Hill Farmstead (2021)

If you descry my satchel bobbling on the demesne, please retrieve and return said bozak with alacrity.

 

Went to Hill on a whim yesterday after getting a pop up IG post the night before announcing available opening for the on site experience. Once my wife agreed to accompany me - it was on. We got reservations for the outdoor set up - and while it was cool and rainy - we managed to enjoy three beers and a couple of nice cheese plates over two hours. The experience is as good as most people have said - more relaxing/tailored than the prior set up. Some additional comments - there’s a lot of flexibility w/the process and it’s clear single walk-ups can likely get a pour if they play their cards right. The bathroom situation continues to be kinda redic - w/the across the street porta potties and the single tap room water closet. It’s better than the the 2010 set up (use the tree outside the barn to take a leak) - but not much. They really should fix this. Beer selection was impressive - I did a little of everything - a Memoria, Damon ($15 for 4 oz), and a Citra pale - and left very satisfied. The staff as usual all very engaging and chill. Certainly not a trip for those on a budget but I think the current incarnation of the experience is pretty unique in the beer world and keeps me wanting to go back. Looking forward to doing it w/a larger group of friends - saw several groups of 6 or so having a blast.

 

Given the accompanying words I’m assuming that’s a bong on the right? Expensive bong water.

 

Separate aerator that was used here for dregs…consumed later

 

That is some impressive literary work. I will admit though I only understood about 33% of the words.

 

Do you remember when Heady Topper was inconstant?

 

Question on HF M&C blend 13.

Is the term "sweet stout" used by the Hill Farmstead staff to describe the beer on the beer label mean that the beer is a milk stout?

Or is this perhaps a Hill Farmstead Pastry stout that did not use lactose/milk sugar?

Any assistance with clarification is great appreciated! Cheers!

 

They will mention lactose when used as an adjunct. The sweet stout mentioned for #13 was also used for #11 and lactose was not mentioned in the descriptions from Hill's website Beer archive. Haven't had a blend with the batch1K beer yet, but I'd imagine it is fermented in a way to leave behind residual sugar.

 

I don't know alot about the milk stout / sweet stout category; especially not the technical brewing aspect of the beer. Milk stout and sweet stout are lumped together as a similar style on this website I don't understand why. Appreciate the info!

 

I had a momentary lapse myself when looking at the BJCP style guide as they do the same as BA. For some reason, I want to remember that BJCP didn't lump Milk stout and sweet stout together, but it has been awhile and I know BJCP changes style guidelines do vary from year to year.

 

Hmm interesting

 

Wondering whether to get my hopes up or temper them: how long have beers like Flora (2pp) been lasting* nowadays with the reservation system in place, and assumably less people there?... specifically have my fingers crossed for it lasting until next Weds but also realize that could be a longshot.

*I fully realize that this depends on yield and isn't static, just looking for some general, anecdotal evidence.

 

Some comparisons…

Flora Blueberry/Cherry, same format, 1 pp, lasted around two weeks.
Anna Pear, same format, no limit, lasted around two weeks as well.
Juicy, 750 ml, 1 pp, lasted almost a month
Damon, 500 ml, 2 per, lasted a month.

I’d think a week is certainly possible with only 3 retail day opportunities until next Wednesday. On the other hand, the excitement of a Flora release is in play.

 

Cool, thank you very much for the timetables -- those are a little longer than I would have guessed so my hopes are sufficiently up and I'm going to be disappointed if it doesn't last (lol). But of course I'm well-aware that Flora excitement might trump previous timelines.

 

It seems they have gotten more relaxed with the reservations.

It currently still shows that reservations are for 90 minutes. Is that more of a suggestion? Or are they asking people to leave if they stay too long?

If anyone else knows the answer here, thank you in advance.

 

They didn't enforce the 90 minute limit the day I was there but we opted for the outside vs inside seating and I also didn't try to order a beer after my time limit was up. I think we hung out for ~2 hrs or so before leaving. I'm sure inside seating is enforced for obvious reasons - and they may have the servers do the enforcing for outside folks by refusing to serve.

 

Was dead couple Fridays ago when I went, not much enforcement on time limits nor consumption, though they did refuse to serve me a 750 bottle solo (ISO friends lol). But there was also no giant bottle release to deal with, either.

Given the Flora release, you may see some more bored wives/girlfriends hanging around "helping" their significant others out and checking their phones, but I am a huge fan of the taproom reservations than the line leaping/hovering of a fully open one.

 

Figuring it lasts the weekend, or fear it’s running low, I’d take advantage of the retail web shop that’s goes live at 5AM on the Wednesday morning of your trip and order ahead. Not knowing your driving timeline, you’ll be able to secure your bottles and not worry about missing out while on the road.

 

Able to land some? How’d the trip turn out? I logged into work Wednesday morning just after 6 and it was already “out of stock” on the retail page.

 

No dice. Impossible to complain about a trip to Hill though, always a pleasure.