Hill Farmstead Society & Solitude #5

Brewed by Hill Farmstead Brewery
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Greensboro, Vermont USA

Serve in Shaker, Snifter

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Cloudy yellow/gold pour. Pure grapefruit peel and grassy hops hit the nose followed by a light yeasty finish. Creamy, yeasty, hoppy, juicy, and utterly delicious. Wow.

My Bottom Line :
Boastful citrus fruit, from grapefruit to starfruit, dominate this Double IPA’s aroma and flavor profile, as sand-y allusions (cat litter?) and green resins slowly rise in the second half.

Further Personal Perceptions :
-A slice of foam covers the cloudy pale straw.
-The soft effervescence makes the citrus flavors feel even more juicier.
-Alcohol is a no show, which is great.
-I can easily see someone find this tiring if citrus is not a favorite flavor.

On tap at Blackback Pub, in Waterbury.

Growler shared at the Mini Tasting, London. Pours cloudy yellow-gold with a rich, frothy white cap. Loads of sweaty hops on the nose, light pee, dank grapefruit. Medium sweet flavor, rich sweaty grass, ripe pale citrus fruits, subtle biscuity pale malts, tight grapefruit. Medium bodied with fine, massaging carbonation. Juicy hop finish, dank citrus, sweat, pee, moderate sweetness, very slight citrusy tang. Just delicious stuff. Stupidly drinkable.

Draft at Craft Ale House Tuesday Night beer share. Thanks, Cory. Pours hazy golden with white lacy head. Nose was tropical fruity hops, with grapefruit, mango, I even got some pear notes in this. The flavor popped, with a nice tropical fruity semi-sweet hit of mango, pear, pineapple, and grapefruit, and resiny hops. This one was complex as hell, nicely balanced, and the nose and flavor were juicy and popped, as I stated before. This is yet another world class beer from Hill Farm.

Growler @ Dan’s house, courtesy of Steve_0. Mucha gracias! Pours a cloudy yellow orange appearance with a white head. Super juicy, spicy piney, grapefruity, juicy resiny, tangy, delicious aroma. Super delicious, piney resiny, mary jane, a touch dusty, bitter grapefruity, juicy flavor. Really a delicious, grapefruity flavor. Fuck yeah.

On tap at the Black Back when I stopped here with Max on the way to Hill Farmstead’s Harvest Festival. And then numerous pours of it at the fest. And then a few growlers brought home afterward. Absolutely love this. Pours a murky dirty gold color with a thin white head. Grapefruit all over, pith, a touch of bitters. Medium bodied, grapefruit, soft hops. Moves into flat out grapefruit juice. Long grapefruit pith. Most grapefruit I’ve encountered in a beer. This is awesome. So pungent, all pith. Incredible.

In short: An intensely grapefruity/citrusy pale IPA.
How: Tap at brewery, Growlers at home.
The look: Cloudy pale blond body topped by a persistent small white head.
In long: Nose is intensely grapefruity with some other citrusy and tropical fruits hiding in the back. Taste has the typical pale IPA HF cushiony bready/crackery pale malts totally dominated by the intense fresh grapefruity/citrusy flavor. No alcohol presence whatsoever. When first released this beer was the closest thing I’ve had to grapefruit juice from a beer. I had another growler filled at the brewery one or two months later and it was a little less over-the-top grapefruity. Still, I have a hard time believing that a beer can taste so much like fresh grapefruits without including a actual citrus fruits in the recipe. When I had it on tap the first time at the brewery (one glass) I thought it was just about the best IPA ever brewed by HF, but after a few growlers I changed my mind, there’s a sweetness sensation that piles up when drinking large quantities of this beer, something I never got from HF IPAs. As excellent as HF IPA should be but a little less easy to drink a full growler than with their best offerings. I’m surprised at how much I have enjoyed the four Society & Solitude I’ve had so far, I never had the #1 so I was afraid I wouldn’t understand the #2 through #5.

Thanks to Moll for grabbing the growler for me. Served in Hill Farmstead stemware. Nose has loads of grapefruit and accompanying peel. Very dry. Fairly bitter, but not super over the top. Pretty light body.

Growler shared by Max. Bright golden orange with a white head. Sweet citrus, lemon and grapefruit, with lighter notes of fresh pine and flowers. Clean pale malty base really lets the hops punch through. Bright, clear, and super fresh. Good balance of hop flavor and bitterness. Really really damn good.

750ml growler. Gusher form the growler. It pours with a strudy white head and is a slightly hazy gold. HEad slowly recedes to come nice alcing. Smell is fresh hop-y. Grapefruit, hop cones, and grassiness in the aroma. The flavor is smooth and grapefruity. Medium to low bitterness. Nice fruitiness, awesome beer.