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.
