Sumner
Hill Farmstead Brewery

 

 

 

After a week long vacation with the kids on the Cape, you need another vacation, or a Sumner. The hoppy bitterness elevates the palate just long enough to cool off the hot summer days before giving way to the crips citrus flavors, steeped peach, nectarines, hint of pine. It finishes clean and you want another sip and you savor each drink because it is an insane drive to upper VT.

 

 

 

 

 

From a 12oz can, dated 05/11/21. Served in a willi becher.

Pours a pale and cloudy milky orange with a finger-plus of bubbly off-white foam. Retention is pretty good, settling out to a thick creamy collar and a persistent curtain of lacing.

Aroma is earthy-fruity. Peach skins, oranges and sandwich bread.

Tastes of rindy citrus, mango skins, earthy underripe pineapple, and toast. Lemon rind, grapefruit peel, orange pith, cherry pits, bread crusts. Moderate but building bitterness.

Feel is clean, crisp and brisk, medium bodied but feeling a bit lighter than that owing to brisk carbonation. Zippy and drying.

Overall, a way better than competent NE-style pale ale. In terms of balance, it may be somewhat biased toward the hop juice side of the spectrum but, still, I could drink these all day long and, in fact, come to think of it, I may have been.

 

L: Pale, hazy yellow with a fluffy white head on top. Excellent lacing.

S: Strong notes of grapefruit and pineapple with some mango, apricot, and blueberry as well. Clean malt and yeast presence.

T: Mild bitterness upfront leading into waves of juicy grapefruit and pineapple notes. The malt is very subdued but provides a good bready backbone for the hops.

F: Very dry and crisp although just moderate carbonation.

Overall: A delicious, juicy pale ale that brings a big hop aroma and flavor. I could not recommend this beer enough to anyone looking for a hop-forward pale ale.

 

 

Canned 16 Dec, received in trade with rodman3. Thanks, Rick!

A mildly hazy light yellow with a large, white head with good retention and lacing, this looks good. The nose is a lovely blend of Citra and Simcoe, with a blend of orange, key lime, bright lemon along with a nice stone fruit character - there's peach and nectarine to go with some mango and even a little passionfruit. Beautiful hop expression. The palate opens with plenty of hop flavor with a mild hop bitterness present. Peach and mango are up front followed by a blend of key lime, ripe lemons and sweet clementines. Juicy and fruity with good focus and hop expression. A mild, water cracker like malt character is present, lending a snap to the palate to balance the juiciness. Drying, snappy and crisp with a great juicy flavor on the finish. Light in body, crisply carbonated, this is a joy on the palate.

Canned 7/22/19
Pours a large pillowy semi-dense white head, great retention and lacing, very hazy cloudy pale orange color

Nose smells a lot like a Hill Farmstead IPA, great floral fruity citrusy hops, super fresh Cascade-like hops, a bit grassy, nice grapefruit pith, a touch of tropical with hint of mango and maybe pineapple, light doughy malt and creamy flaked proteins

Taste starts soft and juicy, more flaked suspended proteins, soft creamy and a bit juicy, lots of grapefruit, a bit of pith and some orange juice, lots of tangerine, some mango and generic tropical, no papery or oily characters, light bitterness turning to a spicy medium hop bitterness on the drier finish, lingering grapefruit pith, citrus, and a little generic tropical

Mouth is med bod, a bit creamy juicy soft, medium carb

Overall not bad, enjoyable, hops did their job well, malts are good, good balance, not quite as good as some of the other big NEIPAs out there, but enjoyable

 

Picked up a 6 pack of this at the brewery yesterday.

A - Poured into my Duvel tulip a nice hazy golden hue with a thin one finger white head that faded slowly to leave light lacing and wisps.

S - Aromas of really bright citrus peel, oranges and grapefruit galore. Flashes of pineapple as well. The mosaic brings a spicy pine note as well with flashes of earthiness on swirls.

T - Taste is similar to the nose with tons of bright juicy orange and grapefruit along with some over ripe pineapple. The mosaic flashes out with big earthy pine. It does right up to the threshold of becoming a little vegative but never quite crosses the line. Nice lightly doughy grains and flashes of sweet malts.

M - Mouthfeel is nicely carbonated, creamy, little fluffy. Quite nice.

O - Overall this was a solid pale ale. I like how balanced this is, however, I'm not a super huge fan of the earthiness that the mosaic brings to the table. Still though, it is enjoyable.

Serving Type: Can