Visiting Hill Farmstead

Hey man. Have fun at Hill Farmstead. Here is some advice for your questions.

A. Check Hill Farmstead's website: http://hillfarmstead.com/directions/
B. I generally get there around 11:30am and they open doors a little before noon. That way you can be among the first to get growlers filled so if it is a busy day you will not be backed up. Getting there early also affords you possibly very limited vintage bottles for on-site consumption.
C. On a Thursday probably not unless there is a very limited barrel aged release or it is right around a holiday (which does not seem likely in your case)
D. I think they recently did away with a limit but not sure if they still want people to share bigger format bottles with higher abv.
E. They usually list what food trucks are present for the week on their website. They offer cheese plates and often olives
F. Willey's general store has some beers as others might mention. Parker Pie in west glover also has a retail bottle area and there are many options for bottle stores when you get to Stowe or Waterbury if you are in that area.

 

Good summary, but I'll slightly expand on these two points.
b) I'll second the vote on "early" 11:00 - 11:30am arrival. Bottles like Art, Ann, Clover, DB Damon, and others have been known to pop up as available for on-site consumption, however there's a very limited supply and they tend to go quickly. With that said, they also tend to have multiple vintage bottles available, so even if you don't get one of those 6 Clover bottles, your "consolation" could just as easily be Flora P/P or a Civil Disobedience, or another amazing bottle.

Also, don't be afraid to chat up the people around you in line. Last time I went up there solo I met some nice guys and we ended up splitting 3 different bottles. We all got to try a variety, and it made for some good conversation too.

When you arrive, be aware that there are two lines - the entrance on the left is for bottles & cans, while the one on the right is for the tap room. Unless one of the to-go bottles is available but running on fumes, there's no need to get your bottles first. Wait in the tap room line and get that on-site stuff first, fill growlers, and order a cheese plate.

c) While lines don't "build up", you can still find a short wait for growlers depending on how many people show up. I wouldn't expect anything longer than 15-20 minutes from the time you take your deli-counter ticket and when your number is called.

Have fun up there! It's hard not to!

 

with either google maps or waze, as long as you have the destination in when you have reception, you will be fine once you lose reception on the way (and you will lose reception at some point and then get it back and then lose it, etc, etc)

 

just queue up directions while you're still in service and you'll get there no problem. And depending on your carrier, you can generally get some reception in the taproom - at least enough to get directions to your next stop. Or just retrace the way you came.

Not sure that the roads have changed much near HF over the last 100 years! certainly not recently. You'll be fine until there's significant ice or snow. And even then, it's not bad.

 

I'll be visiting on 9/21! I've been a few times and I always lose cell service at HF.... I print out return direction so I can navigate the first 25 mins of the drive home (until cell service is better).

ENJOY!

 

you can set midpoints now on google maps, so do that with a place in service after hill. I never had a problem with it at hill but I have got stuck plugging in directions a bunch trying in no service land pre midpoints, so it's def a nicer option now.

 

I usually download a big chunk of the map for Google Maps offline mode before I leave and use that if I don't have service. Make sure to do it on Wi-Fi because it can be quite a bit of data.

 

I have been there 3 times now and the best advice I can give is this:
1. get growlers of everything you can
2. buy any/all available cans/bottles and
3. for onsite consumption only drink things that you cannot get through 1 & 2

If you do that, you can knock a lot of beers off your list. And as you know, you've got to try them all at some point.

 

Primarily your wallet...it used to be 2 drinks per person but I believe they've technically eliminated that limit.

 

I was there about a month ago with 2 other people. The limit is supposed to be 2 per person. Lets just say that im not sure how they would ever monitor that. I don't think they did that day. If you are nervous, just pay in cash.

Or try to find someone that is there alone and you add that person to your party. You can try a lot of different varieties that way.

 

Enjoy it man, it really is heaven. The fact that you likely wont get cell service only makes it better.

 

I'll be there Thursday as well.

 

If you've got time to kill and are willing to hang around a few hours, you should have no problem trying whatever you want on their bottle list.