Hill Farmstead/Alchemist Walden

Brewed by Hill Farmstead Brewery
Style: American Pale Ale
Greensboro, Vermont USA

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker, Tulip

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Growler drank at the cabin, NH. Pours lightly cloudy gold with a fine, white foam head. Absolutely gorgeous aroma of cat pee, fresh grass, nips of zesty citrus. Light to medium sweet flavor, dry and zippy citrus, pithy citrus, orange, grapefruit, dry grass. Light bodied with fine to average carbonation. Moderately dry to finish, more pithy citrus, tangerine, grapefruit, light grassy hops, touches of lemon rind. Obscenely drinkable. The balance is perfect. There’s some excellent hop kick. Unreal good. I don’t know what else to say.

On tap at my house. Hazy golden-straw in appearance with a robust long lasting white frothy head. The aroma holds a variety of hop facets, each of which plays very nicely with the others. Dank piney herbals lead to juicy nectar fruit and vibrant tropical fruit. Very fresh and bright, capturing the individual hop character of each respective variety, while simultaneously providing a union that is more delicious than the constitutive parts. The body of the beer is quite full given the abv, even to the point of drinking like a light bodied ipa. There are literally no major flavors to obstruct the hops, which is amazing if you’re into that sort of thing. Caressing pillowy carbonation provides excellent texture, while the finish remains very dry and crisp. With all the super extreme styles being brewed these days, this provides an amazingly welcoming experience. I wish more brewers undertook refinement of low alcohol beer, as it truly is among the most difficult style to do exquisitely well. Hat’s off to this collaboration, for it certainly accomplishes that goal.

Tap and growler. Awesome big super juicy hop aroma of pineapple, green grapes, oranges. Very fresh tasting. Taste is crisp refr eshing pineapple, melon, toast. Closest thing to gumball head ive ever tasted, but a bit juicier, more complex than gummed ball head. Just about the perfect session beer. Could go for the a few kegs of this bad boy. A little to good to be sure. Good candidate for a "desert island" beer.

On tab from keg purchased at Hill Farmstead. Pours a hazy golden color with a small white head. Floral and citrus aroma. Crisp taste with a hoppy middle and malty finish. Great session beer. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

pours a light golden straw color with a fluffy head that leaves lacing as it falls. blast of hops a first but delicate and herbally sweet smell. soft maltiness and clean mellow yeast esters. taste has a blast of hops but the flavor is delicate mild herbally sweet hops and a gentle bready malt. a perfectly balanced beer it seems. dry bitter with a touch of sweetness. no alcohol detected except after i finished the growler. o__O

From notes. 2L growler straight from the source. Pours a semi-clear yellow with a healthy white head. Shared with my brother. Smells of citrus, pine, and hay, super clean. Taste follows with the citrus and resinous pine, and again super clean finish. Great summer blonde... hope this makes an appearance again in 2013.

2L Growler. Pale hazy yellow, decent head that recedes quickly. Aroma of oranges, citrus peel, resinous hops and white flowers. Very aromatic. High lemon tartness blends wonderfully with leafy hops and citruz zest bitterness. Light bodied and dry finish makes it highly drinkable. I really like the actual summer beer trend. It reminds me of DDC Wallonade or TDD Traction ale with Hill Farmstead quality standards. This is a great preamble to the very promising low abv, high citrus series.

In short: A wicked hoppy-but-not-bitter aromatic low-abv blonde ale. Fantastic thirst beer.
How: Tap at the brewery, then a full growler the day after, then another full growler the day after the day after. I guess I loved that beer.
The look: Cloudy yellow topped by a small white head.
In long: The highly aromatic nose has pale garden glowers, fresh lemongrass, some bananas, grapefruits, more... Tastes is a slice of freshly baked bread, a few slices of smooth not-yet-ripe yellow bananas, freshly cut lemongrass, some dough, citrus fruits, light piney notes and even a bit of a rustic thing going on. Becomes more and more grassy (sun dried yellowed grass) the more I dink the beer with some tart grapefruits. Bitterness level in the low-medium range and there is a light refreshing tartness. Finish is rather dry and grassy. Just as good as Lawsons Three Penny Especiale that was launched a few months before Walden and only a few miles away from Hill Farmstead and Alchemist, and these two are my now my two best low abv pale ales. Summer was good in Vermont for low abv hoppy thirst beer lovers. Another beer I’d drink every day, I drink so much beer now that I am prescribed pills to help with my failing kidneys and it says “take with plenty of fluids” and “do not take with alcohol” and I have no idea what to do.

Resin and citrus aromas aplenty. Minimal head, hazy straw color. Thin body with medium carbonation. Smells like hops, tastes like hops.Backed by light maltiness. Overall a super hoppy pale ale that is super refreshing and easy to drink(for a hophead). Great beer.

On tap at the Otey abode. Pours a cloudy straw color with moderate frothy white head. Nose holds stunning notes of of pineapple and mango tropical fruits as well as citrus sweetness and touches of spruce and dank earthy loam. Flavor adds lemongrass and white grapefruit to broaden the fruit melange. A nice bitter finish but delectably drinkable. So amazingly flavorful for 4 percent. An incredible collaboration brew.