Starting to cellar, what do you think?

Drink the lpk and Fou Foune fresh. I think Anna will improve with a little time (think 1-2 years).

 

- Brother Soigne: drink fresh
- Abyss: drink after their "Best After" date
- Boulevard IS: 1 yr or fresh, based on personal preference (I'm in the former camp)
- Iris: I prefer this fresh. While it does well with age too, I think the normal gueuze is a better candidate for aging

 

If you haven't had our Imperial Stout fresh, I would definitely suggest drinking one before cellaring one. We really believe in releasing beer that we feel is ready to drink and have already done the work of aging it for you.

 

I would invite friends over and drink the Hill Farmstead right now.

 

It very much depends. Brother Soigne in particular (haven't had Anna aged) has fruit additions that are excellent fresh, but fall off with time (within a year); the end result is not a bad beer by any means, just not nearly as good as the fresh one.

I've read of other HF beers improving with time, but you'd have to search this subforum for more info as I don't have specifics.

 

I think it's less this than the absolute staunchness and attention to detail of the brewer. I know many people worship at the Shaun Hill alter, but in this case, I think it's warranted. He's been on record saying that he releases a beer when he thinks it's ready to be consumed (and subsequently mentioned he's dumped lots of beer because he made the mistake of waiting too long).

A lot of their stuff is farmhouse and hoppy ales anyway, which you wouldn't age. Then the stouts and porters -- and I may be wrong here -- tend to come in under 10% much of the time, not great candidates for aging.