Hill Farmstead expansion plans approved

sounds like the Northeast Kingdom in a nutshell

 

Lots of BANANAS (build absolutely nothing anywhere near anything) in the NEK, even people that haven't been here for generations. Jasper Hill, Pete's and HMS don't even have a ton of customer traffic like HF. Plus HMS is on route 15 anyways. These people are gonna be real upset if Bill Stenger's visions comes to fruition.

Change is scary!

 

Unless you live on one of those little side roads leading up to HF and are annoyed at the slight increase in traffic it makes no sense to be against having a small brewery there. Some people just like to complain for the hell of it, even if what they are complaining about doesn't affect them negatively at all(Pawnee residents are an all too real depiction).

 

Upset is putting it mildly imo. Of course most of those people are unemployed or under employed because there are no jobs in NEK other than the businesses listed and of course the new Walmart that is supposedly coming.

 

I'm staying here in Stowe with my wife for the weekend (again) because of HF, Alchemist and Lawson's. We made the trifecta brewery/store visits yesterday and we're gonna spend the next few days visiting restaurants and bars and stores. Definitely wouldn't be here as often if it wasn't for these incredible breweries.

I saw one other car on Hill Road yesterday. Man, rush hour at HF is craaaaaaazy

 

Friggin' hippies!

 

There is a fairly large group of people living in Vermont that think the "tourists" are nothing but a bother and believe the job they have would remain, but be less hectic if they all just went away. Love the salt of the earth old-time farmers and the people who moved here because they love the state- but pretty much every in between is a loser. I know because I deal with them everyday.

 

Here's a good example. A local winery wanted to expand, so they could host wedding, tours, etc. A former state representative who lived down the road led the charge to stop them, because he didn't want the traffic going down his road and disturb his gardening. And this guy was an former elected state official!

 

Out him now, please!

 

All you have to do is have these people read a Hill Farmstead bottle:

 

There is a sizeable portion of every population that is rabidly against any change, even for the better (don't want to disturb those slumbering brain cells). Maybe they'd like HF better if Shaun made a Bud Light clone?

 

I think they just don't undertand economics to any degree what so ever- on top of being a moron.

 

In case you haven't seen the Act 250 paperwork, the 3d renderings and site plans were just uploaded to
http://www.vtbeer.org/2013/07/17/hill-farmstead-brewery-expansion-renderings/

Overall, the 3d renderings and site plans look really nice. It also appears they'll be using the new storage space instead of off-site storage in Hardwick, which should make it easier to manage. Once the fruit trees get planted, I think the overall brewery will be even nicer.

 

That looks great.

 

Nice!! Wonder what he'll do with their old farmhouse - mentioned he wants to build a little place for himself down by the pond for more privacy. And not having that leased box truck pulling in all the time with beer in storage from Hardwick must be a change to look forward to.

 

Already planted: pears, plums, cherries

So much more room for activities!!

 

Absolutely love it. Based on the angle, that exterior deck should have a perfect view. I can't wait to sit up there and just look out over the mountains, savoring a HF pour, relaxing and enjoying life. Hoping we get to see lots more of Darren's outstanding woodwork throughout.

I hope somewhere, inside or out, you can still see that little pond down the hill to the side of the brewery. It's always been very intriguing and imaginative to me to look at, semi-tucked behind some trees. But if Shaun wishes to have it as a more private area for himself then I can certainly understand and applaud that.

 

As an architect and beer lover, there are few things in this world more exciting to me than this. The project looks great--respectful of the land and seems to pay homage to the agricultural-industrial buildings in the area, while being contemporary and built for the purpose of brewing. If this means they can expand their production a bit and handle a bit bigger crowds for growler fills, I'm even more excited.

 

Did we just become best friends?

Seriously though, couldn't +1 the comments here more. This is going to be a beautiful continuation to the Hill family homage, and hopefully fewer people will walk into Shaun's house to use his bathroom...

 

Yep, you want to go to karate in the garage?!?!?