Legitimacy
Hill Farmstead Brewery

 

 

Canned on 09/09/2020. Enjoyed on 10/07/2020.

L: Hazy pale yellow with a rocky white head and good lacing.

S: Subtle for the style, but very fresh and clean citrus and pine notes with a touch of pale malt and grain.

T: Mild bitterness, moves into grapefruit, mango, and pine flavors with a bready/grainy malt support. No sweetness.

F: Full mouthfeel for the abv, but a lowish carb and dry finish.

Overall: A very nice IPA that boasts great flavor and mouthfeel. Super crushable.

 

 

Sampling a cold 12 oz can poured into a snifter. Ive had the beer as part of a trade and its been in my fridge for about 10 weeks.
The beer pours a slightly hazy gold color with some fizzy bleached white head foaming up .5 cm and fading quickly to a thin surface layer.
The aroma is light and citrusy with some lemon and orange with a bit of tangerine note too. I get a little bit of a biscuity note too.
The first sip reveals a light textured and crisp body with very fine and tingly carbonation. Pretty easy drinking physical traits on this beer.
Flavor is what you expect from the nose with some light citrusy notes including orange and tangerine with a bit of grapefruit bite on the finish. The rindy bite lingers after each swallow and also dries out my palate. Slightly bitter note on the beer and the booze is non existent.
A nice drinkable IPA with a good citrus profile on this brew. Glad I got to try another beer from HF.

 

 

Poured into a 20 oz Nordic Glass. Pours a very hazy yellow with a half finger white head that leaves little bubbles of lace as it settles. 4.25

Smell is tangerine, pineapple, apricot, mango, and a little grapefruit rind. 4

Taste follows pineapple, tangerine, mango, apricot, and just a little hint of grapefruit rind. 4

Mouthfeel is a watery medium, gentle life, a tad sticky but not dry, and at 6.2% easy going down. 4

Overall this very good and at a rather modest ABV really tasty. 4

 

Pours a very light, creamy looking golden color. 2 finger white, frothy head. The head retention is quite good, and there's some beautiful lacing on the glass as the head dissipates.
The nose is full of hops. Not as citrusy, as expected, but there. I'm having a hard time putting the aroma to the specific citrus, though it's a pleasing aroma.
Taste - Citrus, with a finish of pine. Again, I'm having a tough time putting the flavors to a specific citrus. That being said, quite pleasing tasting.
The body is decent. Soft mouthfeel. Hops linger in my throat.
Another solid IPA from HF.

 

On tap at Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro Bend, VT.

This one pours a very hazy golden yellow color, with a big white head and lots of lacing.

This smells like grassy and weedy hops, soft citrus, explosive tangerine, orange rind, and pine.

This is classic HF hop greatness. It’s got that soft citrusy clean goodness, with a zesty and clean bitterness. It tastes so big while simultaneously tasting like a light hop cloud.

This is light bodied, soft and so clean, with enough bitterness to beg the next sip.

Even though I’ve mostly become tired of IPAs these days, I still love them when done by Hill Farmstead.

 

 

 

A-Hazy pineapple yellow, with a marshmallow white head
S-Light citrus with tropical fruit dominance
M-Medium juicy body with a full texture and medium light carbonation
T-Citrus rind flavour with a smooth bitterness that resonates
O-Fantastic NEIPA

Pours an opaque pale orange hue, with a finger of dense ivory foam atop, which slowly recedes, leaving wisps of lacing behind.

Nose: There is a light citrus character, leaning somewhere between lemon and orange, with perhaps a hint of lime. Motueka hops definitely come through, presenting as a bouquet of green, unripe tropical fruit. Green melon, unripe guava, pineapple, white grape, rainy spring meadows, lemongrass, a little bit of Simcoe earthiness, and a hint of what I can only relate to green bell pepper. It's pungent, but delicate and fruity. Very bright and springy.

Palate: Super green, with lots of that unripe fruit character from the nose. It's grassy, with an immediate but mild pithy bitterness, with passionfruit, unripe pineapple, unripe guava, white grape, and horned melon taking centre stage. Very classic Southern Hemisphere hops flavours. There are whispers of Simcoe earthiness as the finish approaches, but (thankfully), that take quite a back seat, letting the green fruit and grassy Motueka qualities shine. The malt sweetness also doesn't fight for attention. It isn't exactly dry, but there isn't any sticky honey sweetness, and the little bit of sweetness that's that is very clean and neutral, making me think there's most likely a fair amount of oat making up the grist. In the finish, the pithy bitterness, which has been present since the beginning, ramps up a little bit, and the fruitier flavours fall back, enhancing the green grassy flavours. Pithy, green, herbaceous and grassy, mildly bitter finish, that leaves a slight drying astringency, while remaining incredibly clean. Lingering.

Mouthfeel/Body: The beer is medium bodied, with an essence of lightness to it. It isn't a thin beer, and it certainly isn't watery by any stretch of thr imagination, but it is quite crisp and drinkable. Could easily down one of these if you wanted to. On thr flip side of that, there is also a pronouced softness to the beer, in true NEIPA fashion. It isn't quite fluffy or creamy or pillowy, but it is soft. Effervescence is not agreasive or lively in any way, but it certainly isn't flat. The finish in drying, in a tannic sort of way.

Overall: I'm a sucker for Southern Hemisphere hops. They can really take a beer to an entirely new level. The craftsmanship of the beer alone is fantastic, but the use of Motueka is what really makes this beer shine. It's bold, hoppy, crisp, flavourful, and it just has this really nice green, grassy, unripe tropical fruit character that really defines the Motueka. It's a fantastic beer. It hits the spot for hopheads, with its potency and moderate bitterness, and it's also refreshing and drinkable, and would do very well on a hot summer day. The Simcoe is kept in check, and so is potential sweetness. Pair that with razor fine edges and a high polished delivery, with the uniqueness of Motueka, and you have an outstanding New England IPA.

 

 

12oz. can served in a willibecker. Pours a dull, hazy orange with a loose, frothy off-white head that quickly disperses into a sudsy slick that coalesces around the edges. Nose reveals a big burst of orange with a little pith intermingled. Taste starts out with a little citrus on the nose but is quickly outcome by a strong earthy/herbal quality, citrus peel and a hint of candied citrus in the mix. Mouthfeel is light-medium in body with an assertive carbonation and astringency. Overall, an interesting take on the style considering the prevalent juice bombs these days; however, could use a little more balance in my opinion.

 

 

 

 

On tap for lunch at Three Penny Taproom in Montpelier. Nice and bright/fresh. Preferable to Syd's Edward.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was another beer from Hill Farmstead that I traded for in front of Other Half not too long ago. Like the other cans, this one seemed so plain at first but as it warmed up, I warmed up to it at the same time. Simple in appearance and hue, there was a lot of complexity to the taste as this nearly felt organic, and not something that was concocted and brewed!

Once again, this had a lovely appearance to it as I poured it out, with a cloudy and solid appearance to the murky, gold hue. Lots of head topped this off as it was fluffy and full, as well as long-lasting. Solid rings of lacing lined my pint glass as I worked my way through this. White cheese, white grape, floral notes, and melon filled the soft and muted nose as the taste brought out much more. Dank stone fruit, pepper, dank pine, and grass came through in the taste as this had a slightly rustic feel to it. This felt like a Wild Ale as much as an American IPA as it had the best attributes of both...

With a light amount of booze present, this was a beer that was easy to savor since the flavors were allowed to fully emerge. The bottom of the can had "LEGITIMACY" with "1403" written under it, as this was slightly dry on the palate. Along with the right amount of carbonation, it was obvious that this was another winner from Hill Farmstead. It's so easy to see why these guys are the real deal!