Hill Farmstead (2022)

Yes. They’re also a small grocery store and HF distributes to them. Also, constantly refresh HF’s Tock reservation page. I had one open up for my birthday trip out there, and never got the waitlist email (though my wife did get an email from the waitlist after I had secured us a spot).

 

I would go to Stowe for food and drinks at Doc Ponds, hit up Stowe Beverage and the Alchemist. Also Trap Family Lodge, The Bench or Piecasso are all great options.

Then drive to Waterbury for the Foam tap room that just opened, CBC for bottles and cans and then Blackback or the Reservoir for food and drink.

 

You mean freak folk? Not Foam.

 

Aren't you still able to go in the taproom for a scaled down menu, like Edward, etc.? I thought they opened that option up, but maybe it changed with the Triple Barrel Damon nonsense this week.

 

Ha, yes i meant Freak Folk. Amazing beers and right downtown Waterbury. It's a must hit now if I am in the area.

 

Yes, per post last week, anyone can walk in and get a glass of what’s on draft

 

How’s the drink limit work in the time of reservations?

 

I went up solo before the new year and the only real limitation was I couldn't solo dome a 750 bottle. I had some pours and a 375 bottle to myself. Now, I didn't try to hammer back three straight Damons, but I think so long as you keep it together, relatively speaking, it's a relaxed limit.

 

Good news, a super nice individual in the hill group offered my 3 reservations for tomorrow so I'm more than pumped. Thanks everyone for all the recommendations. So many spots to hit and so little time!

 

To piggy back on others- Freak Folk's Familiar Spaces is a great raspberry wild ale and currently available at their spot in Waterbury. CBC Waterbury had an amazing collection of 3F (drie) beers as of last week. The road into Hill was fine a week ago.

 

You’ve got a great list of places to hit, but HF is going to be far and away the best part of this. Not like you’re planning to rush. But be sure to take your time and enjoy HF.

 

Willey's is a classic general store, and also the closest retail point of sale for Jasper Hill Cheese Creamery (2 miles up the road, but no public access.) Best prices anywhere, and often some sweet 2-for-1 deals.

 

Don’t forget they let you mix heady and focal so you can split a four pack. Lessens the blow after spending too much at Hill.

 

Is the beer at Willy’s refrigerated?

 

Most of it is. Shelf stable things (mixed ferm, etc) are on the shelves, but the coolers, which I think there are two smallish ones, have most of the hop forward offerings in them.

 

Today was delightful. Beautiful weather for a few pours

 

Can the reservations just…go away.

They are useless and unnecessary

 

Couldn't disagree more. First off, it's generally very mellow now, even on Fri and Sat. Lines for pours are never more than 10 min (and usually its less or no wait at all). In the past, on a Fri or Sat during summer, the line was easily out the door and could take 30 minutes. Forget it if it was a huge release. Secondly, I highly doubt they would have beers like Art, Samuel, double barrel Aaron and triple barrel Damon available for pours if they didn't have a way to regulate the number of people on those days. I think it's awesome that when those are available, they're available all day long and not just for the people who lined up an hour before opening. Thirdly, the $5 reservation fee is a donation and each month a local charity gets a nice boost that they wouldn't otherwise see. And fourth, you can still show up and get a pour even without a reservation. Options are limited, but it's usually something hoppy and one of the old world lagers, which are often the best beers available on a given day.

 

I don’t want to make a reservation a month out and guess on a trip and weather. I’ve been to hill farm a number of times before the reservations and Covid started and it was never and issue or that busy. I enjoyed being able to do a trip spontaneously.

 

I hope reservations are still in place when we return in the Fall.

I'm an adult human. I can make plans ahead of time, and also adjust for extenuating circumstances.

I've also been to Hill prior to the reservation era, and if you want to pretend like it wasn't a shitshow, albeit as well-managed as could be, then you're lying to yourself.

Besides, people can and do still drop in spontaneously, at least last I saw both in person and mentioned online. But if the more limited options are that important to you, then set aside a weekend in advance. It's gotta be a helluva lot easier to plan a day trip ahead of time when you don't live 12 hours away.