry note as well. There is a jammy component, but it's also inherently tart, wild, and almost like it's still on the bush. There's a big oaky backbone beneath the berries, and a balanced acidity that moves back and forth between tart lactobacillus, and a slightly sharp balsamic acetic character. A swirl brings some peppery spice and some subtle farmhouse funk with wet wood, hay, stable, dusty attic, and stone cellar. Very nice.
Palate: Immediately, I'm taken aback by just how balanced the acidity is here. It greets the palate with this wonderful tart tang. It's not even "sour" it's just beautifully tart, like malic acid. The blueberry jumps out immediately - the sugar fermented out, tasting very much like the skin of the berry. I also get some plum skin, some merlot grape, and plenty of actual wine barrel. Beneath the berry, the oak is absolutely massive, and serves as a driving force for the ale as a whole. The oak is musty, wet, tannic, and a little bit funky. The funk complexity here is truly something to behold. It runs deep, with huge minerality, wet stone, wet forest floor, damp cellar, lumber mill, leather, hay, dried grass, dried flowers, topsoil, overripe berries, and lots of earthy white wine notes - specifically chardonnay. The funk settles into a grainy wheat note, but it doesn't fully disappear, setting up the finish that lingers with berry skins, plum, all that wet oak funk, heavy minerality, white wine, farmhouse funk, stone, before concluding with this beautiful blueberry rock candy note, without the sweetness.
Mouthfeel/Body: Now this is just spectacular. The ale itself is as light as a feather, but the level of effervescence is almost unbelievable. Just as bubbly as champagne, but the bubbles are even finer. It feels like poprocks on the palate. You can actually hear it bubbling in your mouth, and feel the dozens and dozens of bubbles simultaneously burst. Zero weight, zero stickiness or cloy, extremely well-attenuated. Slightly numbs the tip of the tongue with its ultra-fine effervescence. Lingering minerality. Absolutely perfect acidity. I don't normally give out 5's, but there's no choice here.
Overall: Very rarely do you encounter the pinnacle example of a style. I really don't know what to say here. As far as blueberry wine barrel-aged wild ales/farmhouse ales go, good luck finding one better than this. It cannot be improved on. The restrained, balanced acidity, the barrel presence, the wine, the blueberry, the effervescence... This is a remarkable example, and a very special ale. Truly deserving of its accolades. Place this on your bucket lists, and enjoy.
May 12, 2020A world of thanks to Dave for this one. At last, the moment has come.
Pours a brilliant glowing ruby red - essentially crystal clear, with a fleeting fizz of quick pink foam. Sits absolutely dazzling in the glass, with the surface dancing from the rising effervescence. Absolutely stunning.
Nose: I could smell this as soon as I popped it. Big fresh aromas of berries - ripe, seedy, and wild, with secondary aromas of vinous raspberries, blackberries, and a slight kriek-y cherry note as well. There is a jammy component, but it's also inherently tart, wild, and almost like it's still on the bush. There's a big oaky backbone beneath the berries, and a balanced acidity that moves back and forth between tart lactobacillus, and a slightly sharp balsamic acetic character. A swirl brings some peppery spice and some subtle farmhouse funk with wet wood, hay, stable, dusty attic, and stone cellar. Very nice.
Palate: Immediately, I'm taken aback by just how balanced the acidity is here. It greets the palate with this wonderful tart tang. It's not even "sour" it's just beautifully tart, like malic acid. The blueberry jumps out immediately - the sugar fermented out, tasting very much like the skin of the berry. I also get some plum skin, some merlot grape, and plenty of actual wine barrel. Beneath the berry, the oak is absolutely massive, and serves as a driving force for the ale as a whole. The oak is musty, wet, tannic, and a little bit funky. The funk complexity here is truly something to behold. It runs deep, with huge minerality, wet stone, wet forest floor, damp cellar, lumber mill, leather, hay, dried grass, dried flowers, topsoil, overripe berries, and lots of earthy white wine notes - specifically chardonnay. The funk settles into a grainy wheat note, but it doesn't fully disappear, setting up the finish that lingers with berry skins, plum, all that wet oak funk, heavy minerality, white wine, farmhouse funk, stone, before concluding with this beautiful blueberry rock candy note, without the sweetness.
Mouthfeel/Body: Now this is just spectacular. The ale itself is as light as a feather, but the level of effervescence is almost unbelievable. Just as bubbly as champagne, but the bubbles are even finer. It feels like poprocks on the palate. You can actually hear it bubbling in your mouth, and feel the dozens and dozens of bubbles simultaneously burst. Zero weight, zero stickiness or cloy, extremely well-attenuated. Slightly numbs the tip of the tongue with its ultra-fine effervescence. Lingering minerality. Absolutely perfect acidity. I don't normally give out 5's, but there's no choice here.
Overall: Very rarely do you encounter the pinnacle example of a style. I really don't know what to say here. As far as blueberry wine barrel-aged wild ales/farmhouse ales go, good luck finding one better than this. It cannot be improved on. The restrained, balanced acidity, the barrel presence, the wine, the blueberry, the effervescence... This is a remarkable example, and a very special ale. Truly deserving of its accolades. Place this on your bucket lists, and enjoy.
Reviewed by jheimbigner from Washington
4.47/5 rDev -0.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
4.47/5 rDev -0.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
Bottled oct 12, 2018 opened apr 24 2020
Pours a pink/purple with minimal head. Nose is blueberry, tart, traditional HF nose. Taste is very juicy blueberry, mild tart, sour, oak. Juice lingers. Feel is effervescent, light. Overall, this is the best fruited flora I have had. Excellent fruit that is juicy and compliments the base beer.
Apr 25, 2020Pours a pink/purple with minimal head. Nose is blueberry, tart, traditional HF nose. Taste is very juicy blueberry, mild tart, sour, oak. Juice lingers. Feel is effervescent, light. Overall, this is the best fruited flora I have had. Excellent fruit that is juicy and compliments the base beer.
Flora - Blueberry from Hill Farmstead Brewery
Beer rating:
99 out of
100 with
286 ratings
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