Hill Farmstead Growler / Trade question

http://hillfarmstead.com/growlers/

That should help. They will fill other breweries growlers as long as they are clean and fit in the guidelines.

Double Citra is only in 750s at the moment.

 

No problem. Shipping 2L sucks anyways, Shipping 750s are much easier. Throw up an ISO:FT. Should be able to trade for one with some Cigar City stuff, just depends what you have

 

Also, I wouldn't go out of your way to get a 64 oz filled. The pop top that HF uses on their growlers is a lot better than the screwtop that 64oz'ers have.

 

I appreciate that HF fills other brands of growlers (non-clear screw tops), but still don't understand why they can't fill the "real" German swing top growlers.

 

They are heavy and can damage taps?
Large opening allows oxygen intrusion while filling?
Larger than 2l capacity (think the 2l mark is at the bottom of the neck)?
Have to be held in place while filling and don't allow multitasking while filling? (Probably same reason they don't fill 32 ounce growlers)

Those are some reasons I can think of....

 

they're too tall for their tap setup

 

Some of the finest brewers in the world fill those babies. Strange that with millions of dollars in renovations, including a new or improved taproom they can't do what most every other bar and brewery in the world can do- but that's their biznay. Still, a great great place and I will be filling growlers there in the near future- just not my fine German ones.

 

They have a business model where people line up for hours to get their beers...If I was them, I wouldn't go out of my way to modify my taproom to fill various kinds of growlers.

I have only been to HF once, and won't rush back, but if they were going to improve anything, I'd like to see them figure out a way to lessen the wait time. I guess the easiest way to do that would be to add more taps/employees. Having to wait *in line* for hours isn't appealing to me. I'm fine waiting, but it'd be nice to be able to mingle and spread out and go up to the counter when your name/number is called.

 

I don't know how long it's been since your last/only visit, but in the past year they've updated the point-of-sale system, streamlined the ordering system, added taps, and added employees.

 

It's been a few years...and was before their upgrades were done.

So how long does it take to get your growlers filled now ? Do you still have to wait in line the entire time, or can you put your order in and just pick up your bottles when they are ready ?

 

Want to get to Treehouse ASAP, but not forward to buying anymore growlers (Treehouse being half the distance from my home in VT than HF is)- but the impression I get is that the lines are even longer than HF. Anyone feel like comparing the two experiences?

 

I can speak to Tree House. While the growler fill line may be longer (lately it's been 1-2 hours at times), you can put in your ticket and they will tell you how long until your growlers will be ready. If it's going to be a couple hours, you can go grab lunch/dinner somewhere and come back. I've done this numerous times and really appreciate this process.

 

IMHO they both have their ups and downs. Tree House's hours and demand (especially when anything "special" is on) are such that there's rarely a time you can show up after open and not be an hour+ back in the growler queue. The way to get in and out quickly is either to just buy whatever's in cans or show up an hour before open, so you're waiting either way.

It's kind of a crap shoot, but HF has some pretty chill hours these days, typically later Wednesday or Thursday afternoons, where you could fill all the growlers you want in 10 minutes. They've also started unofficially opening earlier, so a lot of people have actually gotten in and out well before noon. As others have pointed out, the system is much more efficient than it used to be, with more taps, more people, pipelining of multiple orders... 15 or 20 people in front of you nowadays is about right for the time you'll want to enjoy your sampler.

HF still has the growler line, vs. Tree House's ticket system. I definitely like the latter, and hope that when the expansion is open, HF will adopt something similar. Hard to believe Shaun wants to fill that great new space with cordons.

 

So i would be better off going Wednesday afternoon vs opening you think? I guess if something is left over from the week before thats a 2pp or so i'll show up early, but it seems as if i want to be there not too long the afternoon might be the way to go. I'm hoping this holds true early july!

 

Getting there at opening is the worst time to go, IMO. You show up 1-2 hours before they open and you only wait 30 min to be in and out of there...you're still there for 1.5-2.5 hours! Later in the day can be just as bad, no rhyme or reason. Good luck,

 

I'd guess so. But like @RKing44 said, it's hard to predict. I like showing up early because I can predict when I'll be out of there, and it's a beautiful spot to hang out and chat with beer folk.

Of course by July, the expansion might be open and all the old conventional wisdom could be wrong.

 

It seems both places could use a nice food truck. I know of a couple breweries that do that and they do well.

 

Actually last summer hf did have a food truck of sorts there.

Any other complaints, anything else you'd like to piss and moan about? Yeah things could be better at both hf and treehouse. They've worked to make them better. Maybe making your "suggestions " to them in person would help.

Off to treehouse shortly. Boy i hope it's a good experience this time!