Planning an NE trip...help and suggestions

Have a thought about stopping at Pizza Boy/ Al's of Hampden as well. I made this a waypoint on a road trip a few months ago, stayed in a holiday inn across the street from Al's. Troegs is a decent visit, but you can get most of their beers all over.

 

I was at Tree House last night (Thursday). Arrived at 3:10 PM and was number 4 in line for growlers, which includes whatever cans are on sale. If you get there at 5, plan to be waiting a while for growlers. I'd say the line was 50 deep at that point.

 

Looks like a great plan.

If you are staying overnight in Everett and looking for a bottle shop, Kappy's in Medford (10 Revere Beach Parkway) has a great beer selection including a lot of local stuff. Less than a 5 min drive from Night Shift.

Looks like you are targeting hoppy stuff but if you want to try some world-class saisons and an exceptional imperial stout you'll be very close to Mystic Brewery (open until 9pm Wed-Sat). Less than a 10 min drive from Night Shift.

Have fun!

 

just a heads up: MA has a wonky law that breweries can only fill their own branded bottles. Getting bottles of Tree House is win win but the price of Glass will add up! If you just grab cans, you'll be in and out in no time. That frees yourself up for the great tip from @bouthie. Any trip down the pike is incomplete without a stop at the Armsby Abbey. I've heard great things about the new Jack's Abby tap room. Their food/menu looks good and the beer is great too....never been, but I've been to Armsby and their food is phenomenal (the Burger, cough cough). 4-5 Hill Farmstead beers on tap there will more than make up for no Vermont this time.

(Have a great time in New England! I've got deep roots in Moundsville WV

 

At Tree House, yes, skip the growler lines and go straight for the cans, usually no wait and you'll save a lot of time. At TH you can't hang around and drink on site. They do have small samples however. I second skipping VT, no guarantee you'll get anything worthwhile and you can easily spend the entire day chasing down stuff. I was at Armsby's yesterday and they had 5 HF on the the list so you'll get your fill there--they do tasting flights so fill up on samples. Food is awesome there! But...there's a local spot you'll pass by on your way back to I84/90 in Sturbridge called BT's Smokehouse, best BBQ I've ever had. BONUS: It's BYOB and they close at 9pm. Look em up and GO. Right next to BT's is a bottle shop named Yankee Spirits, one of the best in all of NE, worth a 10 min stop. If you can make it to Jack's, grab anything in the BA Framinghammer series--in bottles.

Also, since you're driving, I highly recommend stopping at OEC brewing in Oxford, CT, not to far off I84 on your way to Hartford, so you'll pass right by it. They are master blenders and specialize in sours. This is my fav brewery in all of NE.

Have fun!!

 

it really depends on the limits of cans for treehouse. if he's traveling far and they have low cans / good stuff on, it's worth leaving a card and grabbing food while waiting to have more stuff to enjoy later. definitely look the night before and if you do stay for fills, get there 60 or 90 ahead of open. the other option, if your timing allows is hit th the tail end of weds for cans. stay in worcester which will probably be cheaper than boston hotels, eat at armsby abbey and double up on treehouse thurs, hit trillium/night shift and just stay in portland. also way cheaper hotels. and it's not far from boston. I did portland one night, hf (think I made it in just under 3 hrs) / waterbury / burlington next, & back home w/ th and worthy burger halloween weekend. oec is also a very excellent option. sat only though unless next tuesday. but you can also call ahead anytime and if they are there, you can buy bottles or prefilled growlers.

as per the growler law, it does suck. but I got a fill of a stout at tired hands a bit ago. it was still more with your own glass than buying a th one with their stouts....so it could be worse.

 

Depends what you want to do, but you can have a really good day in Portland and easily add Oxbow (Portland tasting room/bar), Bunker, and Rising Tide to your list of breweries assuming you don't want to just sit and drink. If you want to explore downtown, I'd suggest parking and leave the car, but it might be easier to drive about now that it's well after Labor Day. You can walk to Oxbow from the Old Port area, but not sure about Bunker and Rising Tide. The only worthy tour, if you wanted to do it, would be Allagash. As others have said, there's this golden triangle (absolutely NOT walking distance from Old Port) in Portland with Allagash, Bissell, Foundation, and Austin Street within spitting distance and there's usually a fantastic food truck or two (if the Japanese one is there, whatever the weird pancake thing is called EAT IT...it's beyond good). Geary's is around the corner, but not worthy IMHO. Depending on the timing (and you are gonna be pretty tight) you could hit Tributary in Kittery, ME and/or Smuttynose in Portsmouth, NH (where our favorite lobster rolls are found at the Beach Plum) on the way up. It's a question of when they all open - I thought Bissell opened earlier, but maybe that is just Saturdays. Anyway, Tributary and Smutty are a bit off the beaten path, but worthwhile if you have the time. Smutty has a good tour depending on what's going on - production running, it's pretty short. I'm told the restaurant is awesome, but we seem to hit there on Tuesday when it is closed It's just a great spot to kick back.

If I had to "skip one" in Portland, it would be Austin Street even though it is so close to the others in that industrial park. I've never been there when they have had more than one beer on tap, but that could just be timing. I know they get reviewed very favorably. But the missus and I just did Oxbow, Rising Tide, Allagash, Bissell, Foundation, Austin Street, plus lunch and a huge flight at Gritty McDuff's all in a day. Since we were tasting vs. buying, we had to spend some walking time before hitting the vehicle... I'd skip Gritty's in favor of one of the other Portland hot spots. The two stores I can't keep straight - one on Commercial and one on Forrest - are both good to wander (in our case is was slightly staggering) through.

Grab a Maine Brewer's Guild passport thing - it has all but the newest of the new on there so you can keep track of where you have and haven't been easily, then plan your next trip for all the ones you'll miss.

I wonder about the timing, but am not the best judge. When we head North, the wife and I ride up Rt. 1, but I think if you stay on the slab and don't get stuck in the tolls you can get from Boston to Portland a lot faster than we do. We just enjoy the two-lane after the BS of getting through or around Boston. Somebody that lives in state can tell you better what the reality is.

Someone commented about Mystic - yeah go for it if you can squeeze them in. Nice tasting room and definitely not your average beers - sort of unique. Literally minutes from NightShift. Also Trillium's Boston spot is minutes from Harpoon - yeah, I know, but the tasting room is one awesome bierhall even if the beers aren't "world class". But I wouldn't give up visiting Jack's Abby no matter what and the new digs are supposed to be a great improvement with MUCH better parking.

FWIW, I agree that it is a smart move to skip VT. It adds significant time behind the wheel and I think the way you are doing it (VT as it's own little show) is the better way to go.

Drive safe and sober.

 

Personally I would go straight to Hill farmstead.they have an incredible tap list.and all farmhouse bottles to go.
And hit tree house on way back.ie: opens @5 and you would a happy camper.I've done this ages times.might be able hit trillium also.i have done this before in one day. With 4 1/2 hrs to hill and about 3- 31/2 hrs back to treehouse.get to hill early in and out by 12:00 on your way to Mass.
P.S. Some Hoof Hearted ipa cans.will probaly trade very well here.