Hill Farmstead hype

you should lock down Ann. No one knows about it yet, get it man.

 

What beers do have "wow" factors? A legitimate question...

 

FF and Anna are both overhyped BTW. It would be one superhyped psydo-whale for another. The fact that people pay 50+ at bars for Fou Foune is beyond me.

Not saying FF isn't awesome. It is. But the hype on that beer is off the charts considering it is a regular seasonal offering which is shipped all over the world.

 

Well personally some of the beers that really surprised me and that I've enjoy over the years are things like:

Nemesis 09
Heady Topper
Baladin Xyauyù
CBS
Dark Island Reserve
Parabola
PtY
Wet

Just a few of my favorites... basically anything I've either tasted or smelled and said to myself "wow".

 

All overhyped.

Kidding, kidding.

I have a bottle of '11 Parabola. Never tried it. Still haven't gotten around to it. Should I crack it this week?

Last HF beer I tried was Nor. It was a collaboration with Cigar City (I think). I thought it was amazing.

 

Anna is currently on the shelf, FF may not be a huge whale but it certainly should pull more than a $10 beer that is currently available with no limit. BTW I countered with a $4$ and was never replied too so I was not asking for the moon.

 

Someone offering you one Anna for a FF is a joke... Serious lowball offer.

 

I agree and I wasn't knocking you. One is a shelf whale (albiet a shelf in the middle of nowhere) the other they make a ton of but the demand is high (you have to be at the right place at the right time) . I wouldn't do that trade either BTW. FF is awesome stuff and I can't imagine many better beers.

 

Hill Farmstead is the best brewery in America hands-down. They're not just hype for a small brewery with small distro like so many claim them to be. They make the best hoppy beers and the best saisons of any brewery I've ever had, and their porters are second-to-none as well.

I just did a count and I've had 41 of the 76 HF beers listed on BA. I think I've maybe been disappointed 3 or 4 times out of 41 (Florence, Daybreak, Clara batch 1, Earl). The rest all ranged from great to unbelievable!

 

As for aging/opening a bottle of something is entirely up to you. I had Parabola on draft last November at an event I went to and it made me wanna cry tears of joy. I can't say whether to open it or not. I would hope that after a year it would be good, I would hope after many years it would be still good. So it's really up to you, I do believe that you'll like it a lot though regardless. As I mentioned before I have no doubts that HF makes good/better beers than what I've had so far. I would love to try all of HF's brews but since they're near impossible to I don't even bother.

 

I've only had 6-7 HF offerings so take my opinion fwiw. Their hoppy beers are stunning. The other offerings I've had (BoT, Everett, Vera Mae, etc) have been damn good but nothing exceptional.

The problem for me is, the asking price is just too high for me to justify trading for them. I'd happily drink Ephraim, Abner, Double Citra, etc all the time but they just aren't worth trading for on a regular basis.

 

My local brewery is Hill Farmstead. If I moved some where else I would never, ever, ever trade for a HF IPA (especially Ephraim). Honestly, it really saddens me that so many people will judge his beer from a growler that is like a month old. Growler filled IPAs just don't last that long, and really shouldn't be traded for IMO.

Make the trip to Vermont; it is a beautiful state.

 

I think this is a dbag comment. In case you haven't noticed, this is a small community of craft beer enthusiasts, many of whom do not live anywhere near Vermont. We all get to hear about the amazing local beers being produced all over the US, that gets many of us excited. trading for or purchasing online is often the only feasible way to get to try these beers. So you think people who live in say Indianapolis Indiana should just hop in the wagon and drive 18 hours to come for a visit? Having a BA get to enjoy a growler of some Hill Farmstead beer that was not filled that day, via a trade, is frankly a good problem to have.

 

I could not disagree with you more. My local brewery is NOT Hill Farmstead. I don't live anywhere near Vermont. However, my BA friend Gpawned hooked up a trade and called me to come visit him after he got his box. For the price of gas, I was introduced to Society & Solitude 5. This is maybe my favorite beer I have ever had. Could be that I just really got swept up in the moment that my friend would share the 750ml of his unobtainable beer with me, or maybe it really is that good. I don't know, it was perfect at the time.

I don't have time to take away from my family and work or hundreds of dollars for travel and lodging. I don't need it. I have great friends.

Seems to me you are in a spot to get some folks some fresh HF with very little effort. Let me know if you change your mind.

 

The thing is, visiting the place is truly like going somewhere out of the way, unique, isolated and very special, if kind of simple. IF you really love beer, and good drink, it's worth it to go visit I think every beer nut/geek/fiend whatever should really just go at some point in their life.

I lucked out cause a friend of mine now literally lives 10-15 minutes away from the place. I visited him already once and can't wait for a time I can go back to HF. Edward is EVERYWHERE in Vermont, it's practically like the Budweiser of Vermont (in terms of availability I mean ).

Can you survive skipping it, sure of course if you get other brews you really enjoy, but it's very memorable, and of course the brews are truly exceptional. I can only think of one that might not have been and it was otherwise pretty solid.

 

You can think it is a dbag comment, but I've seen first hand people give up a ton to get a growler of it, and it turns out that it is awful, oxidized beer, and it is probably month or two old. I guess you just have to get good traders. Bottled beers are a different story. If he started bottling his IPAs I'd say ship that all day long. It is more about the vessel.

Although I did say the last comment in jest, if you can, you should come to Vermont.

 

Who are you crapping?

 

Switchback is more this than Edward. It is actually hard to find in NEK (even though the brewery is in that region) and southern VT.

 

I would rather watch all sporting events live. Doesn't mean I shouldn't watch them on TV because they are better in person. I don't disagree it would be worth the trip, I just cant swing it. Sounds like a truly wonderful place and I imagine I will go at some point, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy their beer now.

 

Last I was there it was all over in that sorta... North East area I guess you could call it., although I do remember many times my friend telling me other areas of the state are kind of in their own little places to some degree, so it doesn't surprise me that some places would never see it? Loved the fact there was always HF up at Parker Pie.