Hill Farmstead thread

[Os]

guess I missed a lot... most people I saw and spoke with seemed to be having a good time...
as I said before, FoFA (like any festival) is really what you want to make of it... unfortunately, if you are looking to tick all day long, lines and logistics probably were working against you... some things could have been set up differently, but some things just happened due to the rain.

I took plenty of breaks from drinking to talk to people and tried to get out from under the tent when the rain wasn't too bad and it seemed like I was able to quite a bit...

from my understanding, everyone brought more beer than in past years... again, everyone under the tent due to the rain created lines that may not have been there... hence, beers going faster than usual... even those that don't usually kick until the very end

SP was asked to bring more because in past years (and again this year) they had the huge lines right away... and in the past they would sell out first...

Marie, well, most of us were asking for Marie or something to breakup all the farmhouse style beers... apparently some people were upset that they were pouring it?

I know I get some heat for sticking up for Shaun and HF, but a lot of time it seems like he's trying to appease the complaints from the past and somehow that ends up being an issue...

I agree that maybe going back to multiple lines for HF beers would help... especially Marie (at some point, word was going around that you could walk straight up for Marie. I am not sure that was not the case and that may have caused an issue)...

my only real let down was that the meat pies ran out so early... but luckily, I had some on Friday.

I guess I'm glad I missed the scum that poured a beer on his S/O... and the apparent yelling at the front of the HF line late in the festival.

I missed Shaun's comment but got a chuckle out of it when I was told. I do see the irony, but get the point about actually enjoying the festival/atmosphere/etc... but again, people go to festivals for different reasons and for some it is indeed all about the beer... still funny though...

I did shitlord it up and suggested Orchard Car Bombs... no regerts!


TL;DR: I had fun like I always do. Great seeing/meeting so many of you. Orchard Car Bombs FTW. MOAR meat pies!

 

[iamjo]

Am I the first the first to point out that they had kegs of that well water?
I filled a couple of bottles for the bus ride, amazing ****.

 

[PhilT1]

Am I the first the first to point out that they had kegs of that well water?
I filled a couple of bottles for the bus ride, amazing ****.

Same water they brew with?

 

[JulianB1]

Finally back home after another awesome FoFA weekend and trip to the northest/Vermont in general. There's always one point (usually somewhere in the driving process) where I'm saying or thinking that I'm crazy for making that trip...and then at some other point I'm already starting to scheme my next visit (sometime this fall or early winter, I hope). A few mostly-chronological thoughts on the trip (not all HF related):

-Tree House's new space is beautiful, and going to a Red Sox game was really cool because Fenway is such a great, intimate venue. Trillium was fun on the way back. I'll definitely need to do a more comprehensive Boston visit at some point.

-Great time at HF on Friday sharing bottles with Fahmie25, skrip, and others! The staff were as friendly as always and working super-hard with such a big crowd. Big cheers to AutumnBeerLove for manning the Dharma Bum station inside and then walking up the bottle line later and selling cans. Also props to Cory King for shooting the **** with a bunch of us in the bottle line, very nice guy. Cans to-go at HF was a nice treat too.

-One of the weekend's biggest downers: never saw Kerrie. Was she on vacation or something?

-Massive thanks to Don for organizing Shitlord Manor, was great seeing old friends and meeting ones. Venue was awesome and with the basically infinite camping space should be a staple for future years. Finally ticked BadJustin and our not-sexual hug was everything I hoped for. facesnorth was the MVP of the weekend for bringing a massive pile of bottles to share (including that fun BAOS tick), letting us use his van for the drive to/from FoFA (much more comfortable than my car), generously giving me some bottles to take home, and all-around being an awesome fun dude to party with.

-Fun times at Parker Pie on Friday and it was surprisingly not too crowded, presumably because the weather was good so most people spread out outside. Great food, great beer (that S&S4 keg, damn), was nice talking to Shaun for a bit, and then karaoke was a blast. Glad I got to see raginasian238 here since she couldn't make it to FoFA.

-First trip where I've been up to Vermont and I didn't do the Waterbury circuit/Alchemist/etc. While I always love hitting Pro Pig for lunch and doing some beer tourism, it was nice to chill out a bit more this time and drive less. Biggest disappointment on this end is not getting the huevos at the Stagecoach. Next time...

-Breakfast at Parson's was really good and a nice base for FoFA, but damn is the wait always that long? We sat down at 10:15 and didn't get out until 11:30.

-Thoughts on FoFA itself:

-Overall, another wonderful festival. Only "tick" I really cared about was Flora b5 (as great as advertised), so I grabbed that and then mostly took things pretty chill. Really enjoyed the beers I had from Cambridge, Wunderkammer, Suarez, and several others. The Side Project line was surprisingly not-bad once a few things kicked (although of course the first time I got in it, the skies opened up), props to them for bringing so much beer (I do wonder if maybe they could/should have done 2 lines - one for bottle pours from Cory and one for draft pours? Of course the beer would have ran out faster so maybe not). I tried a lot of random things I might not have otherwise and didn't have a single beer all day I wasn't happy to drink.

-The Marie tap was great IMO, and it was nice to be able to get a big pour of it. Good change of pace about mid-way through. And cider bombs with the Jersey crew, as mentioned earlier, were a lot of fun.

-Most of what can be said about the HF line has been. I will say personally that I did do the "left line" thing at one point, when they were trying to separate Flora BBR pours (which is what everyone seemed to be waiting for) from the others. I'd actually walked up to the front to see what was on tap and one of the staff was playing air traffic controller, yelling out to come up on the left for anything other than Flora BBR. I grabbed a pour of something (Dorothy I think) and went to the back of the long line to wait for Flora BBR. The one nice thing about the HF line was it provided a good opportunity to enjoy the music, which was the best of the 3 years I've been. The "line" right at the end was chaos to be sure.

-Awesome how much money PrinceCaspian and company raised for charity! The raffle table was my first stop of the day after grabbing a beer. Wish Os had won something so we could have had a hearty round of booing.

-Overall, FoFA weekend is one of my favorites of the year, for the beer, the venue, the brewery, and most of all the people that I get to see and spend some time with.

Apologies for writing a novel, here's your reward for making it to the end. tosh BravoDawg this is relevant to your interests.

This pic is actually faked, but I did pass out several times later so I suppose it's a fair representation of how the night ended.

Until next time!

 

[user 312341]

Fun times at Parker Pie on Friday and it was surprisingly not too crowded, presumably because the weather was good so most people spread out outside. Great food, great beer (that S&S4 keg, damn), was nice talking to Shaun for a bit, and then karaoke was a blast. Glad I got to see raginasian238 here since she couldn't make it to FoFA.

Great to see you too (and everyone else)! Parker was a blast.

I also think I passed you on 91, early Sunday morning. Not sure who else would be driving in VT from SC.

Here's one more video clip for you all. This guy loves R.E.M. karaoke!

 

[Fahmie25]

-One of the weekend's biggest downers: never saw Kerrie. Was she on vacation or something?

Kerrie is actually not working for HF anymore...She was in the Caja Madera truck on Friday and we chatted for a while and I said something like "So I'll be seeing you inside later?" (I thought she was just helping out) and she had mentioned she actually wasn't working for HF any longer (though is still working quite close it seems).

 

[JulianB1]

Great to see you too (and everyone else)! Parker was a blast.

I also think I passed you on 91, early Sunday morning. Not sure who else would be driving in VT from SC.

Here's one more video clip for you all. This guy loves R.E.M. karaoke!

I actually didn't even ask for this song! The guy running the karaoke put it on and shoved a mic into my hand, I think at the behest of Ben or someone else up there.

 

[skrip]

Great to see you too (and everyone else)! Parker was a blast.

I also think I passed you on 91, early Sunday morning. Not sure who else would be driving in VT from SC.

Here's one more video clip for you all. This guy loves R.E.M. karaoke!

it could have been me! i still have SC plates =]

 

[JulianB1]

If it was me, it would be a blue Nissan hatchback with climbing and beer stickers around the rear window.

 

[user 312341]

I actually didn't even ask for this song! The guy running the karaoke put it on and shoved a mic into my hand, I think at the behest of Ben or someone else up there.

Makes sense.

 

[Don2]

If it was me, it would be a blue Nissan hatchback with climbing and beer stickers around the rear window.

I'm still wondering how the hell you fit 4 people and beer in a Nissan Versa driving to/from SC

 

[user 312341]

I'm still wondering how the hell you fit 4 people and beer in a Nissan Versa driving to/from SC

JulianB teaches math (as I am sure you are aware). I am sure there is some kind of wacky formula/computation/rule/whatever to neatly get everyone and everything in there with enough room for food and/or drink.

Order of Hoperations, perhaps? shrug.gif

 

[JulianB1]

I'm still wondering how the hell you fit 4 people and beer in a Nissan Versa driving to/from SC

My rear suspension was wondering the same thing:

Contents of the car:

-4 people plus bags (thankfully 3 out of 4 had duffels/soft bags so things could be shoved into open spaces) and personal effects (blankets, pillows, etc.)
-4 cases of HF bottles
-12 HF growlers and a few random bottles
-something like 6 cases of cans
-3 boxes of glassware

I did some solid Tetris work fitting everything in. Definitely a big different than some solo trips I've done, where I had the entire car loaded with beer (i.e. 8-10 cases of HF bottles, 12-24 growlers, cans everywhere, etc.).

Also I just calculated that 20% of the miles of my car are from Hill Farmstead trips. I've been 6 times since I bought it (and once previous to that with a different car).

 

[Os]

E = Mass of Homie x Square Inch of Versa / MPH x 3.14

 

[user 306926]

My rear suspension was wondering the same thing:

Contents of the car:

-4 people plus bags (thankfully 3 out of 4 had duffels/soft bags so things could be shoved into open spaces) and personal effects (blankets, pillows, etc.)
-4 cases of HF bottles
-12 HF growlers and a few random bottles
-something like 6 cases of cans
-3 boxes of glassware

I did some solid Tetris work fitting everything in. Definitely a big different than some solo trips I've done, where I had the entire car loaded with beer (i.e. 8-10 cases of HF bottles, 12-24 growlers, cans everywhere, etc.).

Also I just calculated that 20% of the miles of my car are from Hill Farmstead trips. I've been 6 times since I bought it (and once previous to that with a different car).

 

[pushkinwow]

We chatted with the Empire Pie owner/baker on Thursday and Saturday; bought pies while waiting to get in and then a couple more once we were in (curry was my favourite).

She was up quite late the night beforehand making the 150 pies she had brought and was expecting to have leftovers for her regular market the next day. So not sure she could have made that many more but was not definitely not expecting such overwhelming demand.

 

[GuzzleMcBrew]

We chatted with the Empire Pie owner/baker on Thursday and Saturday; bought pies while waiting to get in and then a couple more once we were in (curry was my favourite).

She was up quite late the night beforehand making the 150 pies she had brought and was expecting to have leftovers for her regular market the next day. So not sure she could have made that many more but was not definitely not expecting such overwhelming demand.

I personally could have eaten at least 150 or so pies.

 

[BravoDawg]

tosh BravoDawg this is relevant to your interests.

This pic is actually faked, but I did pass out several times later so I suppose it's a fair representation of how the night ended.

Until next time!

Oh, I'll get you next weekend at Shelton fest

 

[DCLA]

Yeah a couple of us were in the tent around 330 drinking and he came up and said "you know there's life outside the tent?"

Kinda had a point though, the music was great and the weather wasn't too bad at the end

This is why HF only had one list this year so those at the end of it could watch the live music outside the tent.

 

[JulianB1]

Oh, I'll get you next weekend at Shelton fest

We have a big AirBnb lined up, mostly the same crew who stayed with me at the HoJo for Huna Day. Come on by and drink with us on Thursday night (and possibly other days).

 

[skrip]

We have a big AirBnb lined up, mostly the same crew who stayed with me at the HoJo for Huna Day. Come on by and drink with us on Thursday night (and possibly other days).

oh **** didn't realize you're doing Shelton too! i'll see you again next weekend! haha

where is your airbnb? we'll be staying at the Hilton downtown but won't have a car.

 

[DCLA]

This is why HF only had one list this year so those at the end of it could watch the live music outside the tent.

Edit *line not "list"

Late to post about FoFA but just a few items:

- Great festival. Not much to complain about. Yes, a lot of breweries ran out of beer early but I do think that the rain forced more people into the tent and probably made some lines longer than they were last year. Last year I remember more people hanging out on the grass and beers lasting longer.

- A second HF line from the get go would've been great but as someone said, if you are there to tick all the beers then you'll either be one of those that cut the lines or very frustrated. Lots of great beer other than SP and HF.

- It was great seeing and talking to so many great people.

- That HF line situation towards the end of the fest was ridiculous. I'm chalking that up to people just being drunk and tired and acting stupid by cutting everyone who was waiting because the rest of the time everyone seemed pretty chill considering how the lines were because of the rain.

- Talked to Dan Suarez for a bit once his beer ran out. Super cool dude. I'm excited to try more of his beers. 100 Ft. North Vintage was one of my favorites.

- White Buffalo was fantastic.

- Full pours of Marie kept me happy all day

- Flora b5 - my god. Best beer of the day for me.

- Love the green festival glass

 

[Mikecap]

If walking right up for full pours of Marie was wrong I apologize, but I don't think I drank anything else after 3 PM and have zero regrets. To Os point, having Marie/Mary on was a request voiced by many, or at least by me...I do regret missing that Tired Hands lager.

Enjoyed getting outside of the tent, listening to the music and talking to people. Excellent day as always.

The amount of pizza I ate at Parker Pie I ate after the fest is irresponsible but man was it needed.

 

[DCLA]

A few photos from the fest:

Flora b5

Kriek du Fermier + Tete du Cuvee

FoFA at about 1:30pm (SP line)

Marie (HF line)

 

[gregkoko]

Best thing may just be to cut attendance 15-25% next year. Less people, less lines, more people roaming the grounds instead of just waiting for the next tick.

 

[GreenMtnMike]

Many thanks to acurtis, BravoDawg, and friends for helping me keep my DD streak alive. Food, music, and people were all wonderful as always.

 

[bsc]

bummed I missed this year, sounds like the typical minor issues with a side of domestic abuse, but reading this thread reminds me of the old camp on site days.

Feel like we caught lightening in a bottle those few years before they, and beer in general, completely blew up. Wife and I always reminisce about how many good times we had at those HF events. Surely there were things to complain about but I can only remember the good times these days and just thinking about them brings a smile.

 

[skrip]

just in case you guys wanted to know where i was at HF on Thur. thanks to raginasian238 lmao!!

 

[PrinceCaspian]

A quick update for those who have been following (and contributing to!) the fundraising for the local preschool--I just returned from counting the cash, and the final tally is $12,080. In a town where, as Shaun said, the median income is $16,000, this is a remarkable feat of generosity. Thanks to everyone who contributed.

One more point regarding "what Shaun said." I heard him at the end saying it would be great to have a beer festival where it was less about being in line getting the next tick and more about enjoying great beer with great friends while listening to great music. I think there's a good number of FOFA-goers who already do this. Sounds like a fun way to spend an afternoon to me.

 

[gregkoko]

A quick update for those who have been following (and contributing to!) the fundraising for the local preschool--I just returned from counting the cash, and the final tally is $12,080. In a town where, as Shaun said, the median income is $16,000, this is a remarkable feat of generosity. Thanks to everyone who contributed.

One more point regarding "what Shaun said." I heard him at the end saying it would be great to have a beer festival where it was less about being in line getting the next tick and more about enjoying great beer with great friends while listening to great music. I think there's a good number of FOFA-goers who already do this. Sounds like a fun way to spend an afternoon to me.

Damn. Congrats! That's amazing!