Flora Cherry/Raspberry/Northern Kiwi
Hill Farmstead Brewery

 

 

Bottle from rodmanfor3. Thanks!

A clear mahogany brown with a rapidly receding white head, this looks great. The nose is exquisite. Brilliant, bright, focused fruit with semi tart cherries and gobs of raspberry with oodles of freshly pressed fruit and remarkably light seed character. There's a light floral kiwi character, mildly pineapple like. Funk is minimal, allowing the fruit to shine. The palate opens tart with a lactic, yogurt like tartness, bright yet with a little chew, pairing quite nicely with the fruit. Again, the raspberry is most noticeable with a brilliant brightness yet a soft vanillin undertone. This is followed by cherry, a blend of sour and sweet. There's a mild medicinal character to the cherry flavor, one that's amplified by the mildly pineapple juice like kiwi flavor. Drying, tart, lactic on the finish, this beer finishes with a blend of yogurt and sherbet. Quite excellent.

 

Appearance is almost neon yet pale reddish-pink, foggy, with a minimal bright white bubbly head settling to a thin ring. It looks a little glassy yet watery.

Whether intended or not, this is like a kriek combined with a nicely seedy raspberry framboise, but it also has a little astringent funkiness that's kind of like burnt rubber, not sure if that's from the unique accenting presence of kiwi or maybe some over assertive hops. As it warms, a little nutty woodiness develops, but the body is thin and water with only a light crackly carbonation, and the finish is semi-sticky. This is definitely an outlying experience for Hill.

 

 

 

 

 

Bottle: Poured a clear reddish color ale with a large pink color head with light retention and minimal lacing. Aroma of tart cherry notes with some raspberry notes and light oak flavours. Taste is a mix of cherry and tart raspberry with some oak and light acidic notes. Body is about average with good carbonation. Enjoyable sour with nice amount of fruits (but not sure the kiwi can really de detected).

 

 

375ml bottle, 2018 release, poured into an oversized Hill Farmstead wine glass. Enjoyed on 7.4.18, reviewed from Tasting Journal.

The beer pours a beautiful and bright beet red color, garnet and ruby hues, very opaque and cloudy with an off white head that has good retention and yields a few spots of lacing. The aroma is excellent, tons of fresh berries, tart cherry and fresh raspberry while the kiwi does a nice job of standing on its own. Funk, oak barrel with a nice red wine character, light grain that is nicely balanced with the fruits. The flavors are wonderful, super jammy fruits, lots of berry that's both tart and fresh, the kiwi offers a bit of softness while wine barrel character really amplifies the fruits and brings out a nice funk character, mineral water and a light breadiness. The mouthfeel is good, coating with a lively medium body, very delicate with a vibrant texture and a tart and dry finish.

Verdict: Delicious beer from Hill Farmstead. One of the best fruited Flora variants I've had to date. The berries are well expressed offering both tartness and a deep and rich flavor that combines so well with the wine barrel character and the funk profile.

 

 

 

 

This one pours a nice vivid red color, with a small foamy head, and not much lacing.

There's a lot of fruit on the nose, and kiwi mainly dominates here, with some sweet cherry as well, as well as a mild lemony tartness, and just a hint of citrusy funk.

Just like the nose, I don't get much raspberry here- just cherry and kiwi. The kiwi provides a cool earthy sweetness and funkiness, and the cherry provides mostly sweetness. It's lightly acidic, and very funky, with that sort of soft sunny citrusy funk I'm used to in HF beers.

This is light bodied, and very clean, with a juiciness and a tartness to come at you in a flash and then fade away cleanly.

Although I wish the raspberry was a bit more present here, this is still a very top tier Flora variant. The kiwi is done so well.

 

 

 

 

 

The beer pours a ruby red with a medium pink head that recedes quickly. It has medium high carbonation. The beer smells of cherry, raspberry, kiwi, wine, and red grapes. It’s tart, with cherry, raspberry, kiwi, red wine, red grapes, and light funk. The feel is medium light. One of the better Fruited floras, really nice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bottle shared by Brennan. Thank you!

375 mL bottle. Hazy deep pink. Smells of bright raspberry and deeper cherry, white wine, and a pervasive green aroma, maybe that's the kiwi. Tastes of raspberry and that green flavor is definitely kiwi now. Sharp and tart kiwi flavor. Some wine and yeast flavors, but mostly fruit. Light body. Most of Flora is lost behind the fruit.