Photo Credit: makelunchnotwar.blogspot.com
Every year, RateBeer comes out with their list of the best breweries on earth. For four consecutive years (2009-2012), the crew at 3 Floyds in Munster, IN, held the crown - somewhat apt, given that one of their most prominent logos is a winged skull wearing a crown. When the 2013 list went live on Friday, February 1st, beer nerds around the world were greeted with the site of a new top-dog: Hill Farmstead, of Greensboro, VT.
This development wasn't entirely unexpected, as HF had checked in at #6 on the 2012 list, and the preceding five days from January 27 to January 31st had revealed HF victories in category after category: Best Brewery in VT, four of the top 50 beers on earth, an astonishing 10 out of the top 15 Saisons on earth, 7 out of the top 15 Pale Ales on earth, and 8 of the top 10 new beers for the 2012 calendar year. The HF juggernaut rolled onward.
Now, the overwhelmingly positive reception that HF brews enjoy results in all sorts of hagiographical descriptions and exhortations from fellow beers nerds. After a few months of hearing all of this unbridled praise, I had only been able to track down one glass of their beer: Foster, their Black IPA, which I enjoyed with a lovely anniversary dinner with my girlfriend at Gramercy Tavern in late December.
I wanted to try more! But it hadn't proved to be easy - I missed the opportunity to buy a pass to their Memorial Day Anniversary Celebration (the tickets sold out within 50 seconds of release online), my shot at their Collected Works offering was equally unsuccessful, and early attempts to plan the 7.5 hour drive up to far northern Vermont had stalled. Stymied, I contented myself with the many amazing beers available here in NYC, but I was always on the lookout for a shot at some HF.
This development wasn't entirely unexpected, as HF had checked in at #6 on the 2012 list, and the preceding five days from January 27 to January 31st had revealed HF victories in category after category: Best Brewery in VT, four of the top 50 beers on earth, an astonishing 10 out of the top 15 Saisons on earth, 7 out of the top 15 Pale Ales on earth, and 8 of the top 10 new beers for the 2012 calendar year. The HF juggernaut rolled onward.
Now, the overwhelmingly positive reception that HF brews enjoy results in all sorts of hagiographical descriptions and exhortations from fellow beers nerds. After a few months of hearing all of this unbridled praise, I had only been able to track down one glass of their beer: Foster, their Black IPA, which I enjoyed with a lovely anniversary dinner with my girlfriend at Gramercy Tavern in late December.
I wanted to try more! But it hadn't proved to be easy - I missed the opportunity to buy a pass to their Memorial Day Anniversary Celebration (the tickets sold out within 50 seconds of release online), my shot at their Collected Works offering was equally unsuccessful, and early attempts to plan the 7.5 hour drive up to far northern Vermont had stalled. Stymied, I contented myself with the many amazing beers available here in NYC, but I was always on the lookout for a shot at some HF.
