Hill Farmstead hype

The first time I went up to HF another customer went through this whole question with the dude who pours the growlers. As far as I can recall the only straight up prohibition was on clear glass. Blue and green were considered not ideal but acceptable.

 

I thought that I squashed this shit, but clearly there are still misconceptions... I am not saying that a 3 day old growler tastes bad, but it tastes different and prob not the way it was intended to. I would choose a 2 week old growler of hill over any fresh beer around me and over other fresh VT locals. The reason why I put that statement in caps is that this thread is about the the "HYPE". people who have not been to hill but have traded beers online give them sub par ratings attribute all the talk about hill to "hype" because it is located in a rural area or what ever. The only problem is that: and heres my take home quote... I know that the beer tastes different when I store it properly therefore I wonder what it would taste like if I shook it up and left it in a box in my trunk for 5 days (IE mailing it across the country). SO:
1. Any beer from any brewery put in growlers and stored properly will change over the days. not so hoppy beers may be more subtle. I have found this to hold strong at pretty much all the breweries I have visited (IPAs mainly).
2. Any ratings given to hill farmstead that were less than perfect were prob not "judged" on site or from a sleeping palate.
3. off topic but people should stop bitching about waiting in line at a bottle release. Everybody that I know goes up the day before to get there business done to purposely avoid the traffic. Bitching about the traffic at hill on release day is like bitching about the traffic at RR on meat day. so STFU and stop messing it up for the rest of us.

 

Every single beer from Hill Farmstead is perfect.

I don't see any evidence of HF hype anywhere on this site--not sure what y'all are talking about.

 

Yes they were only doing 750ml and it is still on the site as being offered.

They did create a post on FB explaining. One could have always walked to Farmhouse Tap and Grill for Florence, Edward and What is Enlightenment after the fest:

Thank you to everyone that visited us during the Vermont Brewer's Festival. Our brewery capacity is maxed out and it was difficult for us to bring more than 2 offerings (Walden and Edward). One can always visit Blackback (11 of our beers on tap?!) or our retail shop to taste some of the other things we have to offer. Cheers.​

 

Society and Solitude #4 was on tap today, and I don't think it was limited to 750's. I was getting a 750 though so I didn't really notice, but I'm pretty sure it was $10/$18

 

Oh darn it to heck, when I was up during the fest weekend it was 750ml. It was glorious.

 

I would rate them the same. I extensively explored San Diego, Philly, NYC, FL, San Francisco and Boston. The fact that they are out in the middle of nowhere and a mere 3.5 hours away from me is the only negative about them. If they were more accessible it would probably only translate to more above average reviews from me. As far as consistent excellence it would be an intense death-match between Russian River and Hill Farmstead for me. They (both) really do deserve whatever praise/"hype" they get. If I lived closer to either, I would probably drink other breweries 75% less. The only thing this thread did was make me realize how much I want some HF brews.

I really hope that both of these breweries keep up what they are doing. It is all about the beer and it shows in each and every sip.

 

I'm not sure whether to applaud you or slap you upside the head for offering nothing to the conversation!

 

Yeah, I was up there the week of the brewfest when it was limited to 750's. I imagine it was due to the volume they expected that weekend. Abner was put on recently though, after a short hiatus, so I HAD to fill my 2l with that

 

For the people that complain that they are too secluded, too far away on a dirt road (not saying cbutova that you are complaining), know this:

The Hills are one of the oldest founding families of Vermont, 200 years, 9 generations in the Greensboro area. You can't expect Shaun to go hey, eff this place. He has ties to that land that most of us can't understand. And he wants to bring it back the farm to back to it's former glory.

Thats what I got anyway from reading some interviews.

 

Heh. I honestly enjoy that beautiful drive more than anything (especially in the winter, amazing snowy landscapes) BUT... driving 400-500 miles per trip gets costly. I really do appreciate the history,a good farm and ties to the land a ton. If my car/wallet could take it, I would get up there monthly. I just figured out of all things, that is probably the only slightly meh thing about HF, stupid transportation. I hope more than anything that he stays there and continues what he is doing, it is truly a beautiful land and brewery. (I hope that makes sense, miles and burnt gas sucks)

 

I get that too, yeah it costs me some gas as well and I wish I could be closet, but then I think that at least we are able to drive there to get growler fills. I am sure there are people that wish they were only 5 hours away.

 

Seen the bottle all over the board here.
Seen some pretty high praise. Just wondering why i've never heard any praise from my local beer geek group and have never seen it come across my way!
Is it worth the hunt??

 

absolutely...no brainer...

 

Yes.

 

Yes. I've had 18 offerings from them with the worst still being very good. Pale ales, IPAs, saisons, wilds, porters - just unbelievable range and quality.

 

This

 

Decent but there is a lot of hype (and trade up charge). Don't feel bad about your local group not knowing about HF, I have a So.Cal trading partner that I've sent him some and got the same reaction.

 

No, nothing to seen here.

 

Ok, then which one(s) do I hunt?
Winter and all, I'm in a stout mood.