Hill Farmstead (2021)

Yesterday

https://www.exploretock.com/hillfarmsteadbrewery

 

There are some 3 person spots open for this week. As well as some 1 person spots. Otherwise, looks booked through August 20th.

 

Shawn says it's cool though.

 

They added a ton of spots for this week yesterday, but no additional ones for future weeks. In an IG comment that probably should have been a post of its own, they said they’ll be evaluating their staffing and adding more reservations on a week-by-week basis. So more August time slots should become available as we get nearer to those weeks.

 

Onsite reservation slots have opened up

 

I went back and read the few posts on onsite. I managed to secure a reservation & will be visiting for the first time. What’s it like now? Do you just drink on the grounds or are their assigned spaces? The menu looks out of this world, and I’m so excited. Sorry for such a newbie question. Thank you all again!

 

You order beer, sit down or go outside, mill around if you like. Drink your beer. Order another beer when you are done.

 

I was a big fan of this reservation system, and then they rolled it out and it seemed like people were booking up all the slots whether they were going or not, in case they wanted to trade them, proxy, etc. which is a little annoying, but it wouldn't be a Hill system without people circumventing the rules.

Having said that, if you are lucky enough to get a spot, it looks like Shaun is emptying the cellar....Still Art, Ann, etc. Stuff regular schmoes like me would never get to try, which is what I was hoping would happen without the crush of a pre-pandemic taproom.

 

You have to list names and DOBs when reserving a slot. Those names must match the person/people showing up for said reservation.

Call me naïve but how would you circumvent those rules? Genuine question

 

I don't think people are "trading/proxying" these at all. Maybe what the other commenter is referring to is people saying "hey I have a reservation and extra spot, anyone want to join?" which is different.

 

You book for you and a group of buddies without making sure everyone can make it. I'm seeing people gobble up these slots when they go live and then day before or day or be like "I can't go, does anyone want this slot?" or "Can someone trade for X Date?" I know for someone like myself a trip to Hill can't be a spur of the moment decision, so I can understand getting frustrated if you missed out on a spot on a day you could make the trip.

Let me be a billion percent clear here, as I know things can be misconstrued on messageboards like this.....this is merely a commentary on what I'm seeing via social media. I'm not upset about it, I am simply commenting on it and saying if I tried to get a spot on a certain date and they were sold out, and then I see on that day people offloading them, then it would annoy me.

 

Gotcha, maybe they're transferrable? I could have missed that activity, that makes sense though.

 

No.

From FAQs, Can I transfer my reservation to someone else?

“No. Reservations may not be transferred. You may cancel your reservation through Tock, and the person to whom you were hoping to transfer your reservation to may then book the reservation should it still be available.”

https://hillfarmstead.com/location/onsite/

 

lol... well... I have no clue as to what's actually occurring then (clearly)!

 

Assuming they become live again the moment someone cancels, you could effectively trade reservations by agreeing on a specific time to cancel / re-book. Early in the morning or some other time you aren’t risking some rando coming across it.

 

Was just up there and enjoyed a session. They definitely check your ID when you first order a beer and they seem to check it against on the POS ipad thingy.

It was extremely low-key. I can't imagine there were more than 25 people total during my slot. You may wait 10-15 minutes for your first beer as they let everyone in right at the time the session is meant to start and it works like it always did, with 2-3 bartenders taking orders. For my next round, I waited about 90 seconds.

The selection was great -- expect that most of what is available to go will be available on-site with a few exceptions in both directions in terms of bottles. The tap-list was minimal but amazing - Edward, Harlan, Marie, Anna 2017, and maybe one other (it was a few days ago...).

Anyway, it was a great time, but it does come at a cost, as it seems getting a reservation is mostly luck and timing. I'm not sure that visiting a brewery should be like that.

 

Has anyone tried Charlie? Sounds super interesting.

 

Same with Susan. Only dated for 28 days. Seems quite short.

 

Yup. Same with the last few things I’ve had including Nelson Single Hop and S&S4.

 

Did you get a chance at any limited offerings? I saw Anne Yellow Raspberry was yesterday, just wondering if the limited options like this are sold out in the 1st group or if they last the entire day or not.