George - Hill Farmstead Brewery

FeDUBBELFIST

Pennsylvania

4.58/5  rDev +13.1%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Draft pour into a pint glass for $5.00. Sampled 1/11/12.

A: Served with a 1 1/2 finger creamy foamy head, light brown in color. Medium retention and coating the glass with proficiency as it falls. Semi-broken concentric rings after each sip. The body is medium-dark brown with dark amber edges and decent clarity.

S: Cocoa and water chestnut with a nice toast. A small amount of fresh coffee pokes through. All of these aromas work incredibly well with the unexpected hop bill (Cascade, Centennial and Columbus) and the balance couldn't be any better.

T: Flavors follow the nose closely and just a hair less impressive. Again, dusted cocoa powder, toasted chestnut and coffee mingle with a deep grassy resinous hop character. Bitterness lasts long throughout the finish.

M: Slick, smooth mouthfeel with medium body. The carbonation is perfectly lively and continues as long as the taste does.

O: Of the few ABAs that I've had AND thoroughly enjoyed, George is easily the best. Something about that hop schedule puts it in another league.

Serving type: on-tap

01-12-2012 08:34:25 | More by FeDUBBELFIST

CliffBrake

New Hampshire

3.98/5  rDev -1.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Deep red-brown color with minimal tan head and lacing. This growler was just filled yesterday, but it is already a bit on the flat side.

Aroma of brown bread and raisins. As usual from Hill Farmstead, a very inviting aroma. The flavor is of sweet bread and roasted grains with a pretty aggressive herbal hops flavor. A bit of bitter cherry finishing quite dry.

Slightly creamy mouthfeel. Overall quite nice although not as lively as some other examples of the style.

Serving type: growler

12-24-2011 16:49:45 | More by CliffBrake

Bardwashrind

Colorado

4.18/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Growler sent by way of bwmichaud, many thanks. Shared in good company on a snow covered evening of the winter solstice.

Creamy head of tan colored bubbles. Semi-dark in color but light still finds it's way through around the edges. Great aromas of roasted grains, zesty hops, coffee cake and wood kindling. Very inviting on such a night.

Very flavorful with toasted bread and bitter coffee like comparisons. There is a nice backbone of hops which add more of a residual bitterness to give the beer a great depth. While being a bit out of usual style of a brown ale, the hops are quite pleasant and even desired. Some acidity rings throughout making the beer incredibly drinkable. The high notes of slight citrus and sourdough are wonderfully interwoven. Delicious.

I have a soft spot for this style so usually overlooked. Not too chocolatey or too much in the direction of a porter, George is a solid brown ale and is right up there with Russian River if a bit more aggressive.

Serving type: growler

12-23-2011 16:30:35 | More by Bardwashrind

Sean9689

Illinois

3.68/5  rDev -9.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Thanks, Bob! 750ml growler poured into Darkness tulip.

A - Pours a brownish/red color, off-white colored head, sticky lace, nice collar, thin cap on top.

S - Nice level of roasty malt, some nuttiness, brown sugar, and a pretty large dose of hops. Not sure if I'm a huge fan of such a hoppy Brown Ale, but this is as-described.

T - A lot more hoppy the the nose. It's a Columbus hop bomb with the remnants of a brown ale. There's a slight malty sweetness, touch of caramel, but the finish is overly-bitter and too hoppy for my tastes.

M - Medium, good carbonation, bitter finish.

O - Don't get me wrong, this is described as a hoppy brown, but it's even a larger dose of Columbus then I was expecting. Hey, I like hoppy beers, but I like my brown ales to have more of a malty sweetness and less hop-focused.

Serving type: growler

12-19-2011 16:33:35 | More by Sean9689

MasterSki

Illinois

3.38/5  rDev -16.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Growler courtesy of Sean. Served in a Hill Farmstead glass.

A - A finger of light tan foam settles to a thin collar, some wisps on top, and tiny spots of lace. Ruby brown body with some transparency to it.

S - Aroma is...odd. A mix of typical brown ale flavors - nuts, toasted malts, brown sugar, and cocoa - with dank, piney, and herbal hops. There's a *tiny* vomit note mixed in.

T - Again, it's a mix of nutty and sugary brown ale flavors with herbaceous bitterness and hop flavors. Exactly as described, but a strangely contradictory and clashing flavor combination for me.

M - Zesty, slightly harsh, carbonation. Medium body, toasty texture, dry finish, and some residual resinous hop oils. No obvious alcohol.

D - The combination of brown ale and Columbus hops just doesn't work for me, and this is by far the least enjoyable beer I've had from Hill Farmstead. The flavor profile is exactly what you'd expect from the description, but the concept seems problematic. Oh well, even Mozart wrote the occasional bad piece - perhaps this beer would pair nicely with the Flute & Harp Concerto K. 299.

Serving type: growler

12-18-2011 21:57:39 | More by MasterSki

rowingbrewer

Massachusetts

4.03/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This beer pours a nice brown color with a decent amount of light making it's way through. There is a nice light tan head on topmtha fades rather slowly. The smell is earthy floral hops up front with a nice roasted and sweet malt finish. The flavor is pretty similar to the smell with there being a bit more than expected hop profile. The malts come about a bit more as the beer warms up. The mouthfeel on this beer is medium bodied with good carbonation. Overall this beer is refreshing and very drinkable. Shaun said the next batch has had the hops toned down a bit, can't wait to try it.

Serving type: on-tap

12-12-2011 13:08:46 | More by rowingbrewer

rudzud

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev -1.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Enjoyed on tap at the breweries tasting room. Poured into a flight glass.

A - Poured a crystal clear mahogany with a nice offwhite head that slowly faded.

S - Smell is of nice toasty malts, dark molasses, and a touch of earthy, grassy hops.

T - Taste is slightly bitter thanks to those grassy hops with more of the light roast from the malts and that molasses sweetness. Theres a slight chocolate in there as well.

M - Mouthfeel is light and crisp. A very drinkable brown ale.

O - So far, this is my least favourite Hill Farmstead to date. That being said, this is still a great brown ale. Just, perhaps I hold Hill Farmstead to such a high bar that this just falls short for me.

Serving type: on-tap

11-26-2011 23:19:56 | More by rudzud

yourefragile

District of Columbia

4.18/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

750 mL growler sent by Tucker and shared with my father, George (of course).

Pours a clear, dark mahogany with ruby tinged color with a massive frothy cream colored head. Finger thick bubbly head throughout with thin sticky sheets of lacing. Pleasant aroma of brown sugar, molasses, roast malt, earthy hops and light coffee. Strong roast malt flavor in the body with brown sugar and cocoa but the sweetness is well balanced by pine and grassy hops. Dry and bitter finish with a silky light medium body and soft carbonation. A brown ale is a brown ale is a brown ale (generally), but I enjoyed this compared to most and thought the mild bitterness of the hops added a unique turn to this.

Serving type: growler

11-24-2011 21:56:11 | More by yourefragile

jlindros

Massachusetts

4.05/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Tap from the Hill Farmstead Taproom.

Nice creamy head fades slowly with lacing dark murky molasses brown color.

Nose nice dark molasses malts, soft aged malts, brown sugar, light sweetness, hint if grassy earthy hops.

Taste creamy brown malts, lots of earthy almost spicy hops, decent bitterness that grows to quite bitter on the finish. Caramel, molasses, brown sugar soft aged malts.

Mouth is med bodied, slightly creamy, good carb.

Overall nice, hoppier than expected, tasty though

Serving type: on-tap

11-13-2011 23:06:12 | More by jlindros

Reagan1984

Massachusetts

4.1/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Thanks to Mtardiff for sending this along in trade. Excellent trading partner. Always a treat to try another Hill Farmstead beer.

Well, it’s just a gorgeous looking beer. To the extent that you can glean the quality of a beer from visual characteristics, this beer is very well built. My favorite structure with the head is present. The creamy whipped tan head rises well above the rim of your glass and shows great retention. Leaves a beer mustache on you for the first several sips. As the head finally begins to fade it begins depositing lave everywhere. Almost the entire inside of the glass is left covered. The beer is a shoe leather brown, with the slightest haze.

Aroma is thick with roasted dark malt. Not smokey but almost.

Flavor is spot on for the style. Nutty, cocoa powder notes up front with almost a sense of maple. A touch of deep roast that then melds with a more aggressive hop bill than you would expect. I get lots of pine notes and hop presence late in the flavor profile. This works very well with the roasted malts flavors.

Smooth, warming and wonderful. This is a beer to be enjoyed in November. The body is a little thicker and works well with the flavors.

Brown Ales are not among my favorite style, but this is clearly a great representation of the style and one I enjoy. Really happy I had the opportunity to try this. Marc, thanks for sending this along.

Serving type: growler

11-05-2011 11:43:43 | More by Reagan1984

Yagman3000

New York

3.9/5  rDev -3.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured into a sniffer from a 32 oz growler... a brewery release special delivery to fellow BA CosmicEvan. Generously shared!

Appears a really rich brown with a dollop of foamy head remaining, especially clinging to the sides. 

Smells subtle. I pick up some coffee with a bit of spice, perhaps it's a hop bite. 

Tastes darker than I expected. A lot of roasted malt flavor comes through with strong coffee tones. 

Mouthfeel is big and toasty with a lot of hop bitterness on the way out. 

Overall I'm happy I was able to try this beer, especially given its limited status at this point. I'm not generally a huge fan of this genre - brown bitters.

Serving type: growler

10-27-2011 01:07:06 | More by Yagman3000

cosmicevan

New York

3.88/5  rDev -4.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

32oz generously sent from baconsausage (thanks a ton!)...shared with yagman3000.

a - opened the 32oz growler and filled 2 oversized snifters. aggressive pour gives a decent finger sized head that evaporates relatively fast leaving an almost bubble bath look on the surface. deep chestnut brown to the light, has a hint of red on black when set on the table. sparsely sticky lacing. swirling the glass rebuilds some of the head.

s - all malt with some brown sugar splashed in. more sweet than earthy. candied nuttiness.

t - classic brown ale with a bitter side-kick. earthy malts. nutty. the bitterness is strong at first, but once my palette got used to it the brown ale showed it's true colors. the brown ale is subtle with a great malt sweetness mixed in...but the bitterness really leads. i find myself wishing it was toned down a bit.

m - vibrant. leaves a tingle. medium to light bodied. cooling.

o - solid brown ale. comes with a bitter blast that is a bit counter to the seemingly great brown ale beneath. if you are a fan of bitterness you will probably love this one.

Serving type: growler

10-27-2011 00:49:46 | More by cosmicevan