Hill Farmstead (2022)

When did Hill's IPAs and Lager fall off? OR is it just me -I went up recently and bought a case of Marie, SS4, SS6 and Double Citra. They all seemed pretty bland and lacked the distinctive HF hop highlight. Just mellowed bland lagerness/ hoppness. Thankfully I was rather pleased with Vera Mae and Arthur Puncheon. The glass of Still Art I had in the taproom was amazing. I have always loaded up on the lagers and IPAs at HF, but.....gasp.... I would go to Tree House next time for those.

 

this is interesting to me. Because Tree House is 35 minutes, and HF is 3 hours and 35 minutes, I obviously lean towards the 35 minute drive. That bias acknowledged, I tend to agree with you. The last batch of Marie I had, didn’t stand out, nor did the hoppy stuff. I think it might be Tree House (and a few others), are just furthering / continually refining their beers, while HF may not be.

The farmhouse / saison / table beers are as good as ever. TH definitely isn’t on their level, but Fox Farm is really putting out some great spontaneous beers, and also isn’t a 3.5 hour drive.

 

I had some Susan, Harlan, and Edward a couple months ago that were as good as any HF I've ever had, legitimately incredible beers. To me the only time they've ever fallen off was the 6 months or so they were dialing back in after the expansion. But even outside that I don't think they've ever batted a thousand. I don't say that to knock them though, literally none of them do.

 

I had the riwaka on tap at Torst 2 days ago. Tasted really good to me. I didn’t get any dirt flavors. Riwaka hops sometimes taste like green peppers to me. And maybe some perfumey herbs. Very unique hop indeed. In general I love NZ hops, Nelson being one of my favorite. I’d say the hill farmstead riwaka pale ale was a very clean and singular expression of the hop. As the other legendary Vermont brewer - John kimmich - said, he tries to convey the sensory experience of opening and rubbing those fresh hops during selection into his beers. I kind of got that kind of feel out of this one. Like Hill was a chef making a simple dish and letting the main ingredient shine, uninhibited.

 

Last batch of cans I had recently were Double Nelson, S&S.....4, and Marie.

All Double Nelsons were ridiculous. I didn't think anything could top Double Riwaka as my favorite, but this was damn close.

S&S were hit and miss, majority of really good. Couple squishy cans as mentioned, low carb, etc.

Marie......oof. Bought a case and maybe 4 of them were what I would call Marie. Others were flattish, dull and disappointing. A bummer, for sure.

 

This is just baffling to me.

We did a side by side of Marie and Bierstadt's Helles, as well as Mary and Bierstadt's Slow Pour Pils this weekend, blind. Not only did everyone have difficulty guessing which was which, but we also were unanimously unable to pick a favorite. They had clear nuanced differences, but were all stellar beers across the board.

This is coming from someone whose very first Hill beer was Mary on draft many years ago, and who has held that beer as a standard to any pilsner worldwide. I wasn't disappointed in the least this weekend, and am happy to have more in the fridge.

 

Unfortunately, my recent experience was more akin to @thedaveofbeer. I was up there about a month ago. All the bottles I've opened have been stellar. The onsite beer was incredible (Triple Barrel Damon, Memoria). All the cans (Marie + a few IPAs) were very underwhelming, to the extent that I would consider only getting bottles the next time I went.

Biggest issue was lack of carbonation. After a strong pour from the can into a glass, the beer was almost flat. I had to very delicately pour to retain any carbonation at all.

Aside from the carb issue, the beer wasn't bad, but I've got access to better (and closer to home) IPAs and lagers when compared to this recent experience. Definitely wasn't what I remembered from HF's IPAs and lagers, but it's probably been 4 or 5 years since I was last up there.

 

That last batch of Double Nelson was absurd. Probably one of the best hazies I've had this year.

I also had cans of Song of Summer and Abner. Abner was weird. It looked way different from what I remember. Basically looked and tasted like Sip of Sunshine. Recent Untappd check-ins seemed to agree with me so I thought maybe they changed up the recipe. It was definitely different from how I remember it in years past.

 

My last two trips to Hill (May and Labor Day) the draft was incredible and the cans were disappointing. Lack of carb was the primary issue, and they just tasted sort of bland, although maybe that was a result of the carb as well. It’s unfortunate, but the draft versus cans were completely different experiences across the board—lagers, pales, IPAs. My growlers were bad too, did not hold up even a week.

 

This is the longest string of negative HF comments that I can remember. Related to beer, anyway.

 

To be fair, the Bierstadt Slow Pour Pils is one of the best pilsners I've ever had.

 

Can anyone speak to the current batch of double galaxy? Also any feedback on current can offerings - Mary, susan, would be appreciated.

 

Works of Love:Monk’s Cafe is pretty damn amazing, so make sure to grab one of those when it releases at the source.

 

I’ve consistently been drinking Hill for the last 12yrs. My palate tells me the beers are as dialed in as they have ever been. The latest Nelson PA cans were magical. The last batch of Harlan had the most pleasant Columbus hop character I’ve tasted in any Columbus hop forward beer in a while. And Edward is at its peak with a beautiful Tang (yes Tang the drink powder) Chinook/Simcoe/Amarillo?hop flavor. Has anyone noticed the amazing fine tightly knit head on their beers lately?
Very few have the beautiful longevity their beers have in the can. I’m sorry but I respectfully disagree with the sentiments that their canned beers have been disappointing.

 

I am just shocked it took everyone so long to speak up on this forum. I think HF IPAs have been mediocre to awful all year. Edward and abner were trash the last time we went. There have been some bangers, Citra was nice, and the last ephraim we got was fabulous. Marie and Mary were great this summer, true 5/5 for each.

It seems to me like the canning line isnt good. Like the beer isnt fresh. I know nothing about these things, but the beers seem dull, lack body and flavor. Theres no spring in their step. The hops is muted, and i dare say the dark color of what comes out of the can compared to the drafts makes me think.... dare i say the O word...

I have sent cans to several good friends, all of whom have been to HF, the consensus was unanimous, the cans are trash and it stinks

I would love to hear how the current cans are. any comments on Double galaxy or Harlan?

 

Curious what canned hoppy beers and lagers you have enjoyed lately?

 

This thread has taken a turn, in which I participated in…That said, I by no means think HF is putting out subpar beer in any category. I can’t say I’ve had a less than stellar beer from them. I literally just think TH is putting out really, really solid beers recently, and are much more accessible.

 

A buddy from work picked up beer for me in May. The hoppy beers were all good, especially Double Nelson, but my cans of Marie were seriously under carbonated and tasted nothing like the beer I had had previously on draft. Which was a bummer as I love their German lagers. The fact that I still have a can in the back of the fridge telling, as HF never lasts long in my household.

 

Have to agree on some of the posts here. We were disappointed in some of what we’ve had lately as well.

My cans of Double Nelson were great. But I had actually opened up a (modest man Nelson beer) and when we had a few sips it was easy to say it was just as good and actually a bit more impactful for that hop flavor.

The cans of the Of First and Last Things were pretty good. A nice change from double Nelson. Was the carb a bit weird?

Susan…what’s going on here? Beer seemed almost on the flatter side and the open crack was odd. All four cans seemed off with a very muted flavor of which if anyone knows Susan, is quite a bit on the older school side. Something wasn’t right.

Also recently have had draft pours of Edward from a very clean and reputable establishment. Both of us looked at each other and said “that’s it, that’s all the flavor we get from it now?” Which was very odd for me to feel.

I do love a lot of their stuff and some of the dark and wild game is great. But I do wonder if some of the folklore is now starting to not match the suds. You be the judge. Then again, Shaun himself took a beating recently online. That went away though

 

I've said this before, but I don't think canned beer is the best vehicle to showcase quality. Much of HF's lore was built around small batch growlers that (in my experience at least) was poured directly by Shaun. He had everything under his control. The best experience with hop-forward beers is always draft and amongst the best draft beers I've ever had are Abner at Three Penny and Edward at Worthy Burger. Something gets lost in the transfer to cans.

Their bottled stuff, which I haven't had in ages, like Arthur and Anna and M&C were always my favorites because those beers in glass are perfectly represented.