Tree House Brewing (July 2015)

If anyone is there around 5, can you post a rough case count? I wont be able to make it until 6:30, hoping they last till then.

 

I don't think there will be any problems today...

 

would make me happy

 

Is Julius overrated? I dunno, but Eureka is underrated for damn sure.

 

Living two hours away and working two hours farther really sucks on days like today.

 

I know that feel bro

 

In an out in 5 minutes at 5:05 today. Only took that long because I was chatting a bit.

Sounds like it was a pretty steady stream of 1-2 people in and 1-2 people out at a time today. My guess is that there will still be quite a bit of Eureka left.

 

Couldn't agree more. This batch is amazing too

 

Yup... 320 cases of Eureka left. So just under 200 people visited last night. It was definitely mellow. It probably would have been even quieter if it hadn't been a case limit.

A dramatic difference from last week when they sold 400 cases of Julius in one night (800+ people). Granted, growlers were available as well and it was a Thursday.

Personally, I would love to see them do their can limits similar to their growlers. Always have at least 2-3 selections on, and have reasonable individual and total limits. Try to make some of the cans last into the next week and give everyone a shot at a good selection no matter which day they go instead of just releasing a huge batch all at once and trying to sell out of it ASAP.

Example with three beers in cans: 12 cans total limit per person, Julius up to 6 cans pp, Eureka up to 12 cans pp, Green up to 8 cans pp.

It would offer lots of flexibility for varying sized batches devoted to cans vs. growlers, still allow for reasonable total amounts of cans, and a good stable (and more predictable) selection no matter which day someone goes.

 

You know you don't have to get the limit every week (or day or however often you go), right?

That being said, heading out Saturday. Looking forward to the trip. It's been too long. And now I wait with bated breath for what comes on tap/in cans. I love Eureka. It's been on my last three trips and that's not a complaint. If cans make it to Saturday I'll be happy.

 

Green on Saturday would be fantastic. It will be my first trip up there. I am really hoping that there will be something in cans available.

 

Absolutely... but most do (especially on the more desirable brews) and if I'm driving an hour+ each way, it doesn't seem worth it to not get the limit for myself. I generally only go if I'm able to stock up with a reasonable amount. If I was local, I'd probably go more often and get less than the limits.

I guess my primary point is that I'd prefer predictability and stability of stock/selection even if it meant lower limits per day on average. To be able to say 'I'll go next week for 6 cans of Julius.' would be preferable to trying to skip out of work on a moment's notice for half a case.

 

Totally agree. I always loved the "on deck" that HF has on their site. It kind of lends itself to the, "Hmm, okay, Abner will be back soon, I'll keep an eye out and head up if possible" type thinking.

I have a complicated opinion on limits. I totally understand the "I'm driving an hour+" because I am too. But I've always thought it best to get what I can drink over a couple weeks, tops. Especially when it comes to IPA's or beers that should be drank fresh. Do I need a case of IPA's for the next 14 days? No way. I can't drink that many. So I try to consider, "okay, I may have eight of these. I'll buy eight and someone else can enjoy them super fresh too."

I promise I'm not trying to be high and mighty and ethical. Just my two cents.

 

I like that suggestion somewhat, but I would also say that having only a couple beers with limits makes for easy transacting. Tree House had already put together case carriers with 12 Julius and the allotment of Alter Ego last week and that's what made things go by fast. If they had to switch it up for everyone, that would make the line less efficient. I think that with increased capacity, you'll see stuff rotating through quicker, so you won't have to wait as long a time for a beer to come back (i.e. several weeks). I guess your suggestion has more to do with bang for a visit though (getting more variety per trip)?

 

It's been a few weeks since I have been to the Brewery. One thing I know is that 30 Barrel brewing system allows them to make about 310 cases (16 Oz bottles here) worth of unfermented beer a day. Their largest fermenters are 60 barrels, but I don't know if they could fill one of these large fermenters half way up today (say with Green), then brew another 30 barrel batch of Green today and use that to top off the large 60 barrel fermenter. But lets say that is possible. So it takes two days of brewing to fill one 60 barrel fermenter.

What I don't know if how long the beer needs to say in the fermenter - and I am likely missing intermediate steps here. But I think (but do not know) that their though put of ready to can beer is limited by the amount of fermenters. Someone on this thread, who knows more about the process then I, could take a quick look at the brewery and estimate the approximate limit's on total production. Put another way, if TH had unlimited 60 barrel fermenters on hand, then with a 30 barrel system, they could max out daily release of 300 cases (assuming no beer was kegged for growler or bar distribution).

Seems to me that a release of 500 cases yesterday, and Julius last week, means that they can brew for two days and fill up one 60 barrel fermenter. One that batch is ready for canning, they can 50 barrels and keg the other 10 barrels.

But with a 30 barrel brewing system and a five day working week, they are limited to 1,500 cases a week - assuming everything is canned. If they release 500 cases from a 60 barrel fermenter twice a week, and once smaller 300 case release from a 30 barrel fermenter, and the average fermenting time is three weeks, then they need how many fermenters?

I think it would be six 60 barrel fermenters and three 30 barrel fermenters. My eight grade math above is likely wrong, but I tried anyways....

 

Safe to assume that they do a double brew in a single day to fill the 60 barrel FV. The bottleneck is the amount of FV's.

 

OK, if they can do a double drew in one day, which would fill up a 60 barrel fermenter, and the fermenting time is three weeks, then they would fill five 60 barrel fermenters per week. Since each one needs three weeks, then would need twenty of the 60 barrel fermenters to operate at a 5 day double brew schedule? The five 60 barrel fermenters filled this week would become free in three weeks, plus about a week to clean out and prep each after the bottling cycle.

 

Well there you go!

 

thats what she said cans! picture up on their twitter. no word on limits etc yet

 

6 pp (200 cases)
Eureka limit dropped to 12 pp