Hill Farmstead hype

"And for the simple reason of geography, a vast majority of us just don't get it. Literally."​

Yeah, I realize that. I feel extremely lucky to have access. That comment was intended towards the folks who can get it, or have had it... and don't understand why it's special.

 

came in here to post a few things.

1.

2. you have a well-documented, long-running search for boobaer (i'm sorry, having learned the back story, i can never call this blabaer again).

3. hill farmstead ann just landed a boobaer.

methinks i figured out why your jimmies are rustled.

also, there is no question that hf is the "it" brewery of the moment, so yes, they are hyped. their beers are good, but people often forget they have good in their own backyard as well. i see san diegans crying that they can't land hf ipas - ffs, really? roll down the street and get a comparable one.

i've never been against ebay as a whole, but we're attacking a guy who is upset about a GROWLER being on ebay? really, this is a thing now?

 

No, I know. And I'm pretty sure if I lived closer to HF I'd be a believer too.

Fortunately I live in an area with great access to plenty of amazing local/regional beers, and what's more they're always easy to get. In fact, since I typed that last message I went down to my neighborhood shop and picked up a Cascade Apricot, a couple Logsdon saisons, and an Upright Seven. Cheers!

 

Hill Farmstead has made my favorite beers in 3 different styles: DIPA (Abner), Porter (Everett), and Saison (Civil Disobedience #1). I literally don't think I've ever had a bad beer from them - they are insanely consistent no matter the style. I think the hoppy stuff is probably the best, but the saisons are right there too. They are the best brewery in American, hands-down. I don't even know what I'd put 2nd.

 

Very much a California homer and i have made an effort to try every hyped, rare release, low bottle count, growler only and highly reviewed ipa/dipa out there in my many years of trading. Along with Alpine and RR, there are no other breweries that have so consistently wowed me with their hoppy offerings. Very few hiccups in HF's hoppy lineup. I cannot imagine what their beers would taste like on draft and not sent across the country to my home state in a box. I don't think it has anything to do with its location and I would drink their beers regularly no matter where they were located. Keep up the fantastic work.

 

Just curious—Hill Farmstead, the Alchemist, and . . . ?

 

I think HF would still be as highly regarded not matter where they were, but their stuff wouldn't trade for nearly as much if they were in a place like Portland or Michigan or something.

 

Do people that trade HF beer abuse the fact that they can get it while a lot of us can't, or is it worth what some people are asking for it? I've got access to Russian River beer on a daily basis but when I trade it I don't demand something insane in return, I trade Pliny whenever I can, not because I expect something very hard to get in return, but because I want my trading partners to be able to try it. I love sharing good beer with good people. I know that RR is a bigger brewery than HF and within the area that RR beer is distributed its not very hard to come by at all, is HF beer extremely limited even in its distribution area?

 

the majority of the traders are probably not particularly local. people drinking HF on a close-to-daily basis likely don't trade at all, while traders drive from far away to grab HF for themselves and trade some away for something nice because everyone in the country seems to want their beer.

edit: HF being so small is a big part of that. the fact is, "the beer trading population" is a tiny tiny minority of the craft beer consumer population, itself a minority of the beer drinking population. smaller, hard-to-get-to brewery just leaves you with bad odds.

 

If Hill Farmstead were in a place like San Diego, it'd be called Alpine!

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

Hill Farmstead earns its 'value' - or at least it's reputation. Nørrebro Bryghus, anyone?

It's a pain in the ass to get there, I haven't had any HF outside of what I catch at festivals, and yes, it's great, but it's not soooo much better than what I see locally that I need to drive to VT.

Although that citrus stout they did with mikkeller was bangin'.

 

I really am looking forward to trying this someday. I would love to try the Citra DIPA as wells any of their IPA and DIPA. I'm sure I could lure some out here for super fresh Alpine or RR when the time is right.

Cheers.....

 

Kevin with the common sense answer as usual!!

Mike brings the boom stick! That should answer the OP handily!!

Cheers!

Ps- ive reviewed a few of Shauns beers and they deserve the praise! With praise comes the hype.

 

That's what I've heard from people I trust. On the other hand having just returned from a Maine vacation I was not impressed that much with Maine Beer Co stuff, though to be honest the one I wanted to taste more than any other,LUNCH, I did not get to try. Oh well.

Cheers......

 

question doesn't really make sense anyway.

if it was from portland and as difficult to get? absolutely would have as much beer-not-vocabulary-advocate "hype." if it was vermont but much easier to get? less demand.

the unspecified parameters would answer your question. as stated, it's sort of loaded with conspiracy theory and reads like you're trying to argue down value so you can benefit yourself. or, you just didn't think it through.

 

I just reread this whole thread, and as far as I can tell you are literally the only person who thinks it's just a matter of location. Which is fine, you can hold whatever idiosyncratic belief you want, but don't pretend that other people agree with you when no one does.

 

And they'd make every style other than IPAs better, from what I've heard/read/had. I've heard some iffy stuff about Alpine's non-hoppy offerings. However, never heard anything bad about any HF beer. This is something that I'd need to investigate, but I suspect not too many people have had a lot of limited release HF and Alpine to compare.

No matter where they are they'd trade for a ton on the scale they're on. Imagine them releasing a beer like Ann with a couple hundred bottles in San Diego, Portland, etc. The shit would be nuts. It's a gift and a curse being so far from population. I happen to love it, since they're not busy on non-release days and the environment is awesome.

I don't claim to have had all of the top beers, but from what I know and have gotten to try, HF is the best brewery I've come across. Art, E. Anna, amazing saisons. Abner is right up there with Heady Topper and I haven't had Galaxy, Double Citra, or Ephraim. Everett is so well done for a standard porter. If you can call Edward a pale ale, it's right up there with Zombie Dust. People like to claim it's hyped, but that hype/praise led me and 2 friends to go up there and have our minds blown by Shaun's creations. If I could hook all BAs up with some growlers I would, so we could settle this debate. It's really worth the trip for anyone considering it.

 

I've only been able to try three HF offerings thus far (Edward, Ephrian, and Everett)... I have been thoroughly impressed by each and everyone... I like to think that I'm a bit of a tough reviewer with only one perfect 5 in 997 reviews... The location, facility, and limited production only add to the tale... Is it hype? Perhaps, but there would be no hype if the beers weren't truly outstanding.