Festival 2023 | Hill Farmstead Brewery

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Festival 2023

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Thank you, thank you, and thank you to everyone who came out to help us gather up spring blossoms for another year’s brewing of Vera Mae’s namesake Farmstead® ale! The sun shone, the flowers eventually emerged, and the black fly didn’t disappoint in their tenacity. Each year, we’re overwhelmingly grateful for the enthusiasm of our picking friends, from youngest to oldest, and their invaluable contribution to this annual expression of the land. The beer is brewed and well along its journey—and now we observe and wait, patiently, in hopes of another gift to ourselves from the hard work today.

𝗠𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗨𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀

𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘔𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘍𝘢𝘳𝘮-𝘵𝘰-𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 • 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘚𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨

We have wrapped up our charitable efforts to benefit Green Mountain Farm-to-School, and we’re pleased to announce that we were able to donate over $3,100 to this invaluable local organization! For more information about their work, and to make direct donations, please visit http://www.greenmountainfarmtoschool.org. @gmfts

GMFTS has been a leader in Vermont’s farm-to-school movement, whose mission is to “strengthen local food systems in Vermont by promoting positive economic relationships, education, and access between schools, farms, and communities.” Through its Farm-to-School program, Farm Direct food hub, and Lunchbox food truck, GMFTS provides direct and impactful outcomes.

For the month of June, we have selected Four Seasons of Early Learning as our monthly charitable recipient! FSEL in Greensboro Bend, Vt., provides a safe, secure, and stimulating environment that is developmentally appropriate and fosters respect for individual needs.

“By offering an emerging curriculum, it is our aspiration that each child will develop a positive outlook toward school, a better appreciation for the world around them, and acquire a lifelong love for learning that will serve them here and their time beyond.”

http://4seasonsofearlylearning.org

We will donate 100% of all cash donations, along with 10% from all onsite bottle pours, to this excellent local organization.

Thirteen years.

Momentous, auspicious, miraculous.

Cheers and thank you to everyone who made this journey possible!

𝗣𝗲𝗮𝗿: 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟭 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 • 𝗢𝗳 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 & 𝗟𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 • 𝗗𝗼𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝘁𝘂𝗲𝗸𝗮

It’s been a week of celebration, welcome sunshine, new and familiar faces, and many warm memories. We’re grateful that so many of you joined us throughout the week to usher in another year! We’ll debut a new seasonal representation of our ongoing fruited collection—Pear: 2021 Harvest—and freshly packaged cans of Of First & Last Things and Double Motueka. The taproom’s expanded bottle and glass pour menu will also continue into the coming week!

Pear: 2021 Harvest

Each harvest season, we choose various barrels of our Farmstead® ales that exhibit sympathetic characteristics for pairing with local fruit varieties. On occasion, a single selection speaks to an ideal projection of a fruit's seasonal expression; other times, fruits may mingle best with a curated selection of barrels. Regardless of the base beer, the ideal outcome remains: a thoughtful representation of the fruit in season.

This blend was aged between 28 and 32 months in wine barrels and then conditioned further on a blend of Siberian pears and a few local varieties of desert pears—Stacy, Luscious, Summercrisp, and Nova—all organically grown by Elmore Roots Nursery in nearby Elmore, Vt. It is a delicate, expressive representation of Vermont's summer and the annual autumn harvest.

Our retail shop’s bottle selection will also include Vera Mae 2022; Elaborative Six and Elaborative Seven (sold as pair); Works of Love: Russian River Brewing/The Lost Abbey; Anna: Motueka; Charlie; Sankt Hans; Double Barrel Aaron: Bourbon|Cognac; Civil Disobedience Blend 36; Biere de Norma; Wheat Blanc; Nonconformist 07; and more.

Additional canned offerings include Ephraim (Triple IPA); Mary (German-style Pilsner); and Excursions: Nelson Sauvin (Nelson Lakes) (IPA).

𝗩𝗲𝗿𝗮 𝗠𝗮𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮

After some wild weather swings, the late spring of 2022 brought forth an abundant crop of spring blossoms and an ample group of generous and enthusiastic picking volunteers—both blanketing the fields over the course of four days! Bags and bags (and bags and bags) of pollen-laden yellow flowers migrated by hand from field to brewhouse, as is our annual tradition.

The annual emergence arrives this spring with delightful timeliness: in parallel with the new season and flower picking in the coming week for this year’s brewing of our seasonally tethered Farmstead® ale.

Since the spring of 2010—when Shaun was unexpectedly joined by two customers in helping him to pick a dozen brown paper bags worth of flowers—through to this coming week’s planned foray into the fields when we hope to see many familiar faces again, this tradition continues each year.

With the help of the entire team here, we brew Vera Mae’s namesake beer each spring with heaps of fresh spring blossoms graciously gathered by fantastic and enthusiastic volunteers, a curation of organically grown grains, and, for the first time, raw Hill Road honey (from the land surrounding our own brewery). After which, it will be conditioned in wine barrels.

That familiar yellow label and matching golden blanket of temporal floral decor help to mark the season and celebrate the promise of another Northeast Kingdom summer season!

In January of this year, Shaun brewed a single-decocted lager with 100% Vermont wheat malted by Vermont Malthouse in Charlotte, and Crystal and Nugget hops grown by Champlain Valley Hops in Starksboro, Vt. This fully Vermont wheat lager was conditioned in our lagering puncheons at 3º Celsius for three months and then moved to stainless steel so that it might be krausened with fresh-fermenting Mary to provide natural carbonation.

Following more than a month of slow, gentle carbonation, we offer this as an expression of our Vermont and its agriculture, one that demonstrates our pursuit for refinement while honoring and ennobling the most inspiring elements of classical brewing tradition.

#hillfarmstead #vermont #craftbeer #beersofinstagram #beer #thisisvt #vermontbeer #reflection #supportlocal

2012 Anniversary celebration! What a weekend of friendship with the bonus of beautiful weather!

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲: 𝗥𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗥𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿/𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗯𝗯𝗲𝘆

Since 2013, Works of Love has served as our collaborative realm, within which we share our space with friends and peers. Each instance has served as an intuitive, inspirational gathering of creative energies, a singular opportunity where each participant brings to bear their own unique voice with a unified projection of optimism, craft, and creativity.

Shaun’s connection with Tomme and Vinnie as brewers, and Natalie as an unheralded industry pioneer, reaches back to his formative 20s:

“I sent them résumés and applied for jobs at both of their breweries.”

While he would ultimately walk other paths, the connections remained, and the work of both breweries served as guideposts in the growing American craft beer world. Touchstones like Blind Pig, Pliny the Elder, the SPF Saison series, Veritas, Hop 15, Supplication, Temptation, Deviation, Isabelle Proximus, Beatification, Red Poppy, Angel’s Share… each one a formative and groundbreaking entry in the beer canon.

During the 2019 Festival of Farmhouse Ales, we had the honor of hosting Vinnie, Natalie, and Tomme amongst our amazing brewery guests, where they graciously shared their craft with visitors. Having these three iconic individuals here for the event would have been boon enough, but as luck would have it, a collaboration was also on the docket for the week’s festivities.

They cooperated on an inspired Farmstead® ale—serving as a foundational platform for eventual fruit—that then rested in French and American oak wine barrels for nearly a year. After time in oak, the barrels were blended together and then conditioned atop Vermont-grown cherries and blackberries. After more than two years of conditioning in the bottle, this is ready to be shared in the spirit with which it was crafted.

Both of these breweries have signature profiles that an expert could easily detect in a blind tasting. There are certain qualities—especially in wild beers—that ineffably speak with their voice. We’re pleased that those present themselves within this beer as identifiable harmonics in a unique, shared chorus with our own.

Anniversary festivals were illustrious for their weather, and 2011 was no exception: a hurricane, lightning, and downpours. It was a wild experience, and one we loved sharing with so many familiar-now faces!

Well, it’s been a heck of a run, but it’s time to retire the original sign to a place of honor in the taproom (and out of the weather). Thanks to Darren (@ix_vines) for yet another beautiful bit of woodcraft wonder from which to hang this new sign, and to Brian, Ronnie, and Howard for the assist in getting it done!

𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸, 𝟮𝟰 𝗠𝗮𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯

To mark our thirteenth year, we plan to celebrate throughout the week: a full slate of debuting bottles and freshly packaged cans on Weds. (stay tuned tomorrow for more info on those), a vast catalog of vintage bottles to enjoy by the glass and bottle, special vintage draft offerings each day, the arrival of our expanded outdoor area for the summer, and two different food trucks.

Some highlights for next week:

• More than two dozen vintage bottles on our menu each day, rotating through our collection, including limited appearances of Ann, Art, Flora, Aaron, Damon, and Samuel, along with numerous others dating back to 2013.

• Vintage draft offerings each day, with selections dating back as far as 2012

• The debut of Vermont Wheat Lager and the return of Memoria

• Food Trucks - Weds.: Smokin’ Something BBQ & Thurs. - Sat.: Smokin’ Joes (BBQ)

No reservations are required, and the weather looks delightful. We look forward to sharing the week with you!

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Festival 2023

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403 Hill Road
Greensboro Bend, VT 05842

1 (802) 533-7450
[email protected]

Public Wifi Available!

Hours For Taproom & Bottle Shop

monday

closed

tuesday

closed

Wednesday

11:30am – 5:00pm

Thursday

11:30am – 5:00pm

Friday

11:30am – 5:00pm

Saturday

11:30am – 5:00pm

sunday

closed

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