Hill Farmstead Fear and Trembling (Bourbon Barrel)

Brewed by Hill Farmstead Brewery
Style: Baltic Porter
Greensboro, Vermont USA

Serve in English pint, Shaker, Snifter

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500ml bottle. Heavy smoke aroma permeates the nostrils as the top pops off the beer. Light peat, wet campfire wood and grilled beef. The smoke aroma tempers over time and notes of chocolate, wet leather, rich pipe tobacco, black dirt, anise, charred (dried) wood and alcohol come out. Vanilla, wet oak and spices (allspice?) appear after the beer is open even longer. Shades of Adam on the nose... Pours a rich, heavy near black with a thin, but sustained dark khaki head. Excellent balance of flavors on the tongue... Bitter, roasty, sweet, smoky and salty. Bitter chocolate with a kiss of herbal hops. Spicy anise. Plenty of wood and vanilla from the barrels. Slightly salty on the sides of the tongue. The smoke isn’t dominate, but is lightly woven throughout all of the other flavor components. The oak aging and smoked malts are a nice compliment to the slightly chocolatey/roastiness of the base Baltic Porter. Silky smooth on the palate. Light carbonation and a very creamy mouthfeel. The 9.3% is expertly hidden and shows itself just a touch on the finish. A treat for sure. Thanks Dany!

same pour, a bit less smokey than the others. This has done neat in the nose with light bourbon note. The flavor is a bit better, has the same smokey notes with some chocolate and a fair bit of sweet malt. Medium to thin and oily feel with assertive carb.

A friend shared this with me. It’s a year old now and still tasting great. Enjoyed in a Hill Farmstead Glass. (Reviewed on my iPhone)
br> A one finger coffee head , oily slick black. Pitch black. Lacing some alcohol legs
br> S cocoa nibs. Coffee. Cream espresso , maple syrup, sugar
br> T wood smoked wood and malt. Red wine (Cabernet)
br> M - 50% mouth feel. Heavy bodied. Wood and oak linger
br> O - Pretty good. Definitely an A grade

bottle shared by jsprime with joe and I. black with a tan head. complex black malt with smoke and bourbon nose. huge flavour yet so well integrated. amazing beer.

Couldn’t resist popping this one. It’s been over a year since the release. Into a HFS globe at cellar temp. Pours black colored liquid that gives a medium sized brown head. The foam cap is smooth and recedes patiently. The smell is a rich smoke light bacon roasty chocolate spirit oak blend. The smoke is the high light but isn’t overbearing. Taste begins with a rich roasty malt, oak followed by smoke, caramel, vanilla oak, light spirit finishing with a light char. A bit chocolately and light coffee like bitterness. A is a touch of sweetness but there is a lingering hop bitterness that balances. The mouth feel is super smooth medium/ full body that has light carbonation lending a creaminess. Compared to the F/O this displays a moderate oak spirit component. Overall very enjoyable offering that I look forward to revisiting down the road.

Small light brown head with fair retention and lace. Black in color. Smokey, roasty, meaty nose. Body is seemingly med/full at first but ends up being a little watery after the first half of the bottle.lightly oily on the palate. Smoke flavors do the Lord of the dance over top of notes of vanilla, prune, dark chocolate and dusty notes but eventually leaving them behind to dominate with its meaty, bacony stranglehold. Finish is fairly dry and weirdly enough smokey ;0 . Would be nice to taste the Baltic Porter but unfortunately the SMOKE rules! Props to jleblanc for the bottle!

Bottle. Trade from Monsterzero. Thanks! Pours jet black with a creamy dense beige head. The aroma is bacon, peat, ham, salt, oak and hard roasted malt. The flavour is quite smoked with notes of oak, vanilla, caramel, hard roasted malt, peat and bacon. Hard roasted finish. Soft carbonation.

A: The beer pours a very dark brown color with a finger or so of tan colored foam. S: As expected, there is a heavy dose of smoke. Although this is a Utopia’s barrel, there is still a fair amount of barrel/oak character to it. As with many smoked beers, I get some aromas of almonds and an almost meaty aroma and light saltiness. T: Strangely, this beer has an almost peanut butter flavor to me (perhaps the "salitiness"?). Anyway, there is also a bit of sweet malt (toffee), barrel/oak, and of course: smoke. Though, the smoke is not as powerful as expected. M: The body is medium with low to medium carbonation. O: Quite nice. I preferred this to the Cabernet version.

Consumed January 2011. A: Black body with a medium sized khaki cap. Nice spotty lacing. S: A hint of bourbon, as well as the same smoked malts that were in the other two Fear and Tremblings. T: Smoky, roasty malts. Chocolate, a little bourbon and oak. Very mellow, but plenty enjoyable. M: Medium bodied. Ever so slightly boozy in the finish. Moderate carbonation. D: My least favorite of the Fear and Trembling series.

Yet another share from this years woodshop, a total stranger asked what bottle I was holding. I showed him some of my new glarus shares, and he poured me a glass of this! Cheers. Deep dark black ink with count choco milk chocolate foams. Smell is powdery chocolate cake, german chocolate cake even, with some candied note I can’t quite describe, tad bit of roastiness. Taste is really like chocolate covered salty meats, summer sausage or pork belly. The chocolate blends well with this, but it has a bit of an oddness that could be from the wood. A strange collision between hot dog meats and chocolate. Good but definitely strange.

Thanks to nerd for sharing this great tick. This one is pretty much jet black in color with a small light beige head. The aroma is very smoky with a bit of bourbon and dark chocolate. The flavor has a bit of sweetness and a lot of smoke. Some dark chocolate and bourbon and earthiness and a bit of hop bitterness. Medium-full bodied with decently lively carbonation that adds to the beer. Great smoked and -balled porter overall.