Elaborative #1
Hill Farmstead Brewery

Elaborative #1Elaborative #1
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From:
Hill Farmstead Brewery
 
Vermont, United States
Style:
Wild Ale
ABV:
6.5%
Score:
96
Avg:
4.33 | pDev: 7.85%
Reviews:
41
Ratings:
286
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Sep 16, 2023
Added:
Apr 16, 2013
Wants:
  109
Gots:
  52
Elaborative #1 was brewed in November of 2011 with our friends Brad Clark and Chad Yakobson. A brown ale brewed with freshly harvested Ohio walnuts. The beer was aged in oak barrels, each barrel with a different blend of wild yeast and bacteria representative of the participating brewers. After 18 months, the distinct threads were blended back together and refermented in the bottle.

The Elaborative: A brewing collaboration with like-minded friends. A fermentative experiment through thoughtful enquiry and discourse. A desire to further our understanding of the interactive complexities of our process while trying to abandon our preconceptions...
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Rated: 4.26 by jzeilinger from Pennsylvania

Sep 16, 2023
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Reviewed by cavedave from New York

4.57/5  rDev +5.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Looks like a stout, quite dark for a brown ale. Happy to find a finger of tan foam atop, even happier to find it only slowly retreats to a thick skim, and never leaves a bare cap. Thick looking, substantial, tempting.

Full aroma that hits with raisins and figs, walnuts (amazingly), cola, sherry, honey bread, light malty vinegar, and rich grain. Amazingly complex. As it warms very light oak/booze barrel notes and a husky grainy note take it to eleven.

Hard to describe the taste as it has so much going on, and changes so much in character as palate adjusts and beer opens. First sip showed almost no sweet and the light malty vinegar notes in nose were much stronger in the taste. But it steps back and joins all the flavors in the aroma to make a startling and delicious balanced beer that has stood well the test of time. Before I finish the glass I also get peach, plum, sour apple, treacle. Superb. .

Lighter in mouth than it looks, perfect body for the flavors they frame, with perfect carbonation, clean flavors that shine, and just the right amount of deep dark fruit notes and vinegar hints for clean lingering finish that begs for next sip.

Wow,
Nov 07, 2021
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Reviewed by SABERG from Massachusetts

4.35/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Poured from the 375 ml bottle into the test glass.
S - A ruddy ruby colored backdrop, lively carbonation, persistent, determined keeps the cap a moving artwork.
S - Earthy, Madeira, black peppercorn, sweet tawny port, a touch of acedtic, balsamic reduction, fig vinegar all in the best ways.
T - Complex to say the least, flavors from the aromatics for sure but add dark cherry, a hint of Anise, walnut flesh. and it keeps going. The barell treatment again is madeira and sherry. All in harmony
M - Crisp even now, semi tart start, rounds out with a palate that is abit electric. Not quite tart, not quite sweet just vibrant.
O - What a treat this is, an Oud Bruine over time, maybe, but clearly a treasure assembled by a trio of the craft.
Sep 07, 2021
 
Rated: 4.25 by duceswild from Heard & McDonald Islands

Jun 03, 2018
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Reviewed by StonedTrippin from Colorado

4.58/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
what an absurd beer this is, i have to imagine next to ungettable at this point, but thats a shame because its drinking absurdly well. a huge thanks to my new friend from back east, sharing this with me was flattering and awesome and a joy both in terms of the beer and the company, i owe ya one dude! the beer is remarkable, a cool collaboration with jackie o and crooked stave where this walnut saison was made and then fermented with each house yeast, and finally blended together, at least if i understand it correctly. i think the complexity that trio of ferments lends to the beer makes it truly one of a kind, and its maturity now is unrivaled. medium reddish brown from the little bottle, sporting a sudsy and airy tan head, lively though for its age, with a nose of rich wet wood, vanilla, spicy yeast, burnt sugar, maple, honest fresh walnut, toasted bread crusts, black and green peppercorn, toffee, raisin, fig, clove, walnutty tawny port and amarone wine, and really cool wild bretts, funky, fruity, and acidic. i cant stop smelling it, licorice root and chocolate come in, more vanilla, cooked and earthy and sweet all at the same time, one of the best smelling beers ive ever put my beak to. the flavor is great too, the walnut aspect may have faded some but its still there, sort of raw or floury, not toasted and dried like we usually see them, and with a ton of funkiness to it, highlighted by all the wood. fruit vinegar and red wine, super old brett, funky belgian brux type to me but also a more wild one, tending more acidic, especially with the age. raisin and cherry and medicine, light roasted coffee, mild char, vanilla, almond, lambic weirdness, just killer and super interesting! fizzy still and lively on the palate, tart and drying almost gritty at the end, warming up well, as complex as it gets and just seriously fabulously cool. up their with the rooibos tea one as my favorite in this series. really next level at this point, the nose, ohhhhh the nose...
Mar 10, 2018
 
Rated: 4.46 by seangibbs60 from Minnesota

Jul 19, 2017
 
Rated: 4.5 by edthehead from Maryland

Mar 05, 2017
 
Rated: 4.25 by Texasfan549 from Texas

Feb 19, 2017
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Reviewed by GreesyFizeek from New York

4.77/5  rDev +10.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
Bottle purchased and drank at Hill Farmstead Brewery in Rochester, NY.

This one pours a pretty dark brown, with an off white head, and no lacing.

Smells like toffee, caramel, and maybe a bit of chocolate, and tons of amazingly flavorful walnuts, with a slight tart aroma.

This has to be one of the most unique sours I've ever had. The walnuts are an awesome and dynamic flavor component, making a warm nutty flavor. There's some chocolate and toffee with a bit of caramel. This has probably the most interesting malt backbone of a sour I've ever had. The sourness is soft, more of a tartness, really, with some lemon, sour cherry and mild funk.

This is lighter bodied, with a normal level of carbonation.

This is so unique and wonderful. It feels kind of a like a really nice oud bruin.
Sep 19, 2016
 
Rated: 4 by CTJman from Connecticut

Aug 19, 2016
 
Rated: 4.29 by Kurmaraja from California

Jul 10, 2016
 
Rated: 4.48 by ArtZan from New Jersey

Feb 01, 2016
 
Rated: 4.31 by NHbeerfishing from New Hampshire

Dec 12, 2015
 
Rated: 4.29 by rdooley from Texas

Nov 08, 2015
 
Rated: 4.16 by StoutSnob40 from California

Oct 29, 2015
 
Rated: 4.37 by SimcoeKid from California

Oct 29, 2015
 
Rated: 3.62 by IrishColonial from Texas

Oct 10, 2015
 
Rated: 4.25 by kjkinsey from Texas

Oct 10, 2015
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Reviewed by jjdc from District of Columbia

4.43/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
I rarely think of brown ales as being beautiful in the glass, but this one is. It's a deep mahogany or cherry stain that wouldn't be out of place in grandpa's study. The pillowy head is a capuchino tan. The nose is delicate citrus and rubbery, dusty funkiness. The flavor profile is balanced and sophisticated, as you would expect out of any HF beer. There's Chardonnay grapes, a spritz of lemon, and a subtle nuttiness. The nut flavor evolves into something a tad more sharp and bitter like the skins on peanuts. The whole thing wraps up with a bit of pencil eraser and dustiness from the souring bugs. The sourness is present, but never veers into Tums territory. Very nice.
Aug 01, 2015
 
Rated: 4 by aasher from Indiana

Jul 03, 2015
Elaborative #1 from Hill Farmstead Brewery
Beer rating: 96 out of 100 with 286 ratings