Song Of Joy
Hill Farmstead Brewery

 

 

 

 

Canned on 2/21/23; consumed on 4/12/23

Pours a crystal-clear, deep honey-gold body capped with three fingers of pillowy, eggshell-white foam; excellent head retention leaves a chunky mounds of cap, massive, sudsy collar, and generous array of soapy, webby lacing clinging across the walls of the glass.

Aromas of hay welcome a grapefruit spritz and lavender accents, with supportive biscuit dough backing elements of key lime as white toast bolsters the back end of the bouquet.

Taste opens to a tinge of grapefruit and mandarin, showing lighter, grassy subtext counter key lime essence through the mid-palate as a bready prickle proceeds into floral overtone past the back end and a white pepper lingering through the finish.

Mouthfeel offers a light body and a taut, moderate-high carbonation phasing to a drying snap, crisp over the mid-palate with a quiet juicy quality and subtle bittering progressing toward the finish.

Invigorating and bright, the tempered hoppy quality engages a pointed lager yeast to an enhanced florality and elevated, fruity subtext; an inherently satisfying 'snap' fusing the better part of a lagered base with a deft amd delicate dry-hopping.

 

 

From a 750ml swing-top growler, filled at the brewery 03/01/23. Served in an imperial pint nonic.

Pours an utterly clear honey-gold with a finger or so of soft, soapy white suds. Retention is very good, leaving a bubbly cap and a sticky blanket of foamy lacing.

Nose is mildly sweet and floral, more piney as it warms.

Taste is sharp, herbal and resinous. Tasting astringent herbs, rosemary, toast and honey, pine resin. Grassy with a grapefruit and pine resin finish.

Feel is smooth with a medium slick body, oily with bright, tingly carbonation.

The taste is a little reminiscent to me of Ricola herbal cough drops but of course bitter and less sweet. @Holderness wrote that it reminded them of Jacks Abby’s IPL’s and I guess that comparison is inevitable. One of my first hoppy beers was Hoponius Union and Song of Joy took me right back to that. But Morton Street never had Hill’s well water.

 

On tap at Blackback Pub, Waterbury. Reminds me a lot of the Jacks Abby hoppy lagers -- clean, crisp, citrus-dominant hop notes with a decently bitter backbone. Very drinkable

85/100

 

 

 

On tap at brewery 7/28/18.

Nice yeasty and malty nose with grassy and citrus features from the hopping. Taste about the same, nice and clean, easy to drink. Always said the water at HF makes a big difference. Very solid lager, look out Jack's Abby!

 

 

Sparkling clear pale gold with a moderate, lumpy white froth that settles in bubbly dips leaving some sparse coral lacing.

Smell is spicy, black peppery cracker and slightly dank cannabic grass with hints of lemon.

On the palate this is is tangy and slightly spicy, crisp at first then smoothing to a silky texture before a semi dry finish. Flavors of lemon and grapefruit roll into slightly floral but mostly sweet red apple and pear before bittering grass and heart of romaine sweep in and take over, with the faintest hints of toasty malt on the tail end.

 

 

Best lager ever?