Fear And Trembling - Hill Farmstead Brewery

Alieniloquium

Florida

3.9/5  rDev -8.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

750 mL growler poured into a snifter.

Appearance - Pours a deep brown, almost black. Nice khaki head and good wisps that regenerate with every swirl.

Smell - Quite smokey, but it has a sweet caramel aroma with it. Deep roasted malt blends with the smoke.

Taste - Pleasant amount of smoke. Caramel throughout snifter the darker malts come through in the back. Bitter and very Smokey in the finish. It gives it an interesting finish for a lager, but it's rough.

Mouthfeel - Overly bitter. Nice until the very end, but excessively bitter.

Overall - Missing the HF magic. Never been the biggest fan of smoked beers and while the smoke improves the Baltic Porter, it's rough in the end.

Serving type: growler

02-12-2013 03:09:50 | More by Alieniloquium

beernads

Florida

3.5/5  rDev -18.2%

05-18-2013 06:46:10 | More by beernads

illy0sis

Texas

4.5/5  rDev +5.1%

05-14-2013 22:03:45 | More by illy0sis

ScottO

California

4.5/5  rDev +5.1%

05-14-2013 14:25:33 | More by ScottO

HuskyinPDX

Washington

4.18/5  rDev -2.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Bottle opened on 4.23.13
Bottled Jan 2013

A - Pours a very dark brown with a one finger light brown clumpy head with good retention and lacing left on the glass.

S - Light smoke and roasted malts.

T - Smokey, roasted malt, chocolate.

D - Silky smooth - decent carbonation and a medium to heavy body.

O - Smokey and silky. Nice for the style. I really enjoyed this one.

Serving type: bottle

05-14-2013 04:52:03 | More by HuskyinPDX

koopa

New Jersey

4.25/5  rDev -0.7%

05-12-2013 18:28:25 | More by koopa

jl28r1

Texas

4.5/5  rDev +5.1%

05-12-2013 14:01:24 | More by jl28r1

monitorpop

Michigan

4.25/5  rDev -0.7%

05-12-2013 02:45:38 | More by monitorpop

SPRichard

New Jersey

4.25/5  rDev -0.7%

05-11-2013 17:05:32 | More by SPRichard

Vonerichs

Illinois

4.45/5  rDev +4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Pitch black color with a low and tight beach sand colored head. Once the head dissipates it's left looking flat and tranquil with not even a hint of carbonation at the surface.

The smoke is subtle in the aroma and accompanied by coffee, chocolate fudge, and root beer.

The chocolate and coffee share the lead with the smoke, which pops a lot more than in the scent. It's a nice balance of sweet and smokey with just a touch of bitterness in the finish, like coffee grounds.

Mouthfeel is smooth and medium bodied. It drinks much lighter than a 9.30% beer, though.

Another great beer from HF, no surprise there. The smoke plays a big role in this one but doesn't dominate.

Serving type: bottle

05-11-2013 02:15:58 | More by Vonerichs

justforrazors

Missouri

4.75/5  rDev +11%

05-10-2013 01:42:29 | More by justforrazors

Shilt

Virginia

4/5  rDev -6.5%

05-09-2013 19:45:54 | More by Shilt

briiguy

Illinois

4.5/5  rDev +5.1%

05-09-2013 15:31:55 | More by briiguy

KevSal

California

4.75/5  rDev +11%

05-09-2013 06:00:11 | More by KevSal

InspectorBob

New Jersey

4.75/5  rDev +11%

05-08-2013 13:07:10 | More by InspectorBob

mechamifune

North Carolina

4.13/5  rDev -3.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a very deep dark brown with a slight tan head. Strong lacing and carbonation in the glass. A very nice looking beer.

Smell is smoke, tobacco, leather, chocolate, coffee...smoke is the stronest note here but it is a nice, complex smell.

Taste is smokey upfront followed by some sweetness and then a bitter/acidic coffee-like finish. Just like the smell, this is pretty complex, but i'm not convinced it all melds together as well as it could. No real hop presence. Smoke, again, is probably the most obvious note but it's not overpowering.

Mouthfeel is pretty smooth if not particularly full. Could stand to have just a little more body, but that's more a personal preference than anything.

Overall I feel a little conflicted about this beer. Nothing is particularly wrong with this beer, and I enjoyed drinking it, but I can't say i'd make a point of drinking it again. It's a nice integration of smoked malt and the smoke element is far from overpowering, but that flavor note has just never been one i've been crazy about. In the end though, its worth a try if you can get it and you have an affinity for baltic porters and/or smoked beers of any kind.

Serving type: bottle

05-08-2013 04:00:00 | More by mechamifune

cadaugherty

Illinois

4.25/5  rDev -0.7%

05-07-2013 23:27:07 | More by cadaugherty

mklisz

New Hampshire

4.25/5  rDev -0.7%

05-07-2013 14:16:13 | More by mklisz

harrymel

Washington

3.78/5  rDev -11.7%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75

Vintage Jan, 2013

It's near black with a fleeting tan head leaving a etched top. Smells of toasted malts, richly of bitter coffee grounds, some soil, some vinyl and a good chunk of leather. Flavor is very leathery with some meat flavor (well done flank sans spice), some soil - much less sweet than most baltic's I've had. Full bodied with sharp, but limited carb and an off dry finish. Nice beer, not among the best baltics I've had, but a yummy beer best suited for a rich Irish/English meat and potatoes style dinner.

Serving type: bottle

05-04-2013 07:23:32 | More by harrymel

Dmbphoenix

New York

3.25/5  rDev -24.1%

05-01-2013 12:07:03 | More by Dmbphoenix

tom10101

Quebec (Canada)

4/5  rDev -6.5%

04-29-2013 22:17:26 | More by tom10101

volta

New Jersey

4/5  rDev -6.5%

04-27-2013 06:16:03 | More by volta

TheSevenDuffs

Ontario (Canada)

4.44/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.25

Thanks to David for this bottle! Bottled in Jan 2013.

A - Poured dark brown and settled black. One finger of mocha coloured head that reduced to a thin layer. Good lacing.

S - Roast, anise and a big hit of smoke up front. Some chocolate notes in the background. The smoke is dominant without overwhelming the nose.

T - A big roasty profile with a good dose of smoke and lighter anise and chocolate flavours. A fairly big bitterness is present throughout.

M - Medium body with a huge chew. Creamy and silky. Light carbonation. Perfect mouthfeel for the style.

Serving type: bottle

04-21-2013 22:30:03 | More by TheSevenDuffs

popery

California

4.5/5  rDev +5.1%

04-21-2013 17:06:51 | More by popery

theGlasstronaut

Pennsylvania

3.75/5  rDev -12.4%

04-16-2013 14:33:14 | More by theGlasstronaut