Twilight Of The Idols - Hill Farmstead Brewery

davey101

Connecticut

4.55/5  rDev +4.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Fall/Winter 2012 vintage. 500ml bottle into a tulip glass. The HF website lists this beer as being brewed with coffee and cinnamon, but the ingredient lists and description on the label has no mention of cinnamon. Recipe change perhaps?

A - Pours a very dark black body. Holding it up to the light lets just a bit shine through to show a very dark brown color. Dense and creamy two finger mocha head forms and dissipates rather slowly into a thin cap with thick edging. Lacing and retention is just insane on this beer. Super sticky and clinging foam.

S - Roasty and smoky with intense espresso beans and rich vanilla. Finish is of sweet milk chocolate and a touch of spice. Excellent aroma, very dark and roasty.

T - Roasted malts lead into a strong vanilla presence. Notes of coffee and sweet milk chocolate intertwine. The intense roastiness of the beer is cut by an almost syrup like level of sweetness. Extremely decadent and delicious but slightly cloying.

M - Creamy and silky with a perfect level of carbonation. Swishing the beer in your mouth causes it to instantly froth up. It finishes surprisingly dry which helps with the intense syrupy sweetness of the beer. The mouthfeel is just perfect here.

O - An exceedingly complex and intense porter. I assume Everett is the base beer due to matching abv's. I do prefer Everett in that its much simpler and basic while perfecting all the qualities that make a world class porter. The addition of ingredients seems to make a great thing a bit less great. Still a world class porter that is exceedingly enjoyable on a cold ass night.

Serving type: bottle

11-07-2012 05:38:33 | More by davey101

Callmecoon

California

4.5/5  rDev +3%

05-23-2013 02:21:25 | More by Callmecoon

davesway10

Iowa

4.25/5  rDev -2.7%

05-22-2013 18:25:45 | More by davesway10

mdaschaf

Washington

4.28/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Review from notes. Thanks to Paul for sharing!

A: Pours black with a one finger tan colored head on top, great retention which left behind some thin lacing.

S: Some roast with chocolate and a coffee. The vanilla is there, a little lighter than I would have liked, but not a knock at all. The cinnamon is faint as well, but present.

T: The coffee is a bit more forward in the flavor profile and the chocolate takes a back seat. Nice level of roastiness with some vanilla and spice.

M: Medium bodied with medium carbonation. Extremely smooth and creamy.

O: Another tasty porter from HF. A can see how this would be nice to drink in the winter, but nothing wrong with drinking it on a cloudy May afternoon in Seattle either.

Serving type: bottle

05-21-2013 12:14:37 | More by mdaschaf

GRG1313

California

4.25/5  rDev -2.7%

05-20-2013 05:23:07 | More by GRG1313

Photekut

Azerbaijan

4/5  rDev -8.5%

05-18-2013 21:00:02 | More by Photekut

Wolfpack2005

North Carolina

4/5  rDev -8.5%

05-18-2013 15:24:14 | More by Wolfpack2005

BEERchitect

Kentucky

4.5/5  rDev +3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Riding on the heels of Everett Porter, the winterized version ramps up with added vanilla and coffee, and a spicy zing that only cinnamon can provide. Without over doing it, this in many ways is the perfect winter beer, or spring beer, or summer beer.... you get the point.

But with the most well-built Porters, Twilight of the Idols pours with the deepest, darkest and most ominous dark brown color that is could easily be confused with Stout. Billowing with a creamy, dense, sand-stained head, the foam slowly recedes into a blanket across the glass that holds crazy-firm and laces the glass with broken lace in the beer's wake.

Chocolate, coffee, cream and vanilla fill the nose with a lush scent of dessert, robust, and ale scents. Firmly malty and balanced, that scent is decorated with notions of tangy yougurt, nondescript spice, and woodish hops.

Its delicious taste is lead by a blend of bold roast coffee and bittersweet chocolate. Those tastes are supported by the lavish taste of sweetened whipped cream, heavy cream, vanilla, and a tangy malt taste that offers up a pleasant acidity to match that of the roast. Delving a tad deeper, the roasted flavors reel in auxiliary tastes of walnuts, woody hops, a modest spice of cinnamon, and a tinge of burnt fruit. Finishing earthy and modestly bitter- the coffee tones seem to carry the beer's final impressions.

Full bodied, but not absurd- the beer's velvety texture presents its cream character early and retains its structure very deep into the session. A gradual turn to dryness yields a malty-dry close with light warmth, slim acidity, and high rate of satisfaction!

Its sinful of how well this beer satisfies the taste- and does so with no real gimmicks, over-selling attributes, and keeping within style. Its raises the bar of what is the best Porter on the market!

Serving type: bottle

05-17-2013 05:29:41 | More by BEERchitect

lakersfan16

Alaska

4.75/5  rDev +8.7%

05-17-2013 03:15:20 | More by lakersfan16

deekyn

California

3.75/5  rDev -14.2%

05-16-2013 04:11:11 | More by deekyn

ScottO

California

4.5/5  rDev +3%

05-14-2013 14:25:59 | More by ScottO

baybassboy

California

4.25/5  rDev -2.7%

05-14-2013 05:29:26 | More by baybassboy

mikeincharleston

South Carolina

4/5  rDev -8.5%

05-13-2013 22:39:33 | More by mikeincharleston

Bonko_the_sane

North Carolina

4.75/5  rDev +8.7%

05-13-2013 05:46:50 | More by Bonko_the_sane

mmcnaughton

Michigan

4.5/5  rDev +3%

05-12-2013 19:14:01 | More by mmcnaughton

ipas-for-life

Virginia

4.75/5  rDev +8.7%

05-12-2013 15:51:52 | More by ipas-for-life

mikeburd1128

New Jersey

4.75/5  rDev +8.7%

05-11-2013 15:21:15 | More by mikeburd1128

justforrazors

Missouri

5/5  rDev +14.4%

05-10-2013 01:26:34 | More by justforrazors

TheSevenDuffs

Ontario (Canada)

4.43/5  rDev +1.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Thanks to Jeff for this bottle! F/W 2012 bottling. Poured in to HF tulip.

A - Black with one finger of cocoa coloured head.

S - Sweet vanilla up front with espresso, roast and milk chocolate aromas. Fairly sweet overall nose.

T - A huge espresso flavour up front that is immediately followed by sweet vanilla and milk chocolate. Some roast is also present in the background. The finish is sweet vanilla. A great overall flavour profile.

M - Medium body. Creamy. Light to moderate carbonation.

Serving type: bottle

05-08-2013 01:50:00 | More by TheSevenDuffs

JaymeAyotte1

Vermont

4.75/5  rDev +8.7%

05-08-2013 00:47:00 | More by JaymeAyotte1

cadaugherty

Illinois

4.25/5  rDev -2.7%

05-07-2013 23:29:15 | More by cadaugherty

cpetrone84

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev -8.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pour is black and opaque, tons of tight caramel brown head. Nose is roasted coffee, assertive vanilla and rich chocolate, light char, fair spice to it. Taste is similar in comparison to the nose. Same aspects, coffee is light with the roast slightly stronger. Very rich chocolate and vanilla, light peppery tang to it. Balanced sweetness subtly behind showing a deep malt presence. Body is lighter, carb is assertive with a juicy texture and semi dry finish.

Serving type: bottle

05-07-2013 18:23:34 | More by cpetrone84

jjheinrichs

Wisconsin

4.5/5  rDev +3%

05-03-2013 04:14:39 | More by jjheinrichs

Pete27lax

New York

4.75/5  rDev +8.7%

05-02-2013 17:31:50 | More by Pete27lax

BarrytheBear

Wisconsin

4.41/5  rDev +0.9%
look: 3.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

500 ml bottle into a snifter. Courtesy, I believe, of Mike. Thanks buddy!

Holy gusher...this bottle would make Vesuvius blush. Big piping flowage just rises and bubbles and oozes and puffs its might chest. Once in the glass there's equal pars beer and head for quite a spell.

The initial scent of plastic tubing really pissed me off. I've had a flat Birth of Tragedy and was going to shake my paws at the sky in a vain attempt at remedying the situation if this beer had qc issues. Upon settling a light creaminess emerges. Smooth mocha mingles with the perfect cup of coffee where the half and half meets the roast and just copulates like the filthy bitches they both know they are. You dirty, dirty...I digress. The smell is quite enticing. Vanilla beans join the now gentle menage a trois, as the first two combatants lie in a sweaty embrace.

What we have here is an incredibly smooth drinking porter. Rather than suffering from waif-like body, as some porters as bound to disappoint, the body is both creamy and fluffy. The light creamed coffee, mocha, and vanilla beans are soft in their presentation. However, each delicately plays nicely together allowing one another to shine in their respective competencies. The finishes shows a spike of cinnamon and a flash of alcohol that belies a vanilla fade. Thank god this doesn't fall prey to that fake off putting extracty vanilla abomination that can absolutely piss all over an otherwise good beer.

I'm not sure what's not to like about this. Judge on its merits as a porter, this is an amazing beer. I enjoyed this far more than Birth of Tragedy.

Serving type: bottle

05-02-2013 01:38:05 | More by BarrytheBear