Civil Disobedience #7
Hill Farmstead Brewery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So delicious. Had it from the bottle at HF, dec 2016. Poured with a ton of head, this is bursting with lambicy goodness. Im not sure how much of the art im picking up, but it really doesn't matter. Tart, with great good body and flavor with a deep hop flavor on the back. This is masterfully crafted, a beautiful collaboration beer that is absolutely delicious

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very wine-like. Light blonde body with minimal head. Nose includes some oak and vanilla but turns toward white grapes and lemon. The acidity is reserved, likely given the age. Wine & lambic. Grape skin. White table grapes. Oak tannins. Hay and funk.

 

 

 

Give it some more time and maybe the butter will go away. Wish it had another 6mos-year for the battle to rage on in the bottle.

 

 

 

Pour is hazed yellow with a tight white ring. Nose has a good bit of barrel with a hint of buttered popcorn and strong citrus and tangerine notes. Taste is stronger citrus with lots of orange pulp and a faint barrel with a lingering citrus bitterness. Light body, flavor is short, a hint slick with assertive carbonation.

I can't believe this has been sitting quietly in my basement for 22 months.
Poured from the 375 ml bottle into a snifter glass.
Pours a slightly hazy dark to mellow golden hue with half a finger of head that recedes.
Aromas are incredible. Full lambic presence, notes of sugary sweetness, notes of light spring flowers in the nose.
Taste is full of lambic tartness with hints of honey, just a hint of sugary candy.
Mouthfeel is fantastic, with perfect carbonation.
This beer is insanely well crafted. It's not a sour bomb. It has full lambic tartness. But the flavor is round, and complex. This beer is world class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers, franklinn. Cellar temp (just asking to paint the ceiling, right?) and into a cantillon tumbler. #kindavaguelyproper

Appearance. Pours a rich gold with a touch of orange, a ton of bubbles rising from the depths in streams, and a finger of frothy, almost creamy white head with great retention that pretty much paints the sides of the glass. Great stuff so far.

Smell. Big ripe pears, peaches and white grapes, funky old lambic barrel, slight powdery sweetartz. Man, this smells great.

Taste. Lemon juice and zest, dry funky brett and tart orchard fruits. Some funky barrel.

Mouthfeel. Medium body, smooth medium+ carbonation.

Overall. Fantastic stuff. While not exactly an authentic tasting classic lambic ...or gueuze since it's blended ...but both 2 years old!?! Hurts my brain more than it should. Anyways, it does hit many of the right lambic-gueuze notes with another layer of fruits and dry funk.

 

 

Look 8/10
Smell 18/20
Taste 37/40
Feel 9/10
Drinkability 17/20

Overall 90/100


Part of me feels like this beer is so far beyond my comprehension that I don't even know what to enjoy. It's a tad sour for me. Which is personal preference. Tartness is very pronounced. It's a blend of farmhouse ales aged in assortment barrels. Almost as if Shaun Hill may have over killed here. One sip seems complex. The next seems muddled. Taste like lambic and white wine. I can not seem to pull much oak out of it. Acidic Lemon, Citrus and Grass are the lead notes. Too much acid, sour and tartness for me to rate this amongst the other Hill Farmstead brews I had. Seems to be a miss by their standards. Again, I'm not being sarcastic when I say, this beer might literally be beyond my comprehension of complexity~