Great Notion in MA/RI

I wouldn't say that. There are some local breweries on par with Tree House both in quality and price point.
I think the difference comes when you have to purchase from a package store. More of these midwest and west coast breweries need to hit the Toppling Goliath price point.
$24 for a "New England" DIPA from the west just doesn't make sense in New England.

 

Elaborate...

 

Well to be fair to me I stated "for my money" so to me I haven't found a brewery with as many top tier options that consistently impress like TH does. I've had a lot of beer and been to a lot of places, and for Haze in particular, there is no one better to me. I'm sure Great Notion is amazing stuff and I would never pass on it if I were to ever see it on a shelf, but it would never live up to the hype. I'm sure TH has let down some poor sap over in the Midwest when some cans were shipped off to him, so it's all relative to what you're used to and more importantly, what got you into the beer scene to begin with.

 

A couple of my personal favorites within an hour from Tree House...
Long Live (Providence) amazing hazy ipas
New Park (West Hartford) amazing hazy ipas
In my opinion, both are the best in their respective cities.
Then we can start getting into what you would call "local" from Tree House...
Trillium
Vitamin Sea
Brick and Feather
Arguments could be made about both quality and price point but I believe these places are in the Tree House ballpark for both.

 

Fair point. With Tree House's size they have the ability to output a ton of different high quality beers and keep the price point just below the smaller competition.
Plus I feel like they could go lower in price. Julius should be at $14 not $15.

 

i grabbed all 3 last night thanks to our buddy Dannyping. Appreciate it my friend.

I'm enjoying them all, they are all full of flavor, nice beers.

But i'm not even gonna compare to Tree House, i'm on record dispising Treehouse's business model, stringing customers along at 2pp, and dropping rares like August moon at 1pp and turning people away after 200 bottles (even though they are sitting one them, to be released later)

But Tree House has one of the best yeasts for IPA's. As much as I wanna quit them, I always return. That mouthfeel and thick juicy IPA taste is unparalleled. Alchemist started it with Heady, Trillium popularized it with congress and fort point ipas, and Tree House Blew it out of the water with just about all thier IPA's.

These are good IPA's though, we are definitely spoiled with Tree House and Trillium up here though.

But i'm digging these IPA's, I've had them all at this point. I knew what I was getting into though. I trade for them often (DDH Plump is my favorite). Rate them stand alone and don't try and draw comparisons, and they are tasty beers.

Compare them to Tree House, and your gonna leave a bit to be desired. There is a reason i'm able to send Tree House across county and land killer BA Stouts and the Awesome Saisons.

 

Just cracked a Ripe and a JB. Whoever said Ripe reminded them of Pseudo Sue was spot on. Really good beer. I liked JB better though.
That being said, I drank a Hip Hop is Dead from Buttonwoods after and that was my favorite of the three. It reminded me of some Burlington stuff I have had lately. Specifically Stainless Forest.
I wish I had done a blind test but...

 

I like to think I am big into beer but this type of stuff confuses me still. Is yeast strain proprietary? Does it account for the differing quality between breweries?

 

Absolutely, Tree House yeasts tastes like bubble gum. Its very distinct, I could easily pull a tree house beer out of a line up based on smell alone. .

 

Agreed. A few people have stated that I wouldn’t be able to tell them apart from anyone else (keep in mind these are folks who drink bud light and think Blue Moon is really stepping up into thr craft realm). I could easily pick out a TH beer in a lineup of haze. I could probably pick out Alchemist too because they’re just as unique in their own way.

 

Is it proprietary?

 

Yes, would expect its a strain that has been developed out as the brewery grew to get the characteristics they are looking for.

 

Any cans of Great Notion kicking around the Somerville/Cambridge area still?

 

same question but for all of greater boston, just got back from the UK where i was bathing in cloudwater and verdant and would like to keep being spoiled.

 

For anyone in the Berkshires, Spirited in Lenox just put them in their singles cooler. $6 for Ripe/So Wrong, $6.50 for JB

 

Actually there were some 4 packs left as of 6pm last night of Ripe/So Wrong at downtown in davis square. $21.99 each.

 

Anyone know the prices for these cans at the brewery? How much of a markup are we seeing?

 

Looks like $18-20 per 4-pack depending on the beer.

 

I got a 4-pack of each @ Kappy's in Norwell last week. For $65, I was underwhelmed.

 

Thanks for the heads up! Picked up a four pack yesterday.

Dated 10/23...already a month old, guess I'll drink it this weekend!

As stated above, $21.99 for So Wrong It's Ripe, but that's at Downtown, which typically charges more for beer.

For those looking for JB, Porter Square Liquors got a couple cases in for ~$23 per four pack. I went yesterday and picked up a four pack, they had a little over a case left.

These are dated 10/28.

I'm splitting each four pack with three other people, so even if they're underwhelming, that's cool with me. It'll be good to see how a West Coast attempt at a New England IPA compares to what we get here.