Hill Farmstead "Arthur" Saison Review - Ultrarunnerpodcast.com

I’m an unabashed saison lover. I love the variety of aromas and sub-styles, I appreciate their history, their crispness, and I really like the generally low ABV.

Domestically, the saison market has been fine. Nothing exceptional, but some damn good ales that I’d be proud to share with friends—notable a version I had from Boulevard Brewery last year.

URP listener Topher (thanks!) recently sent me the Arthur saison from Hill Farmstead Brewery in Vermont, and it gave me hope that domestic brewers are on track for a world class beer. I review the beer below.

Appearance

Pours a hazy gold that looks like liquid straw. I’d put the SRM between a 3-4. Decent head that dissipates quickly, though laces remain on the glass. I entered the password in my camera and much of the head was already gone.

Smell

Right off the top is citrusy lemon and mild Bretty funk. Smell could pass as a tarty-sour. No banana spice or expected bitterness on the nose.

Taste

Definitely lemon and balanced bret with just the right amount of funk. Not barnyardy-sour, but more tart. It’s got a creamy lightness that has just the right amount of carbonation. Very nice first drink that gets better on the finish and deeper into the bottle. I had mine with some rare BBQed tritip and it held up well. I’d also drink it with poultry, fish, or a damn burrito.

Overall

Fantastic representation of what a domestic saison should be. Creamy lemony effervescence without any garbage thrown in there. Highly recommended and no complaints.

Stats:

Style: Saison/Farmhouse Ale.

Towards the top of the saison/farmhouse ABV range, Arthur sits at 6%.

Unfiltered and naturally carbonated.

Not available in CA (as far as I can tell…please someone tell me I’m wrong).

750mL at Hill Farmstead brewery runs an astonishing $10. That’s a ridiculous price for a beer of this quality.

Scores a World-Class 96 on the Beer Advocate.

Hill Farmstead looks like an incredible brewery, but man, I hate their growler policy. Lighten up, folks!

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Jeff says:

March 3, 2017 at 9:41 am

I’de like to (randomly) defend their growler policy…..

First of all, that place is a madhouse most of the time, the lines are long, back in the day when I used to go a guy in front of me brought an entire duffel bag filled with growlers to have filled.

Many places in New England only allow growlers purchased from that brewery to be filled (state regulations often), so them allowing you to bring other breweries growlers is a major plus.

They don’t allow anything but the standard 2L Growler because they actually do something really cool, before filling they inject shot of co2 into the growler, then fill the growler with beer. Since co2 is heavier than air it keeps a blanket of co2 over the beer and allows them to keep it as fresh as possible. with a large mouth growler the co2 would escape much faster and it wouln’t work as well.

plus, they are pumping out some of the best beer in the country, they could tell people to dress in clown outfits in order to buy beer and people would still do it.

Kevin Tilton says:

March 3, 2017 at 9:58 am

Everything from Hill Farmstead is the bomb. You need to come east for some trail racing and New England beer!

Mike V says:

March 6, 2017 at 5:44 am

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/life/food/2017/02/03/three-peat-win-hill-farmstead-worlds-best/97444378/

When you are the best brewery in the world you can charge pretty much anything and people will buy your beer. You won’t find them for sale in CA. They keep things pretty local. Limited distribution even in VT and surrounding states.

Hill Farmstead “Arthur” Saison Review