Stone Brewery has a pretty good beer called Arrogant Bastard. The blurb on the back starts with the phrase "You are not worthy". They must have been referring to the owner of Hill Farmstead Brewery, Shaun Hill.
The guy makes pretty good beer... Ain't nearly as good as he's under the impression it is. If you want to travel to Nowhere, VT to buy some expensive beer made by a guy who truly believes "You are not worthy"... Make sure you go to Hill Farmstead Brewery.
I'm a hophead. Have been for many years. So I tend to return to places I can get hoppy beer, especially when they fill growlers. I'm currently living 35 miles from Hill Farmstead Brewery, so naturally when I discovered the place I became a regular visitor. Went there for whatever double IPA they had on tap. It should be noted that I was a visitor NOT because the beer was the best I've ever had... But the town I'm living in offers Long Trail IPA as the hoppiest choice (the town is a "Coors Light community"... Unfortunately). Hill Farmstead was simply the closest place to feed my hops addiction.
So after a few trips with 2 growlers, I decide to dig up some old growlers to make the trip more worthwhile. Two of the growlers are clear (obtained from Triumph Brewery and JJ Bitting Brewery in Jersey... Which Shaun would obviously consider beneath his contempt for this reason alone). I make the 35 mile trip with my growlers and am promptly told Shaun forbids filling the clear ones with his precious brew. Really? Hey Shaun, I drank your beer in daylight in a clear glass and didn't die. The beer I buy in growlers tends to spend more time in daylight and (critically) in the presence of oxygen when I'm DRINKING it... You want me to sign a form designating how I will drink it before you sell me your precious beer? Only with the lights out on a moonless night? Most of us idiots buy the beer, take it home and put it in the fridge (it gets dark when the door is closed Shaun). We don't put it open in the sunlight on the porch for a week before we drink it.
Now I'm knowledgeable enough to know why beers are bottled in amber bottles. Hop resins ARE light sensitive. But like all chemical reactions, this is time/temperature dependent. So, how paranoid do you need to be? The growlers I got from Triumph and JJ Bitting were brought home and enjoyed over a 2-3 day period without any "skunkiness" observed. Those breweries are quite successful AND knowledgeable (not by Shaun's standards apparently).
Why am I writing this review (rant)? Waste a 70 mile round trip not getting what you came for because the owner of the establishment is a pompous ass and maybe you'll understand. He has other rules. Cash only. I'm sure he'll tell you to stick it if you produce anything else (attention IRS..."underground economy"..."cash cow"). I did see a local permitted to write a check, but was told that courtesy was selectively permitted.
So guys, make the trip if you want. Just make sure you're worthy.
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