Beer Review: Hill Farmstead Ephraim

Shaun Hill, the talented head brewer of Hill Farmstead is known for many styles of beer, ranging from his world-class saisons to his barrel-aged barleywines. Ephraim is one of the most sought after in his extensive line-up of IPAs. If you want to try Ephraim, you will need to travel to rural Vermont for a growler fill, as this beer is only available at the brewery. I was lucky enough to have a friend who brought back a growler of this beer, a 10% abv double IPA that was brewed with a wide variety of hops (Centennial, Chinook, Columbus, Simcoe and Warrior), to NYC. It wouldn’t be a Hill Farmstead beer without Shaun’s pretentious description of it, so here you go:

“Ephraim (1823–1913) was our great-great grandfather; Hill Farmstead Brewery resides several hundred feet downhill from the land that he and his father settled. In his honor, this Imperial India Pale Ale is dutifully crafted from American malted barley, buckets of American hops, our ale yeast and water from our well. It is unfiltered, naturally carbonated, and double dry hopped. Intensely aromatic and saturated with resinous hop flavor, this is the ale that I dream to have shared with Ephraim.”

Notes:

Appearance: Amber colored with a quickly receding head.
Smell: Quite bitter. Grapefruit and pine needles.
Taste: This one starts with a bitter kick to the face. Resinous hop profile that has a lingering bitterness after the beer has left your mouth. I’d heard there was a bigger malt backbone on this one, which I normally do not like, however, the malt is less aggressive than I would expect for a beer of this ABV.
Mouthfeel: Appropriately carbonated with a drying finish.
Overall: I’ve grown to love juicy, tropical IPAs in recent years, and this is not one of those. The hop profile here is more traditional, with an intense and lasting bitterness, and no bright fruit-forward flavors. It’s a well made beer, just not my normal go-to in terms of style.

My rating: 4/5

Beer Advocate Score: 99