It’s a little out of the way, but hundreds of people flock to Hill Farmstead to fill their growlers with what I can only assume they consider the nectar of the gods. On the day we visited, at least two separate groups came in with boxes containing about ten bottles each and they needed all of them filled. In other words, this stuff is good.
The building itself is unprepossessing. You literally are on a farmstead, and on the winter’s day I was there it looked especially bleak in that cold New England winter way. But inside the beer was flowing and the place was absolutely mobbed. The tasting area is small and narrow; I’d say we were there for about an hour and a half waiting to
get all four of our allotted samples and get a growler filled. Glasses were being washed as fast as possible by hand in a soapy bucket by staff, but the demand didn’t slow down while we were there. Here’s what I tried:
Civil Disobedience #1: From the Philosophical series. Citrusy and fresh.
Friendship and Reunion: IPA, Collab with former Dieu du Ciel brewer Luc Bim LaFontaine
Citra: From the Single Hop series. American Pale Ale where everything is done with Citra Hops
Edward: From the Ancestral series, and possibly one of the most well-known of the Hill Farmstead brews. American Pale Ale named for the brewer’s grandfather; the brewery sits on his land, and the beer uses water from the well on the property.
Despite the unpretentious exterior of the brewery, I consider Hill Farmstead Fancy Beer. It’s what I would order if I were going to a gourmet restaurant that had a beer selection. It would take a lot for me to brave the crowds again and make my way inside to refill my growler, but my personal agoraphobic ways shouldn’t discourage beer lovers from making their own pilgrimages.
Hill Farmsted
403 Hill Road
Greensboro, VT
Free Samples. Cash sales only.
Vermont on Tap 
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