Hill Farmstead Flora B/B

I was in the mood for a single nice beer on Friday night after having hit it pretty hard the night before.  Usually when I am in a mood like that I will generally reach for either a stout or sour, since they are more complex than the IPAs or hoppy ales I usually drink.  I have two of the Hill Farmstead Flora B/B's hanging in my cellar, so before dinner I popped this in the fridge to cool it down a bit. I typically prefer water or wine with food, so after everything was cleaned up, I popped open this bottle.  An approachable 375ml that Hill Farmstead uses for its lower yield beers, attractive label, pours a nice fruit purple/red with moderate foam.  The foam dissipated fairly quickly.  Lots of HF funk on the nose, some fruits.  Taste was pretty nice, fruit is restrained, unlike some American wild ales.  I contemplated this over the 45 minutes or so I drank it, and really enjoyed it the whole time.  I look forward to my next bottle.

Trip to Hill Farmstead April 2015

Last weekend my wife and I made a trip to one of our favorite places in America, Vermont.  My primary desire was to replenish my stores of Hill Farmstead Brewery.  This brewery is widely considered the best in America, and some would say the best in the world.  Sean Hill, the brewer, is not a specialist, he makes world class hoppy ales in addition to sour, dark, farmhouse and everything in between.  He is committed to a sustainable business that can support itself and although he has grown rapidly, there is a target size for the company that he does not want to exceed.  This goal allows him to focus on doing the best possible work he can, which results in amazing beer.  He utilizes growlers so that he can ensure that his beers remain fresh. I much prefer to support a "local" brewery than one of the large conglomerates.  Also, Sean goes to great lengths to respect his community and helps support other local businesses.  He takes great pride in working in a remote area, and although you have to actually go to the brewery to buy his beer, he avoids wasting resources on things like distribution to stores.

The brewery

My haul

Edward - Flagship Pale Ale

Single Hop Pale Ale - Mosaic

Society & Solitude #5 Double IPA

Hill Farmstead Brewery: Society & Solitude #4

Hill Farmstead is one of my favorite breweries in the world.  They make amazing ales in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, a bucolic region of Vermont, populated equally by cows and humans.  They don't specialize in a single variety of beer, but produce many different styles.  Notably hoppy beers like IPAs and Pale Ales, Farmhouse Saisons/Wild Ales, and Stouts.  Beer geeks around the world covet their beer, as it is not distributed and sold in a normal retail environment, you must travel to the brewery and purchase it directly at the source.  None of the hoppy beers, that are meant to be consumed fresh, are sold from the brewery in a standard bottle, instead they are sold in 750ml or 2L growlers.  Bottles are sold regularly and include a regular rotating cast of beers named after the brewer's ancestors, as well as several other series named primarily based on philosophical texts.

The beer today is called Society & Solitude #4.  This series, named after the writer Ralph Waldo Emerson's text is an exploration of experimental Double IPAs.  The #4 is a combination of Double Citra and Double Galaxy.  These two beers are fantastic, featuring juicy hops, and the combined concoction is pure hop nirvana.  This beer packs quite a punch at 8%, so the 750ml growler was just enough for me.  A friend of mine picked this growler up for me while traveling in Vermont.  I intend to repay the favor when I am back in April.

Lawson's Finest Liquids: Farmer's Market 3/15

My wife and I made our first trip to Vermont for the last Lawson's Farmers Market.  We didn't know exactly what to expect, other than from the information Sean posts on his blog and the Beeradvocate forums.  We left Western Mass as the sun was coming up around 6:30 AM and arrived in Montpelier around 9:00 only to learn we were #172 in line and would likely miss out on many of the beers brought for the event.  I was a little bummed out, but certainly not devastated by any means.  I met up with a Beeradvocate friend who had secured some Heady Topper during the week and sold it to me at his cost, what a good guy.  Next, we traveled down to Main St and ate at the Skinny Pancake.  The crepes were amazing and we really enjoyed it.  Then we headed over to the Hunger Mountain Co-op to check out other local VT products.  We found a few things and headed back up to the market.  We had a really good time checking out the other vendors that were there and purchased a bunch of delicious meat and Vermont products.  Since it was still not time for us to pick up the Lawson's bottles we went and got lunch at the Mad Taco.  I was really disappointed with that place and sincerely think Chipotle tastes better.  Finally got our Lawson's bottles at the market, 8 Double Sunshines and 2 Maple Tripples and were on our way back to Massachusetts.  My lovely wife was exhausted and slept most of the way home.  We were back by 3:30pm.

This coming Saturday we are at it again, this time with an experience under our belt we have a more coherent plan.  Get there as early as possible, get our number, head to the Skinny Pancake for breakfast.  I am gonna hurry over to the Co-Op and try to secure some Heady Topper cans, then back to the market at 10 to check out the food vendors and wait our turns for Lawsons bottles.  Then on the way home, I have a few thrift stores in mind to hit and check out both in Vermont and Western New Hampshire.  I would love to stop at The Worthy Burger in South Royalton, but burgers are not really my love's favorite food, so we shall see if thats in the cards.  I will attempt to take some photographs during the trip.

Anyone else making a similar journey?

Autumn Hiking

As autumn approaches, I truly enjoy the weather outside, and that means I want to explore.  Recently, I hiked Talcott Mountain near Hartford, CT, but thats not enough.  I love New England, and places like Mount Washington, the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the Green Mountains of Vermont are where I want to be.  Please enjoy the images below, and go explore!