I'm planning a road trip up to Trillium and Treehouse on a Friday. The game plan is head to Trillium (Canton) around 12PM noon and hit up Treehouse on the way back to NYC. I was curious if anyone had advice or insight about the following: 1.) If you made the trip before, do you have any advice or suggestions? (besides BT BBQ) 2.) Are there any other breweries worth visiting between Trillium and Treehouse? (cans, bottles, or growler fills would be preferred) 3.) Any suggestions, tips, or tricks for the lines/process at both Trillium (Canton) and Treehouse Cheers!
Without taking you too much out of your way (Night Shift, Mystic - both north of Boston) or steering you towards mainly onsite establishments (Cambridge Brewing Company), I'd recommend a pitstop in Framingham to check out Exhibit A (NE-style IPAs and a great Kolsch), Jack's Abby (wide variety of lagers and barrel-aged baltic porters if you're planning this trip sometime soon; also a full service restaurant) and Springdale (next door to Jack's Abby; IPAs (NE-style and west coast), saisons, barrel-aged sours). Also, Craft Beer Cellar Framingham is a good nearby bottle shop where you can pick up other local/regional distro'd stuff. Check out Castle Island Brewing (about 10 minutes from Trillium Canton) if you're looking for canned IPAs more in the west coast style.
This is good. Jack's Abby is about a half hour from Trillium on the back roads and more-or-less on the way to Tree House. You'll get an excellent lunch and you can have a couple of flights because you'll have some time to kill - even with Friday traffic - before Tree House opens. Night Shift would be great but Canton-to-Everett-to-Monson on a Friday afternoon, would suck profoundly unless you really, really enjoy heavy traffic. There shouldn't be more than maybe a five minute wait at Trillium. The only advice I can offer for Tree House is patience.
Everyone has pretty much nailed it... Hit Trillium, then go to Wegmans in Westwood on your way back to I-95. There you'll be able to snag Night Shift, Castle Island and maybe even some Sip of Sunshine. Then head up to the pike and stop in Framingham for Exhibit A and maybe a pizza and beer at Jacks Abby, then hit Tree House. Yankee Spirits in Sturbridge which is on the way to Tree House will also have a great selection if you don't make it to Wegmans.
Thanks! I think I'm going to work Exhibit A into the travel route. Hoping they still have Hair Raiser, but the trip isn't until next weekend so it doesn't seem promising. Besides Sip of Sunshine, which probably is a long shot, I'd love to hear people's suggestions on which beers to look out for in a takeout/bottle shop scenario (e.g. Wegmans)
Came in to plug a trip to New England Brewing in CT on the way back if you're traveling through southern CT on your way back to NY.
Sip might not be a long shot. I believe they get deliveries around the second week of each month. Hair Raiser could also still be at the brewery as I don't think it's a super hyped beer. As far as good local shelf beers go... Night Shift Whirlpool and Candlepin by Castle Island are great session IPAs. Night Shift Awake is a good coffee porter, also if you like a nice porter I'm partial to Mayflower's Porter. There's a ton around on the shelves... Berkshire Coffeehouse porter is one of my favorites. Wally by Wachusett is a nice NE IPA. The list really goes on and on
so many breweries so little time. Timing may not work and BTs is way more convenient -- --- but it seems a shame not to hit Armsby Abbey during your run. It's really a one of a kind beer bar w/excellet food and always has 3-4 Hill Farmstead beers on tap.
Not sure if these make it to your current distro, but some regional stuff to keep an eye out for in stores: -Lost Nation cans (IPAs, pilsner) -Cambridge Brewing Company bottles (barrel-aged wilds, barrel-aged barleywines) -Night Shift One Hop This Time, Whirlpool, Morph cans (IPAs) -Mayflower Porter cans -Allagash 375ml bottles (sours) -Exhibit A cans (IPAs, kolsch, porter) -Jack's Abby Barrel-Aged Framinghammer bottles + variants (baltic porters) -Kent Falls bottles (saisons, sours, brett beers) -Mystic bottles (saisons, sours) -Brewmaster Jack cans (IPAs) Wegmans should have you covered on the Night Shift IPAs and Mayflower Porter, maybe the BA Framinghammer (not sure about the variants). Probably need to hit up CBC Framingham for the rest (or Yankee Spirits, I'm less familiar with their inventory).
In addition to all the great advice shared so far, and continuing west from Tree House, there's Fort Hill Brewery. They're open until 7pm on Friday. They have a DIPA that seems to be getting really good buzz (Jigsaw Jazz). Sounds like you can pick it up at stores as well so maybe not worth a trip to the brewery, especially since you'll probably want to head south from Tree House back home. Enjoy the trip!
You guys rule. Keep the "must-have / must-grab" beer suggestions coming! I think this is a really valuable thread for anyone making a similar trip. Also, if you ever need tips on NYC spots, feel free to DM me. I don't really do any trading because of the legwork involved, but I'm totally open to it.
Oh, hell, as long as you've got him going that far, he'd might as well go on another half hour for In Absentia at Brick & Feather! Then get a room and head up into Vermont after breakfast.
Check out my thread on best southern VT spots....and while you are at it -- I've got a killer NE IPA on tap at my house up by Newburyport MA if you have time to stop for a few....
