Tree House Brewing (2022)

Visited Sandwich for the first time on Saturday. What a spot! And I totally understand why they are doing the 3-hour windows. People would post up there all day long if not given it's set up.

Also, just a tip for anyone that plans on getting cans/bottles to-go. Highly recommend looking at the list before standing in line and writing everything down on your phone's notepad. I just showed my list to the guy at checkout and it went way faster than scrolling their menu.

 

That's brave to do it on premise. I need to order in advance of going, to know the total quantity/cost and not get the fog of war while having pours onsite. 'Yeah, 4 cases sounds great!'

 

The latest batch (8/31) of Very HHHazyyy is ridiculous per usual. Just had it again last night and it may be my favorite hoppy brew from them. That being said the 9/1 batch of Haze is incredible as well. I always get Haze as lately I've found it to be the best of the core offerings. I did not get Very Hazy so cannot compare. The core offerings are so consistent that you have to buy all that are available. Always a great value compared to the rest of the hoppy brews.

 

What’s the food situation in Sandwich? I have non-BA friends heading out to the Cape this weekend with us and they were planning on stopping “for lunch.” The site says “bar snacks” and “pre-made sandwiches,” but I can’t find them on a menu.

I might join them, but if lunch is a priority for them (and it might be considering they have three kids), I’ll suggest Hog Island.

 

I was there a couple of times during the weekend in July, and they had food trucks both times. One of the times we picked up food to go from Seafood Sams, as we parked near there and walked over to treehouse.

 

Off the Grid is a pretty tasty spot for food near Tree House /Sandwich too.

https://www.offthegridcapecod.com/

 

I’ve always stopped in Sandwich close to closing time and haven’t seen any food so I’d also like to know!!

 

Grabbed Julius Green and Haze today. Julius canned on Monday (19th)

 

They have food trucks on occasion. Typically on the weekends in the better weather and some during the week in the summer. They show the schedule on the website. It's also common for people to buy food locally and bring it in.

 

I haven't seen the bar snacks and pre-made sandwiches since they started having the food trucks.

 

Anyone had any of these?


At ease
GGGReen
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Fields of gold

I figure I gotta go with hoppy from the hop kings. And an oak aged altbier because, wel, oak aged altbier.

what’s the consensus on the farmhouse stuff?

 

The few farmhouse beers I've had from them have been very good, they're not HF tart or super funky at all, but they have their own thing going on. The hop characteristic really breaks through, if that makes any sense.

 

I really enjoyed At Ease. Alts are a great style so if you dig them I think it’s worth checking out.

Totally agree with @TheMattJones88 . I’ve really enjoyed the recent farmhouse bottles I’ve had (Halo Effect, available currently, Folk Psychology) except Selective Perception, which for me the hops dominated a bit too much.

 

The one time I went, we put in a pickup order at Seafood Sams...only to arrive at Tree House and the Seafood Sams food truck be there haha. Very solid food btw!

 

Haha. I’d know idea Seafood Sam’s had a food truck!

 

The price on them is okay too. I like my farmhouses dry with a touch of acidity, so really mixed fermentation is my sweet spot.

 

I'm very disappointed in my Sandwich experience.

Since we were driving, our friends made two reservations for three beers each. We figured I could have two, my wife one (or however the strategy would have gone), and our friends could have done the same. As it turns out, each person must make a reservation.

Essentially, every person must commit to two beers. If you don't want your second beer, you can trade in the ticket for a "can of beer," which, it turns out only means Julius. So you're paying $8 for a can of Julius to assist in, as I was told, "inventory." The bartender very snarkily added, "A can of our flagship IPA is a pretty good consolation if you ask me."

In my opinion, this is a pretty crummy way to do it. As I was receiving this information, processing it, and trying to determine a course of action, the woman running the front of house said, "Look behind you, there's a line now" (There was a group of like four men waiting, unhurried.) I'm sorry, what? She tried to laugh it off, but the damage was done. She meant what she said. When our friends checked in, she even made one of those "ohh, you're with them" kind of remarks.

As many of you know, I cover this industry. I've never felt less valued and more condescended at a brewery. It was a very impersonal experience. The opposite of what I've had in the past with Tree House. I won't be back. And while I know this won't hurt Tree House's bottom line, I'll continue to do what I normally do when we head to the Cape multiple times a year: Go to Hog Island.

 

Tree House is probably the most sought after micro brewery in the US, possibly the world. They clearly state on their website, that each person needs a reservation. We’ve been over this, it’s the same reason charlton had a minimum to go in place for a while. It’s far from ideal, but when their product is so sought after, they kinda have to put certain rules in place to keep the operation running efficiently. 99% of people going to sandwich are staying for 2 pours.

I do feel bad for the experience you had, and I definitely think the response could have been better. But also, because demand is so high, these servers are constantly serving, and don’t have time for chit chat. Very few breweries have to operate this way, demand is just that high.

I think it’s also worth mentioning that they opened sandwich and Deerfield to help lessen foot traffic at charlton, that didn’t happen. Hopefully Tewksbury will lessen the demand at sandwich.

 

Doesn't sound like Matt was looking to "chit chat." Looks like he was expecting a hospitality worker to be hospitable, not a condescending asshole. Hell, it sounds like they were trying to find a reasonable solution and the Tree House staff had the sense of entitlement that you see more often at other hot breweries. I guess that's seeped into the Tree House staff as well. It was bound to happen eventually.

The whole "we've been over this" thing is played out. Not everyone follows this thread religiously and many of us don't go to Tree House regularly enough to know all of the rules and details of every last location. And let's be real here, those rules change periodically too.

 

Has nothing to do with following the thread religiously and going to a location often, etc. Even more reason to read up on things before your visit.

I’m amazed at how many people ask questions on these threads, but are they doing any of their own research for a visit?

I think the staff responses are quite unfortunate and that it soured Matt’s experience.

Regarding the reservations, it does indicate multiple times in the Draft Beer section for Sandwich that reservations are required for each guest entering the location.