Hill Farmstead hype

As you say, he was set up to pour at the Cheesemakers fest. However, he did not, or at least not for long (though it sounds like you got some and saw him pouring). Now, there's nothing wrong with Otter Creek or Long Trail - but I could have used something else after all that delicious fromage. There was some good cider there, at least.

Anyway, after looking around for him, I found someone "in charge" and asked where HF was, and she told me that he'd left. I probed a bit more, and she wouldn't tell me exactly what had happened, other than Shaun threw some kind of a tantrum, packed up his beer, and took off. I guess we can chalk that up to his "quirky" personality. Maybe there was even a good reason. Anyone know?

 

I can tell you exactly what happened. The festival insisted he do 2oz. pours for the tickets that people purchased at the entrance for beer, wine & ciders. He and the cidery were charging $5 for a nice 8oz. glass. When the directors told him he had to do 2oz pours for a single ticket, of which he gets no money for, they bailed and packed up after an hour. Told me they would go broke in short order. His gf is closely-associated with the fest, and was a featured speaker - if she supported his decision then I don't blame them at all for leaving. The rest of the beers were served in a ridiculous, wine-centric fashion - flights of 4 pours, one at a time, with a line of 20 people in steamy conditions waiting for even 1 pour. Absolutely inappropriate for beer service. I told the VT Brewers Assoc. director, who was on-site (and a sponsor) how gypped the brewers got with this arrangement, and he (and I) are on fire to get this corrected for next year. Has been an on-going issue now for the last 3 years, and it has to be resolved before the next one.

 

Gotcha. Seems like he should have known about it beforehand if it's been the case previously - and it seems obvious that he'd have to pour samples for the tickets. I mean, that's what they were for. But there were certainly wineries doing full pours for $6 or so in addition to samples.

The whole flight of beers thing was silly, I agree. My thirst was less than quenched. Good cheese, though.

 

Was not the case previously (he has poured there the last 3 years, as has Lawson's) and the cidery continued to pour their product for $4 for a nice 8oz pour - didn't know if the wineries were doing full pours or not.

 

What is to say... in the end a craft by a craftsmen needs appreciation. The craft in question, like all art is subjective.
Both to taste and to trends. I have benefitted from a close (3hr) proximity, and watched the continued development of HF. All with great beer.
There continues to be craft growth and craft quality, and soul, so lets enjoy.
As for the hype "in the time we spend acting out against something (we think has been taken from us), even more slips away" (Kormac McCarthey)
I will be in Greensboro enjoying the art this very weekend, and August 11th.
To all those brewers doing the great work, Cheers.

SABERG

 

There is very little hype, imho.

 

The IPAs and pale ales are remarkably good.

 

Here's the deal. I'm a nice guy, I like sending people awesome beers. I sent out two of my three Jimmys to a couple regular trading partners. Then, I had my Jimmy while watching the Open this past weekend. Upon tasting the first sip, I got extremelly sad that this was my only bottle. It was unlike anything I've had before, and I cherished it. I was mad at myself for sending two of these beauties away. Then, I felt guilty because I was actually regretting the action of spreading HF wealth around. Then I couldn't sleep because I was wondering if I was a bad person.

Then, the next day I opened an Everett. And repeated the cycle.

WHY DO YOU MESS WITH MY MIND, HILL FARMSTEAD?!

 

Would you say that your jimmies were rustled?

 

I've been fortunate enough to experience a vast majority of their beers...and I've enjoyed them quite frequently, and in pretty high volumes. I thoroughly enjoy most of their stuff. I've had a couple I wasn't thrilled with...but for the most part, they're of a quality such that when they're available to me...it's pretty much all I drink. They're the one brewer I feel that if I was restricted to drinking just one brewer's beer...I could get by quite comfortably indeed.

I know the west coast is the "holy land" when it comes to IPA's...and the argument of east vs. west is tired and boring. That said, I think Hill Farmstead would excel on the dark side of the goddam moon. I'm certain it would fair just fine anywhere on the west coast.

 

I'm sure the answer to this question is somewhere on these forums but since this thread is active, I might as well ask this question here. They will fill non-HF growlers at the brewery right as long as they are not clear, right? My friend has a cool looking blue 750ml swing-top that I'd love to use. Either way I'm planning on stocking up on a few of their growlers as well.

 

Well id be more than happy to hook you up with fff stuff for some HF stuff....but that seems a bit unlikely lol

 

Now that's an interesting question. I do a lot of lighting for video, and when we are trying to convert reddish quartz lights to look like daylight, we use very intensely-colored blue gels that match the color temp of sunlight. I wonder if blue glass would intensify the skunking effect of daylight on beers??

 

I very much doubt it would intensify it vs clear glass. Your gel is set to match the optical qualities of light, not the UV qualities. For the effect to be larger in blue than clear you'd need the blue dye to somehow be less effective at blocking UV than nothing, which doesn't seem likely to me. Then again I know very little about glass chemistry.

 

I'm sure a whole new thread could be started, and I'd be quite interested to find out just for curiosity sake. The blue 750 I plan on bringing has had homemade cider from 09 in it up until recently so it's never had the chance to be used for skunking experiments. I'm guessing that with how dark it is, not much more light penetrates compared to a brown bottle but either way it's not that hard to keep it out of sunlight on the car ride home.

 

Blue is better than clear, but not quite as good as green.
This should answer some of your questions: http://ec.libsyn.com/p/8/d/d/8dde0d...1ce3dae902ea1d01cc8435d5cf5d39db&c_id=1452594

 

into the convo late, but squashing the hype. Been to OR, CA and alot of other states not worth mentioning. Pretty sure I have had the chance to taste what ever was available the time I was visiting. currently kicking it in hartford. not too much going on here for beer. Hill Farmstead is 4-4.5 hours away and about $125.00 in gas to get there. I go to hill farmstead for beer. I do stop to get heady and lawsons but neither can compare. 3 years ago, After getting back to the east coast for a month long trip to portland OR I was skiing at sugarbush and I tasted some lawsons finest and was like damn, that tastes almost as good as the beer out in OR. After drinking Hill farmstead I am now trying to move to VT for the rest of my life! A beer should never be judged on the taste out of your glass at home, nevermind after being shipped across the county. Atmosphere, scene, and personality play just as big of a role. NOT TO MENTION THAT GROWLERS I KEEP COLD AND UN-OPENED FROM THE MINUTE I LEAVE HILL FARMSTEAD TASTE DIFFERENT 4 DAYS LATER. You may never know what the "hype" is about until you drink beer fresh from the farm.

 

"You may never know what the 'hype' is about until you drink beer fresh from the farm."

Please allow me to award you a chicken dinner...

 

guy serving the growlers there told me the company line is three days.

 

Wait - so you're saying 4 day old draft beer stored in a glass bottle isn't as good as freshly poured draft beer from a tap?