I believe that it was once my solemn vow to update this blog more frequently – that is, perhaps twice a month, rather than once every six weeks.  I’m a stream of consciousness writer, fueled by a cup of coffee or perhaps brimming with information to the point that I cannot help but spill over onto the page…
That being said, the weather is beginning to cool here in Vermont and it is glaringly apparent that I am long overdue for an update.  I’ll try to keep this shorter and thus necessitate that more posts occur, more often, in a more concise manner.  However, this is not a legally binding agreement…

The Danes have come and gone – all of them, actually.  Peter Andersen is departing on Monday for Denmark after having helped us for the last 6 weeks.  Peter Sonne, Jannik, Mogens, and Kim arrived late last week and left us on Monday afternoon.  The photo at the start of this blog entry is, indeed, Shaun e. Hill drinking a Budweiser from a Mikkeller/De Dolle stem glass in front of the RV that they rented.  What a fine afternoon… and a very relaxed Backwoods Brewdown.  Love those guys.  And I’ll see them all in a few months when I return to Denmark for a week…

Business at the retail shop has been fantastic.  We are out of space – and need to consider a different way with which to welcome those traveling in pursuit of enjoying and tasting our beers.  The wheels are turning and, by next spring, there should be outdoor seating and more space for the throngs of people that are lining up on the weekends to take home our growlers.

In the fermenter:
Ephraim: 10% abv Imperial IPA
Abner: 8% abv Imperial IPA
Upcoming: A visit from Ryan – my great American friend that is brewing the beer for Fanø Bryghus and crafting the beers for my Grassroots Brewing project in DK.  We’re hoping to brew two beers upon his visit:  A Christmas Porter that will see a month or so in Oak… and an Autumn Saison with our friend Jean Broilet (of Iron Hill Westchester) that will be primary fermented in oak barrels.  Following this – Ryan and I are off to Cigar City in Tampa to brew an Imperial Black IPA with Wayne and company.  Hopefully some of those bottles will find way to VT… (yeah, I bet that they will… and you probably know where to find them…)
Also… our wet hopped India Pale Ale.  Sadly, no Vermont hop grower could supply us with 100# of freshly harvested hops (atleast, not of a variety that is worthy of one of our ipas…) and we’ve had to seek hops from New York instead.  Hopefully it all works out for this year and, with some planning – perhaps a Vermont hop grower can meet our demands for next year.

Owen Miller is now helping us at Hill Farmstead Brewery (bless his soul) and will soon begin writing on the guest brewer blog page – check out his ramblings and perspectives on assisting at Hill Farmstead.  Thanks to his hands, the sour barrel project will finally take hold.

Farewell for now… there are a hundred sails amidst the breeze here at Hill Farmstead… I’ll do my best to explain each one over the coming weeks.  I promise!