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

Three Floyds (FFF) Zombie Dust Review - Hoppy American Pale Ale

Three Floyds is known for their aggressive beer names and cool artwork.  Zombie Dust is rated #6 on BeerAdvocate's Top 250 Beer and #1 on their Pale Ale list and for good reason.  This beer has everything going for it, and is reasonably priced at $11 a 6 pack at retail or $35 for a full case straight from the brewery in Munster, IN.

Appearance:  The bottle is extremely cool, featuring the zombie graphic as well as the other information about the beer.  It includes a bottle date, this one was 2/18/14 so the beer is about 2 weeks old, as I am reviewing it on Sunday 3/2/14.  It pours a hazy light gold, and is 75% opaque.  There is some great lacing after a vigorous pour and a solid creamy head.

Smell: you take a whiff of this beer, and you smell fruity citrus hops.  Much less of the piney smell you sometimes get.  Since I have been partaking in a lot of the Alchemist's hoppy offerings lately, this smell does leave something lacking.

Taste: Amazing pale taste.  This is the perfect pale ale for IPA lovers and pale ale lovers would consider it an IPA.  Tons of floral and citrus hops that coat your mouth, but don't linger as long as Heady Topper or some of the other DIPAs.  It is not as astringent and is easy drinking.

Overall:  Awesome beer, very drinkable, reasonably priced.  A+

Thanks to a generous trader!

Recent Craft Beers

Summer is going strong, and it has been extremely warm here in the northeastern US.  I have been enjoying a number of great beers lately.  I have been purchasing primarily high quality beers, and in smaller quantities.  It is expensive, but allows me the option of trying a number of different styles and brands. 

Baxter Brewing based out of Maine is a great up and coming local brewery.  I really like that they brew their stuff in cans, and really enjoy their Stowaway IPA, kind of like an east coast version of Dales from Oskar Blues (mentioned below!)  This beer is nothing like that, and is very different from any other beer I have had.  It's certainly summery, but not as light as the Narragansett Summer I so love.  It has a lot of herby-fruity flavors going on and is surprisingly bitter. 

Cambridge Brewing is one of my favorite breweries.  Their bombers come out in batches, and are based on the most popular recipes sold at the brewpub.  Red God is an Imperial Red, clocking in at 9% ABV.  I did not get the best impression from this beer, as it was pretty late and the last beer that I drank.  I enjoyed the hops, but would like to re-visit in the future.

Ahhh Dogfish Head Festina Peche, how I have missed you!  I tried this beer 2 years ago and it was one of the first "sour" beers I had ever tried.  It looks like a pale fizzy lager, but it is really nothing like that.  Incredibly light both in mouth feel and drinkability, this beer is a Berliner Weisse.  Not as sour as a geueze or lambic, but still tart enough to scratch that sour itch.  This beer is fantastic in the summer and fairly priced at $10/4pk.

Maine Brewing Company is another great brewery out of Maine.  I have almost all of their offerings multiple times and really enjoy what they put out.  The specialize in hoppy beers with the Peeper, Zoe, and Lunch IPA highlighting hops.  Mo is between Peeper and Lunch although leanign to the citrusy lunch side, rather than the leafy peeper.  This beer is expensive at 7$ for 500ml, and I wouldn't hesitate to pick it up frequently, if it were available and priced at $5, but c'est la vie.

Deviant Dale's is the sup'd up version of Dale's Pale Ale.  Like Dale's is really an IPA mascquerading as a Pale Ale.  Deviant Dale's is certainly a Double IPA.  It is extremly aggressive in hops, and went well with the spicy pork sausage stirfry behind it.  Beautiful color and fine head make for a delicious hop bomb.  $14/4pk of 16 oz cans is reasonable.

An old favorite of mine, Pretty Things Jack D'or is one of the best and most accessible saisons brewed in New England.  $6 for a fresh bomber of this farmhousey, spicy "saison americane" is a real bargain.  It is not incredibly high in ABV like some of it's american saison brethren, which is a favorable aspect in my opinion!

Enjoy summer folks!