Henry David Thoreau’s seminal essay “Civil Disobedience” has served as a guiding text for Hill Farmstead since the brewery’s inception. In it, Thoreau speaks out against injustice, complacency, and convention, urging us to obey our hearts rather than the dictates of the tyrannical power structures that shape our lives. “It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right,” he writes.

“The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think is right.”

Named in honor of Thoreau’s essay, our blended Farmstead Ale series represents an act of hope and resilience, serving as a space for us to experiment and build on prior knowledge. Some blends have woven together batches of our favorite existing beers, while others have served as prototypes for new ales that have since become standard-bearers for the brewery. Occasionally, beers that have at first seemed like failures have become successes after finding resonance as a part of a larger blend. Often, experiments that have looked like potential dead ends have instead opened up new pathways for us.

Each unique blend bears the imprint of the context in which it has been crafted — our latest preoccupations, our hopes for the future, our recent mistakes and the lessons they have imparted. To follow the evolution of the Civil Disobedience series over time is thus to trace the growth of Hill Farmstead itself, from our earliest explorations of barrel-aged beer to our more refined attempts at harmonizing our favorite ales.

The first Civil Disobedience blends, crafted in the earliest days of the brewery, were marked by freewheeling, even chaotic experimentation, often incorporating eclectic ingredients and excess beer that didn’t make it into barrels.

“For those earliest blends, we weren’t necessarily dictating things,” says Shaun Hill.

“We were just surrendering to whatever came up and whatever we had. It was completely spontaneous.”

The first ever batch of Civil Disobedience — a blend of Arthur and “Mimosa,” an early Farmstead Ale brewed with orange zest — was crafted in the Summer of 2011 and released as a “mystery saison” at the first Festival of Farmstead Ales that August. Civil Disobedience #2, blended later that year, prominently features Clara, our Farmstead Grisette, mixed with Edward and a hint of lemon juice. Civil Disobedience #4, a blended black Farmstead Ale composed of five separate beers, represents our first attempt to blend dark Farmstead Ales, and ever since, each fourth Civil Disobedience has been a dark blend.

Over time, our experiments gradually became more intentional and controlled, reflecting the brewery’s growing mastery and willingness to strike out in new directions.

Civil Disobedience #9, blended in 2014, is a barrel-aged, dry-hopped farmstead ale using Susan as its base — a prototype of what would eventually become Sue. Civil Disobedience #13, meanwhile, primarily consists of barrel-aged Society and Solitude #3, one of our first attempts at aging a Double IPA in wood.

As the brewery began to experiment more regularly with fruit, aging our ales on everything from pears to persimmons, our blends likewise began to feature new, fresh additives. Civil Disobedience #15, a blend of many ales aged on organic mangoes, represents an early attempt at incorporating whole fruit into a blend. In subsequent years, we have released special editions of blends that highlight particular fruits, including Civil Disobedience Cherry, Civil Disobedience Cherry Crabapple, and Civil Disobedience Plum.

In 2015, Hill Farmstead began to expand its facility and footprint, and our blends from around this time likewise bear the imprint of our growing operation, our deepening knowledge, and new members of the extended Hill Farmstead family. Civil Disobedience #20 is a delicate and complex blend of Shirley Mae and a spontaneously fermented collaboration with our close friends at Cigar City. Civil Disobedience #24 includes several of our Saint Adarius “Residency” beers, as well as Works of Love: Farm Ghosthand, one of the earliest collaborations bearing the Works of Love name.

The most recent stretch of blends, beginning with Civil Disobedience 30, embody a new phase in the brewery’s mastery and vitality. A far cry from our first attempts to cobble together heady mixtures, these blends have been curated from the best that Hill Farmstead has to offer, which are allowed to harmonize over time and condition in the bottle.

Civil Disobedience #31 combines the depth and complexity of Sankt Hans and Bier De Norma with the delicate acidity of Anna and Arthur. Civil Disobedience #39, our most recent blend, weaves together over six different barrel-aged ales, including Samuel, Ann, Citrus Coolship, and barrel-aged What is Enlightenment?

“There has always been some degree of surrender with all of these beers, but the Civil Disobedience 30s are much more controlled and much more focused, because we had worked through all of the chaotic experimentation,” says Shaun.

“Civil Disobedience 30-39 are really some of the greatest blends — some of the greatest beers, period — to ever come out of the brewery.”