Society & Solitude #5 | Hill Farmstead Brewery

4.99/5  rDev +9.7%
look: 4.75 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

4.68/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

4.75/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

4.73/5  rDev +4%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75

4.25/5  rDev -6.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

4.66/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75

Pours an opaque pale orange in color with a finger+ of pillowy white head. Aroma is a bit on the muted side but I get pineapple, grapefruit, orange, and mango. Taste hits the same notes as the aroma; lots of smooth tropical fruits with a touch of citrus and pineapple sharpness, finish leans lightly bitter. Mouthfeel is perfectly pillowy, medium bodied with moderate carbonation. This is an excellent beer, it's near perfectly balanced and super drinkable. I wish I had grabbed more than one growler.

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4.57/5  rDev +0.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

4.6/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.75

4.5/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

4.11/5  rDev -9.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Tap at The Farmhouse Burlington.
Slightly hazy dark yellow with a good sized long lasting head. Rich earthy citrusy grapefruit and pine with bits of sweet bread to counter. Very tasty clean well made brew.

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4.69/5  rDev +3.1%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

4.41/5  rDev -3.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

4.29/5  rDev -5.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

4.88/5  rDev +7.3%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75

4.5/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

4.89/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 4.75 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75

4.28/5  rDev -5.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

5/5  rDev +9.9%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Tasted from draft. Pours a super cloudy pale orange with thick white head. Tons of lacing. Aroma is big time tropical fruit. Notes of mango, passion fruit, pineapple and orange. Taste is incredibly well balanced. Mild to moderate bitterness with malt backbone. Really no bitter bite at all. I really think non IPA drinkers would love it. Creamy and smooth mouthfeel with no hint of alcohol. Flavors of oranges, grapefruit, passion fruit, mango, pine, biscuit sweetness. Incredible IPA.

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4.5/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

4.5/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

4.38/5  rDev -3.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

4.5/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

3.64/5  rDev -20%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

On-draught @ Pony Bar, New York, NY. Currently #92 in the Top 250 beers list. Brief impressions below:

Creamy white head dies within 30 seconds, leaving nice frothy lacing on the sides of the glass as it recedes. Still, retention is poor overall - even given its 8.1% ABV.

Body colour is a murky cloudy yellow-orange. No yeast/lees are visible within. Vibrant enough.

It's a nice appearance for an imperial IPA, but lacks any unique or special characteristics.

AROMA: Tropical fruit. Passionfruit. Floral hop aromatics. Hop oils. A blip of grapefruit citrus. Pale malts seem to keep it in balance; I don't pick up on any overly sweet caramalt or crystal malt.

Aromatic intensity is moderate. No off-the-shelf or booze is detectable.

TASTE: Lovely. Ample hop flavour with nice hop pungency though depth of flavour could be improved. Tropical fruits: passionfruit, faint guava. No melon, papaya, tangerine, or the like.

There's mild accompanying bitterness, but this beer is well balanced with pale malts and 2 row keeping it in check instead of saccharine Crystal or caramalt.

Individual constituent hop flavour could get more vivid and distinct. Not the most expressive brew out there.

TEXTURE: Light to medium-bodied. Aptly carbonated, with a slight crisp bite. I'd like more of an oily soft feel on the palate, but this is refreshing, smooth, and wet, and avoids feeling boozy or overly heavy like many expressions of the style.

OVERALL: If like to revisit this in finer grain given its evident quality. Hop profile approaches that tropical creamsicle vibe observed in many of these Johnny come lately hazy (I)IPAs but doesn't downplay bitterness to the point that it just tastes like stale alcoholic orange juice. Very drinkable and balanced with a good but not great hop profile. I don't regard it as world class, but it's damn solid work, no doubt.

B (3.64) / GOOD

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4.46/5  rDev -2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

4.25/5  rDev -6.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25