Hill Farmstead (2020)

I can’t remember what batch I bought at the brewery, maybe batch 2, but it was definitely $60. I remember because it was the most I’d ever spent on a bottle at the time lol.

 

I’m referring to batches 3 and 4 sold to go at the brewery (both were $40).

 

Not wading into the price and bottle vs. barrel conditioning debate, but —

I notice the 'base' bottle options (Anna, Arthur, Florence) currently being sold are aged longer than they used to be. For example I used to buy Anna bottled for a month only and wait six months to let it tart up a bit. The Anna bottles on sale last week were already seven months old and ready to drink (in my view). Florence was a year old. Last summer was the first time I noticed the beers are a bit older, although not always so many months.

This is a nice progression.

 

Yeah I'm gonna have to re-review Double Nelson. The first time I had it I was disappointed as hell, though it was still a good beer.

But the can I just drank made me experience complete universal awareness. Incredible.

Basically if you don't think a HF beer is amazing, it's your fault and your palate is dumb.

 

They do have off batches. I had a growler of Abner several years ago that poured murky brown and tasted very off. Was drinking it when a friend that went the same day texted "This Abner sucks, wtf?".

Has been perfect every other time since. And Double Nelson sounds amazing.

 

It's definitely amazing. No one does single hop IPA's like Hill Farmstead.

 

Did you try this batch of Susan? I thought it was absolutely perfect. Probably the easiest drinking hop-forward beer I have have had in ages.

 

Yep I got 8 cans. It's a top 3 IPA from them and that's saying a lot.

 

They say Julius used to be all Citra (could still be) and to me is certainly superior to Double Citra. Mouthfeel, aroma, juiciness, and drinkability.

 

Agree to disagree. HF single hop beers are like opening a fresh bag of (insert hop varietal here). I think they set the standard. An incredibly precise and defined IPA experience. Treehouse (albeit tasty), still come off slightly muddled to me.

 

I think the HF single IPAs and pale ales are the best hoppy beers in the world. But honestly...I might give Tree House the edge on double IPAs. Sometimes the HF doubles have a touch of boozy sweetness that I don't necessarily dislike, but it makes them not quite as easy to drink as TH. That said if the comparison is single hop beers, I'm not even positive Tree House has a single one in their regular rotation except maybe Autumn (which I'm guessing isn't bittered with Galaxy and thus doesn't really count).

 

Hill's single hop beers strike me as the "Platonic ideal" of X Hop Beer, that all others should be measured against in terms of "how this hop should ideally taste." A bunch of other breweries make more enjoyable doubles and triples and more flavorful, creative concoctions, but man... that's certainly nothing against Hill, as I get the sense they're achieving exactly what they aim for with nearly every single IPA.

 

Stop it! You can't compare Hill Farmstead to Tree House. They're two totally different things from two completely different universes. They don't both fit in my brain at the same time.

 

Do you guys prefer Hill or 450N?

 

450N sets the standard for fruity shrapnel.

 

The only Tree House beers that fit the HF standard of singular hop expression is the bright series. The bright beers shine the same way HF does in my opinion when it comes to a definitive expression of hops. I think that is a product of a different yeast strain in TH bright beers that helps the hops dominant the flavor/aroma profile. HF's yeast must be more neutral than the TH house strains to coax out the hop flavors. Tree House house yeast is too overpowering to get the nuance of hops in other beers. For that reason, I would chose HF over Tree House when I can.

 

Ooof that’s a hard one. Very different places. For the ability to appease all sides of the family via their beer names, construction of their bar, and cool setting - I’d give the nod to HF. For craftsmanship and unwavering artistic vision, 450N.

 

I usually stop at Armsby on the way to Tree Housee and have a Hill hoppy beer of some kind. I spend my entire time thinking about how I am not going to get anything better than that at Tree House. It's night and day, and I am someone who feels Tree House still provides a unique product in this day and age of monotony. The way Hill features hops is just what vibes with me.

 

Agreed. TH is unique. The texture is top notch. However the house yeast esters overpower everything and hops become indistinguishable. Even in the 3 hop blends at HF you can pick out the individual hops if you know what you’re looking for. Pure expression of the hops themselves, not generic muddled fruit and those weird bready yeast notes from TH.

 

Craftsmanship? Is that sarcasm? They can't even perform basic brewing 101 tasks such as calculating ABV. They literally don't understand the concept of dilution, which is just comical.