I love driving North. Each time, I get to drink some pretty amazing beers. This weekend, AirForceHops and Elizabeth joined me on a drive to Waitsfield for Lawson’s, Waterbury for Heady Topper, Montpelier for Three Penny Taproom and to Greensboro for Hill Farmstead. It was a pretty great day! We brought some beers home with us and I managed to get in 6 new reviews for Shaun Hill’s amazing beers. Here they are. The first three are low quality photos due to being taken on the go with my iPhone.
AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
adamjackson (433) – Canaan, USA – JUL 7, 2012
AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
adamjackson (433) – Canaan, USA – APR 13, 2012
A – 1 finger creamy head off-white. Great head lacing. SRM of 3. Dark golden to dark brown. Tons of haze in the glass. Gorgeous. Looks like a light syrup so golden and hazey.
S- great hop resin on the nose. Smells like a mix between Simcoe and Centennial hops. Lots of bitterness and loads of that grapefruit citrus scent I’d expect.
T – Whoa. Dry hopped goodness all the way. Tastes like pounds of hops were added to this. The beer itself isn’t that intense but the post brew dry hop added the haze and intense taste. Pine resin and tangerines are here. Also, it finishes very dry.
M – 80% carbonation on the mouth swish. The dry hops linger for a while. The beer itself sort of fades quickly and swiftly.
O – intense and delicious. The one work to describe all HFS beers is “balance”. They’re so balanced and remarkable.
4.2 AROMA 10/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 16/20 adamjackson (433) – Canaan, USA – JUL 7, 2012 On tap at Three Penny Taproom. Paid $8 and served in a wine goblet. Freaking gorgeous beer! Insanely cloudy and bright orange appearance. 3 finger head solid white. Fades slowly to a single finger with amazingly perfect head lacing. It looks like a freakinf creamsicle. Columbus and Citra. Pine and grapefruit. Lemon and champagne. Light level of tannins. Okay. I knew Shaun had an imperial IPA in him. I had no idea it would be this remarkable. Gigantic grapefruit taste. Lemon peels and pine resin at the finish. The taste is gigantic but the mouthfeel is light and airy. Floral and a bit of cedar but very light. High carbonation at 90% on the mouth swish. If you can find this beer, grab a bottle. |
AROMA 10/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 18/20
adamjackson (433) – Canaan, USA – JUL 7, 2012
A – This beer is beautiful. Subtle tangerine appearance soft and full of clouds. 2-Fingers of off-white head was formed on a slow formed. Not much lacing and subsided quickly.
S – Alright! Grapefruit, tangerines, birch and floral notes. The citra is absolutely amazing! DOUBLE of everything great about my favorite hop.
T – This is an extremely soft beer up front. I get the fresh lemon zest, orange pulp and grapefruit rinds. Bitterness approaches fast and swift as the liquid coats my tongue and leaves behind this very meaty intense bitterness that stays alive for quite a while. The only thing to do is simple take another sip.
M – Wow. Mouth filling carbonation. 80% carbonation on the mouth swish. Light body despite the Double IPA style and dry bitter finish.
O – This beer is perfect, remarkable. I need more. Fact: I would not drink anything else if I lived closer to this brewery. 2.5 hour each way is a lot of driving. Still, Shaun never fails to impress.
AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 16/20
adamjackson (433) – Canaan, USA – JUL 9, 2012
A – Large head at the pour. gorgeous hazy golden. very light. Head subsides VERY slowly.
S – Nice citra and simcoe aromas. Grapefruit, pine needles, pine cones and lemons. Very light and floral temps.
T – Very pleasant! Very mild hop aromas, light, floral notes, slight level of citrus on the finish.
M – 80% carbonation on the mouth swish. medium body. Very drinkable!
O – I’m having troubles reviewing this because, as it is a Hill Farmstead beer, it tastes amazing. Yet, APAs are hard to differentiate as the grain and hop bills are fairly small to keep things almost-sessionable. So, while this beer tastes amazing, it’s not much more than a very well balanced american pale ale with a nice level of citrus tasting hops and I’m picking up some dry hops but nothing out of this world overly done. Well balanced APA. I have nothing negative to say about this beer!
Hill Farmstead Society and Solitude #4
4.1 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 16/20 adamjackson (433) – Canaan, USA – JUL 9, 2012 Enjoyed by the river in a Duvel Tulip at room temp from a growler filled yesterday at HFS brewery! A – 3-finger solid white head that barely fades! Gorgeous cloudy bright orange that looks really nice! S – Citra hops dominate with grapefruit and citrus characteristics. Galaxy sticks to the back of my throat and sticks around for a while. T – Really nice! Excellent fruity tropical characteristics. Pine, pineapple, mangos and oranges. finishing bitterness that sticks to my tongue like glue M – 100% carbonation on mouth swish. Medium body. O – Another great beer! my two favorite hops in a glass. It tastes wonderful. I miss Society #2 but this is still a fantastic beer and one worth picking up! Drink it as fresh as possible for sure! |
4.3
AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 17/20
adamjackson (434) – Canaan, New Hampshire, USA – JUL 9, 2012
A – Poured a dark brown to black out of the bottle. Appearance post-pour is pitch black with brown bits along the edge of the glass. Head of 1-finger brown like coffee that sticks around for a very long time fading slowly.
S – Very dry roasted malts, hint of bakers chocolate orange citrus and liquorice. Some coffee and tobacco.
T – Wow. Up front, this very burnt dark malts taste of liquorice and smoke. Smoked malts for sure in this on and a touch of vanilla. Coffee and Chocolate follow with the finish of roasted espresso beans. There’s this very light and almost floral texture at the finish that makes you thirsty to take another drink.
M – 40% carbonation on the mouth swish. Medium body with a light candy like finish.
O – This beer comes in growler filles (750ML / 2L) and 500ML bottles. It’s hard to imagine sharing anything less than 750ML with a friend. This beer is the most delicious and drinkable porter I’ve ever had. I don’t drink too many of them because they tend to be very bitter at the finish, mouth drying or too boring on the palate. This beer looks, smells, tastes and finishes perfectly and the 7.5% ABV is not noticeable at all despite any cheapening effects such as vanilla or oak chips. There’s a reason this is #1 in the Porter Style on RateBeer.
