May 23, 2025

414: Hill Farmstead at 15—A Conversation with Shaun Hill

1 hour 38 minutes

Few breweries in the 21st century have been as influential as Hill Farmstead on American craft beer. This rural Vermont brewery, built on the family property just outside Greensboro Bend, captured the beer world’s imagination upon opening in 2010, and enthusiasts have flocked there from all corners of the world ever since. Their IPAs helped to change the trajectory of the style, and their saisons—trademarked as Farmstead Ales—have received numerous honors, including a Beer of the Year nod from Craft Beer & Brewing in 2018.

Founder Shaun Hill has a reputation as a philosophically driven brewer who isn’t afraid to speak his mind on a broad swath of subjects, and in this episode he covers a wide range:

changing Edward from an IPA to pale ale 10 batches in

defending hazy beer in the early 2010s while making contributions to the development of mouthfeel and texture

making the jump from Conan to London Ale III yeast

using New Zealand hops effectively

the origin of the term “Farmstead Ale”

early iterations of the brewery business plan with a focus on Brettanomyces beers

finding a Hill Farmstead voice in mixed-culture saison

acid contributions from Chad Yakobson’s Brett strains

building beer that maintains peak flavor at 10 years in the bottle

process refinements while getting back on the brewdeck during the pandemic

intentional sustainability in the brewery

balancing consciousness and presence in a demanding brewery environment

developing a manufacturing philosophy

weighing needs of the self versus feeding the business machine

employing a “best known way” philosophy rather than standard operating procedures

reassessing what creativity looks like

And more.

This episode is brought to you by:

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