Hill Farmstead Society & Solitude #2

9th December 2013
Tasting at Bruce’s pad. Thanks to the lord of HF provisions - Leighton. Dark brown beer with a good tan head. Palate is soft and a little dry. Smooth dark malts, little cream. Touch of coffee. Light piney hops with a whisper of citrus. Spice. Smooth finish. Nice!

Growler from the brewery. Pours seep brown-black with a thick, lasting beige foam head. The aroma has ripe grapefruit and moderate roast, honts of chocolate. Medium sweet flavor with good, moderately aweet chocolate, some baking cocoa, a bit of charred wood, toast, earth. Medium to full bodie with fine, somewhat creamy carbonation. Resinous finiah with lots of charred malts, bitter baking cocoa, some milk chocolate, a bit of purple grape and grapefruit. Lovely beer. Punchy but balanced and rich.

Growler split at Bruce’s pad - huge thinks to Agent C Dee Aye (aka Leighton) who lugged this treat over the pond for us even though he’d already had it, drinking it again would be no chore mind you ! Pours pitch black with a good sized tan head that dissipates to pond work. Nose is jammy berry fruit, streak o’booze, liqourice, pine resin, bitter grapefruit, dark chocolate, dank hop notes. Taste comprises rich cocoa powder, pine, bitter tropicals, skunky hops, boozey coating, bitter grapefruit, dark berry compote, light smoke and roastings. Medium bodied with bollocks, fine carbonation, earthy hop bitterness and subtle roast in the closure. Meine freundes, das is genau meine strasse !

750mL growler, sent from Glouglouburp (thanks Dany!), pours a dark brown / black with a small beige head. Aroma is intensely hoppy with citrus and piney hops, roasted caramel malts, and notes of spruce. Flavour of citrus hops, loads of wood, spruce and pine needles, with lightly roasted malts and earthy notes. Medium-to-high bitterness on the finish with lots of the earthy / spruce notes being emphasized. Delicious beer.

Growler. Pours black tan head. Nose/taste of dank hops, resin, coffee, roast chocolate, pine and toasted coconut. Medium body.

Growler, muled over by Leighton. It pours near black with a medium+ tan head. The nose is fresh pine, toast, orange peel, pot pourri, juicy, ccoa, cola and liquorice. The taste is roasted malt, earth, dirt, toast, a good deal of warming alcohol, decent bitterness, ash, resin, grapefruit, cocoa and liquorice with a dry finish. Medium+ body, moderate carbonation and foamy mouth-feel. A bit hot, but pretty great otherwise.

Growler thanks to Scott. Pours a dark brown with small tan head that diminishes quickly. The aroma is roast, pine, chocolate. Medium mouth, sweet roast, chocolate malt, pine, resin finish, very good.

A deep dark IPA with a super thick creamy lacing dark brown head. In aroma, a beautiful complex catnip and piney hops, orange pulp, meaty, complex. In mouth, a smooth licorice chocolate malt with loads and resinous hops, catnip, flowers, wonderful black IPA. On tap at the brewery, March 12, 2012.

Their self-capping bottle, re: half a growler. Very floral.A big roast, and also big citrus hops. The two are too much. Less hop kick may have been better and improved drinkability. Looks great at black body.Fuller mouthfeel.

On tap at Lord Hobo prior to EBF and NOTB. Pours a deep black with brown highlights and a small tanned beige head. Super dank and earthy hops, thin edgy citrus behind it all. Brightness peeking out through the dark. Beautiful. Mushrooomy umami flavors, earthy and roast filled. Not as big and full as I would have expected at the start, which is kind of nice after having two bigger bodied beers (the Daybreak and Nor). It does pick up a bit of body and intensity though, slowly building up and growing into a thick and creamy mouthfeel, redolent with earthiness.