How Hill Farmstead beers have aged?

Not as of late really, but last August, and it was excellent.

 

I need to get on that, ASAP. Glad to see there are still positive reviews

 

I recently opened an Anna bottled May 2014. It was very funky and earthy, almost dirty. It was great but I preferred it when it was fresher.

 

I've had one or two bottles from my 5/2014 stash turn out a bit earthy. I had one last week and it was probably the best Anna I've had yet, super bright and delicate. Another perfect example of bottle variation being a lot more noticeable with age.

 

I just opened an Anna from 5/2014 along side an Anna from 2/2015.

Got damn is the 5/2014 a beautiful beer. Possibly the best pure farmhouse/saison I've ever had. Super bright lemon/pomelo aromas alongside notes of dried tall grass, incredible depth in the funk category, exceptional minerality, perfect carb/mouthfeel and an incredibly refreshing dryness.

The 2/2015, however, is very muted. Incredibly mellow acidity, not much of any discernible brett character, very little citrus notes, moderate carb and an overall low level of complexity.

There is obviously going to be variation bottle to bottle, but honestly (to me at least), that is the beauty of smaller batch craft beer. That being said, both versions were great and much better than your average shelf beer. And tasty enough for me to track down as much of it as I can.

 

Im not 100% sure what changes were made to the Saisons, I think mixed fermentation was used up front rather than letting them ferment and then sit in oak for a week or 2 to pick up bugs, but the newer saisons while still great pale in comparison to the older versions. The old ones took time to develop in the bottles while the new ones seem a little more one dimensional. I opened a late 2012 early 2013 anna at my brothers wedding in april of 2014 and Ill be damned if that wasnt one of the best beers I have ever had. newer anna is good but lacks the depth that the older ones had.

 

Just finished a week-long binge on HF saisons of various ages and, though your mileage may vary, I gotta say that I find myself preferring them fresher rather than aged.

-Had both Anna and Arthur from May '14. As expected, both had some pretty significant funk that, combined with the yeasty minerality, left a squeaky film on the back of your teeth. They were tasty, to be sure, but I found that getting down more than 12-16oz became a bit of a chore. That said, if you prefer your saisons on the sour side, by all means age away. I will say that the longevity of the brighter citrus flavors in the bottles was quite impressive.

-Clara from Sept '14 was already funking up noticeably and, similar, to Anna/Arthur reduced its drinkability a bit. With that beer, you really do get the "rustic" character of the saison, though, which I quite enjoyed -- you taste the base grains a bit more, and it just feels less refined. I liked that part of it quite a bit, but, again, probably would've preferred to have had it younger.

-Nordic Saison and Florence from November '14. Nordic already had a nice, if challenging, composty note going at this age. It found a way to work (mostly) with the bright, almost tropical fruit notes and, with the sourness not fully developed yet (as in an aged bottle) was fairly drinkable. Florence, though, was far and away my favorite HF saison I've tried. With the sour character subdued, all of its brightness, effervescence, and drinkability shined. That was the one bottle of the five I worked through last week that was a breeze to drink an entire bottle of.

I think my trouble with aging the saisons is that they start to develop too similar characteristics and end up tasting too alike. Sour bacteria + Brett, given enough time to develop, tend to dominate the flavor profiles. For me, anyway, drinking them fairly young allows you to really note the differences in each brew and appreciate them.

 

Drank a 2012 Vera May last week and it was still pretty amazing. Starting to slightly cardboard in the finish but still amazing wouldn't keep this one much longer.

 

any dryhopped saison aging attempts?