Hill Farmstead (2020)

I’m not too clued up on the nuances between a flop house and a stash house when it comes to deep craft, but maybe worth checking with @chipawayboy to see if there’s any space at his pad:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...-house-new-strategy-for-whale-hunting.224867/

This was a late, but formidably strong contender for thread of the year in 2014

 

@brewandbbq It was a $40 bottle when released. I'm sure they factor in cellaring time since it was released over a year and a half ago and being able to enjoy it on site. I'm not saying the price of the bottle is justified or not.

 

I know Shaun has never been a fan of reselling/secondary market gouging but I wonder if the inflated black market prices have had an effect on the price of taproom bottles (or any bottles for that matter, and I'm sure the black market fetches well beyond $72 on Samuel)

 

What were the on-site bottle prices before the pandemic? I remember having a Six Years a good long while ago when I visited my first and only time and thinking it was pricey, but that was before I really got deep into trading and also before retail on hyped beer across the country skyrocketed in general.

 

I think during anniversary week Samuel was 60 and Art was 85. On site stuff tends to start around $25 for 375s and $45 for 750s, going up to 50/60 and 80-100 depending on age

 

Ann 750s have been $120 on site.

 

Le Sarrasin was $100 onsite.

I think that price for a Samuel is definitely reasonable.

 

It is beautiful up here.

 

Indeed- October is the best time of year in New England- the only downside I personally see is the acorn assault falling on my convertible cruising around rural back roads.

 

If you go far enough north, there's not many oak trees.

 

No joke. I had one crash into my windshield and chip it on that windy ass road when you take a right off the main drag to the original Monson location from CT. Amazingly it didn't spider web. P.S. I no longer have that rig.

 

⁣https://www.instagram.com/p/CF27sQDBaNj/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
CD 30
"This coming week, we will debut the thirtieth entry in our blended barrel-aged Farmstead® ale compilation. It has been more than nine years since the original release in our Civil Disobedience series, and following 29 iterations in this formative and exploratory series—we reach a milestone with “CD 30.” This release not only transitions to a new, descriptive label design (that customers may find helpful in identifying blend specifics) but also, as you will read below, seems to encapsulate the panoramic potential and possibilities of our bottle conditioning library. ⁣
⁣
I have been saving this bottle and anticipating its trajectory—revisiting it every 4-6 months. This blend is among my favorites in the last six years, due in part to the noble lineage of some of the barrels. It is composed of beers aged in red and white wine barrels, which formerly held Art, Flora, and (the yet to be released) Double Honey Ann. Blend components include Sankt Hans, Brother Soigné, 90% Wheat base, a Buckwheat base that aligned with the formulation of Samuel, and several barrels of Florence. Bottled in October of 2017, this beer has benefited from its three years of bottle conditioning. The structural integrity and arc of this beer’s conditioning suggests that it will continue to achieve for five to six years. In aroma and complexity—this beer is reminiscent of Civil Disobedience #10– which, to me, was among the greatest of the series. ⁣"

 

I guess you need a more complex and lengthy explanation for charging 40 bucks a bottle....

 

3...years...of... just bottle conditioning. Name one other brewery in the US putting that time and effort into their beer. Time and space cost $$$.

 

Fair enough point, but I am more interested in how long beers age in barrels. I can age a beer in a bottle just as well as a brewer. I am sure this beer will be great, but 40 bucks? That is steep even by HF standards.

 

Multiple blends aged (likely for a year(s)) in various barrels BEFORE even making it to a bottle for 3 years. That is all.

 

Why is the barrel that much more important than the bottle? It’s maybe more romantic but both vessels certainly add to the flavor profile. Brett can do some crazy things under pressure and things can go really sideways for a while in the bottle. The risk of it actually getting worse is much greater in the Barrel than in a bottle.

The fact that they are bottle conditioning for that long fascinates me. What is Shaun looking for that he’s not seeing at 6 months, 1 year, 2 years? Is there enough knowledge and understanding to know that it will continue to improve over a period of time vs. degrade? Dedicating space to bottle condition for that long is way more of a PITA than having that liquid in barrels.