Hill Farmstead What Is Enlightenment?

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

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker, Tulip

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes  

If there can be such a thing, then it is a perfect beer. Not too bitter, not too sweet. Complex and wonderful. Makes me want to move to the area. The brewery is way, way, way off the beaten track, but well worth the effort to get there. Aroma: bread, cereal, herbs, citrus, floral APPEARANCE: pale, hazy, frothy TASTE: medium sweetness, medium bitterness PALATE: medium body, average carbonation, long finish

On tap at Prohibition for Mystery Keg night. Pours cloudy, hazy sunshine golden yellow with a thin, finger-width head that settles down to leave a seafoam sheen over the surface. Lacing is full and comes in fuzzy sheets. Aroma of freshly mown grass, lemon zest, bitter orange peel, soft grapefruit and tangerine notes, and a tremendous dose of pineapple on the tail. Palate is creamy, smooth, perfectly carbonated, and perfect. Tastes slightly tart, with tangy orange and pineapple and just tons of resiny, juicy hop nectar. This is fucking amazing in every regard. Easily the one of the best pale ales in the world, hands down. It reminds me of Heady Topper, but smoother, creamier, and with less booze. I would drink this and RR Row 2 / Hill 56 the rest of my life if I could. Outstanding. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

On tap at boilermaker, had a good pours an ultra hazy golden yellow, thin white lace, impressive lacing. Aromas of grapefruit rinds, pine, tangerine zest, lemon sorbet, orange juice, tropical and fruity simcoe and amarillo hops. Taste is maybe better then the aroma if its possible, reminds me of double sunshine, pineapples, guava, orange marmalade, resionous pine, vanilla, light sprinkle cheese and grapefruit, nice malt profile comes out only at the end where it belongs to wrap this dank goodness up in a warm juicy blanket. Not bitter at all. Doesn’t get any better then this.

Picked this up yesterday at 3PM at Hill Farmstead Brewery. Placed it in the fridge and poured into a Hill Farmstead Glass at 40 Degrees F. At the pop of the growler top, an eruption of pressure shot out some beer. Made me smile a bit.

A -Gorgeous beer! So beautiful. SRM of 9. Bright Yellow with a hint of brown. Very haze full beer. Head of 2-fingers with crystal clear bubbles and a solid head lacing. This beer is so pretty.

S - Big bright hop scent before even pouring it. Big Simcoe hop aroma. I’m getting Citra as well. Bright grassy citrus scent. I’m getting wheat as well.

T - Very nice. Deliciously well balanced hops, very light malts and seems perfect to enjoy on this day of gardening and spring cleaning. Dry hopped Amarillo hops? Orange peels? It’s a very simple beer yet very complex. Hard to point out any one ingredient. One word. Delicious.

M - 80% carbonation on the mouth swish. Light body. Very crisp grassy finish.

O - Wow. Thanks Shaun. You make the best beers in the world.

Made the long motorcycle journey to Greensboro, VT, braved the dirt roads to get to Hill Farmstead Brewery and enjoy on tap in June 2012. From notes. A: Hazy burnt-golden color, with a small head that fades rather quickly. S: Citrus, hops and pineapple. Strong, amazing pineapple in the nose. The malts break through toward the end. T: Mild hop presence and creamy malts up front. The citrus and tropical fruits really shine on the back end. Goes down smoothly and on a warmer day I could put down several of these very quickly. F: Perfect carbonation. Fairly strong bodied for the style. Crisp and smooth. O: An excellent reprentation of the style. One of the best APA’s I’ve ever had. Beg, borrow or steal to get this! Serving: tap

Hazy orange amber color with a medium sized, white head that left nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of floral hops, amarillo, pine, resin, orange, and citrus. Taste of orange, light pine, citrus, grapefruit, light toffee sweetness, and a resiny finish.

Growler at the cabin, NH. Pours a lightly hazy, light gold with a small, creamy white head. Beautiful nose with all kinds of heady citrus, tons of grapefruit and orange. Flavor follows perfectly with tons of juicy, wet citrus, touches of dry peel, faint fresh grass. Medium bodied with average, super smooth and creamy carbonation. Lightly resinous to finish with nips of pine and grass, moderate sweet pale malts, continuous fresh grapefruit, orange and pineapple, hints of yeast and woody dryness. Lasting pithy citrus. Sublime.

750 ml bottle obtained from the brewery. Pours out a cloudy light yellow-orange brew with a big frothty white head. Lots of aromatics. Flavor is light sweet bready with some spice. Lots of fruit notes, a little pine. Light and extremely smooth overall. Not sticky. Lingering light bitter-bread finish. Very well made and very, very fresh tasting.

UPDATED: NOV 30, 2012 Tap at HF and growler at home. This is what many breweries should be doing for anniversary beers instead of these crazy messes with 13 hops and malts, and 7 yeasts. I like Shaun as a brewer because he sticks with something he does well and works very hard to make those beers great. He could have easily jumped in on the "sour and wild beer craze" and i happen to know that he probably would make some great ones, but instead he’s still working on creating awesome drinkable pale ale and world class (which can’t be said for many American brewers) saisons.

UPDATED: AUG 2, 2012 On tap at the Hill Farmstead 2nd Anniversary party. Hazy golden yellow pour with a mountainous white frothy head. Giant citrus and juicy fruit notes give way to nectar fruit, scallion, and evergreen. Massively drinkable with a light body, medium carbonation, and dry crisp finish.

After drinking an entire 2L growler of this with surprising ease, and another with friends, I think I must up my rating. The sessionability of this combined with the massive flavor and aroma profile makes this an incredible brew.

Ok one more re-rate. I had this at the brewery side by side with Society 4, Abner, Walden, and Edward and it really stood out as one of my favorites. The hop flavor rivaled that of the big boys, but it had the drinkability of Walden. Maybe its that I’m in a session beer mood lately, but this is truly one of the best pale ales I’ve ever had.