Excursions - HBC 586/Phantasm
Hill Farmstead Brewery

 

 

The serving arrived inside a nearly full clear pint glass. There's very little off-white head on top, but that's the way we pour draft beers in the Philadelphia area. The brew itself is orange-amber and it's very cloudy. Likely served too cold for its style, there's not much for the nose. Maybe the now typical hazy tropical fruit notes are found, but this cold, it's a tough discovery. The taste is pleasant, but on the blandly fruity side. There's no transitional evolution from fruity sweet to somewhat bitter that makes the best of New England style hazies delightful. Instead, this is a one taste dimensional experience, that isn't bad, but it's now too common. This is good, but not exceptional and that's almost expected from this brewery. There's some OK glass lacing and the mouthfeel is just right for its limited flavor. Even as it warms, things don't improve much. Overall, it's a pleasant, if bland modern IPA without much bite and no malted barley character.

 

 

The standout with the appearance is the amazing lacing that was left behind by the ample head. Otherwise, it's a good looking beer...cloudy translucent yellow.

Aroma has grapefruit, wild onion, and maybe some faint pine.

Taste is grapefruit and mixed fruit. Nice long finish.

Overall, while I'm not really an IPA fan, I'm enjoying this one.

 

Thiol Powder gives a nice taste.

Hazy orange gold appearance, dense white head, decent retention, limited lacing. Peach, apricot, fruit cocktail, mild pine. Medium to thick mouthfeel, moderate carbonation.

Interesting hop variety series from Hill Farmstead. The beer pours deep hazy gold with a sturdy, lacing head. Strong nose of citrus and pine. This beer is very crisp and enjoyable, bringing out flavors that include peach, white grapes and pine with a prolonged resinous finish.

 

Review from Untappd. Hat at HF on Mar 27, 2024

Nice beer. been seeing a lot of breweries using HBC 586 but never had anything w it yet. Papaya. Mango. Still has some bitterness on the finish. Nice.

Canned 7 weeks ago.

L -- Golden orange with moderate haze and a finger of sudsy white head produced with moderate pour. Some retention and good lacing
S -- Honeydew melon, white peach, cantaloupe, white grape, gristy malts, bubblegum, papaya. Rare that I have an IPA that is so melon/grape forward with little discernible citrus character
T -- Light and delicate flavors of white grape, nectarine, white peach, clementine peel, and melon rind. Very light bitterness or malt sweetness, almost into that Brut IPA category
F -- Crisp and super drinkable. Modest mineralic astringency on the finish
O -- First beer for me containing either HBC 586 or Phantasm Thiol Powder. Both are intriguing and I'd be interested to try them in other contexts

83/100

 

 

 

 

 

On tap at Three Penny Taproom in Montpelier, VT.

This one pours a hazy golden orange, with a small head and lots of lacing.

This smells like citrus, peach, green grape skin, melon, and marijuana.

HBC 586 and Phantasm is definitely a unique and new school hop combo. It provides a ton of melon and mango, and a distinct dry grape characteristic – some light grape juice but mostly grape skin. There’s also a green marijuana bitterness and a hint of pine.

This is soft, chewy, and juicy, with a great drinkability.

I’m glad to have come across this one – now I just finally need to track down the Self-Reliance with HBC 586.

A Very nice drinking ipa. Flavours of Grape bubble gum. Smooth and summery creation. One Draft of a trio of Hill Farmstead on at Three penny taproom.