Hill Farmstead Susan
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Tasting Notes
Susan pours with a hazy golden hue and leads with bright citrus aromatics — grapefruit pith, fresh orange zest, and a subtle floral note that Hill Farmstead's Vermont terroir tends to coax out of their house yeast. On the palate, the bitterness is assertive but clean, built on a firm malt backbone that keeps the hop load from turning harsh. The body sits in the middle register, neither thin nor heavy, and the finish dries out with a lingering resinous quality. It's a well-structured IPA that prioritizes hop character without sacrificing balance.
About the Brewery
Hill Farmstead operates out of Greensboro Bend, Vermont, on land that has been in founder Shaun Hill's family for generations. Founded in 2010, the brewery built its reputation almost immediately through small-batch farmhouse ales and hop-forward beers that drew national and international attention. It has held the title of World's Best Brewery on multiple occasions in RateBeer rankings and maintains a direct-to-consumer model that keeps most of its beer available only at the brewery itself.
Food Pairings
The assertive citrus and resinous hop character here works well against the fat in a grilled salmon fillet, where the bitterness cuts through richness without overwhelming the fish. A spicy Thai green curry finds a natural counterpart in the beer's fruity aromatics, which echo the lemongrass and lime leaf in the dish. Sharp aged cheddar pairs cleanly because the malt backbone bridges the cheese's salt and the beer's bitterness. Fish tacos with a lime crema are a practical match as well, since the hop citrus doubles down on the brightness already in the dish.
Style Guide
The American IPA emerged from the craft brewing movement of the 1980s and 1990s, when American brewers began applying New World hops — high in citrus, pine, and tropical fruit oils — to the English IPA template. The defining characteristic is a pronounced hop presence in both aroma and flavor, supported by a relatively neutral or lightly caramel malt base that lets the hops lead. ABVs typically run between 6% and 7.5%. It differs from its English counterpart in that it generally prioritizes hop aromatics over bitterness alone, and it sits below the Double or Imperial IPA category in alcohol and overall intensity.