Tree House (2024)

Leases? Brother, Nate and Co ain't renting, they buying.

When you look up the property records and see Landreau Realty LLC, that's TH.

 

In terms of "exorbitant expansion," I had to chuckle to myself last week at Deerfield. The stairway to the taproom was being renovated so it redirects you... through the massive theater/classroom. I'm sure there's uses and purposes for which it makes sense, but it just seems so superfluous.

 

Lectures on hop varieties? Or maybe they're planning to have concerts.

 

They do have concerts there in Deerfield: https://treehousebrew.com/live-music-and-events

 

The building was previously owned and used as the headquarters of a publisher (I can't remember which one). I haven't been in the theater, so don't know how much work Tree House did to it after purchasing the property, but they inherited a lot of the quirky suburban office stuff.

https://www.facebook.com/Jeremycase...place-in-south-deerfield-ma/1564848333651153/

 

Yeah I'm aware of the Deerfield concern series, I always just figured that they took place outside. And the indoor room that I'm referencing very much looked like a high-tech, college classroom lecture hall rather than something that would traditionally be used for a concert. Like I'm sure they're doing something with it, I just thought it was a funny little reminder of how far they've grown from beyond "handing out 8 cans of beer each, via an ordering system of pencils and tiny slips of paper, to 100s of people lined up in parkas in a parking lot."

 

Treehouse is the New England Patriots dynasty era in beer form and without injuries.

You just have to hope it also lasts 20+ years.

Don’t overthink it. For me I’m just happy that they have encompassed my 30’s and 40’s. When I truly can enjoy and appreciate what they have done and their products all around. Similar to being in my 20’s for the rise and ride of the Pats at a time where I had less responsibility and could just enjoy it! I’m glad I’m enjoying treehouse at a time where I’m more financially secure and well versed around craft to appreciate it more. Would suck to be 21 now and realistically probably not give a true shit about them for many years to come. Or worse, when they change.

Just enjoy the ride and be glad we don’t live in North Dakota.

 

Part of the original buildings purpose, auditorium for company meetings, now used for the Treehouse Theater, live shows, TH has done little in that space, outside of a great sound/ light install.
Cheers

 

Solid comparison*. Wishing them all the best and even if some of their crazy expansion makes me scratch my head, mostly just glad that I've been able to occasionally enjoy their output (in very different ways) over the last decade.

As an aside, I'm drinking one of the cold brews (Monochrome), which has become my go-to "need an afternoon pick me up to get me thru meetings and emails" lately as opposed to espresso. They've all been delicious, so far.

Happy to have picked up a variety pack and a bunch of fours... figured they could make great little Christmas gifts for the less beer-centric people in our life.

*Except of course, very importantly, fuck the Patriots.

 

I mean, if you look at them now, they're pretty fucked. Hah.

 

I’d worry about most breweries with a similar expansion, but TH is a cash generating machine. They still have very low costs in marketing, distribution and inventory. Turning beer into real estate, which they can flip at some point if they need to.

 

Easy now…..

 

My answer would be maybe. But to avoid not answering one way or the other, I'd lean towards no.

I've always stood by a large part of their appeal was the exclusivity. This is a tale as old as Beeradvocate (and I've been here 20 years). And that the minute their beer became readily accessible, ratings would drop somewhat, and so would interest. The former has been true since if you go to the top beers on Untappd, most of their highest rated beers are legacy beers. But if you step into any of their tap rooms on a weekend, interest clearly hasn't waned (granted this isn't much different than other Boston breweries...go to Notch's Brighton location, Trillium's Fort Point, Harpoon's Beer Hall in seaport, Sam Adams Faneuil location on weekends...I go often, they're all very busy).

We've also seen other breweries overstretch with facilities and it hasn't gone well. Granted none have had the cache of a Tree House. Lord Hobo, Nightshift...etc. But no one would put those breweries in the same conversation as Tree House. And breweries that you may put in that category have been careful to stay small. Russian River, Alchemist, Hill Farmstead...

But beyond their beer, they now make a litany of other beverages and have done them well. And created facilities that are more experiences rather than just about the beer (which has remained good).

The Boston facility will be a true test. Now more people than ever will have access to buying their beer and be able to easily consume beer on site without extensive travel. One has to think at the very least, the Boston location will take away some of the business at Tewksbury. But will this take the shine off the experience by diluting the brand, or will it continue to bolster their seemingly bulletproof business? Time will tell...

 

Barring any major controversy or a complete and total collapse of the US economy I would place my money on Tree House continuing to be the premier independent craft brewer in the country.
And to be frank, even in the event of one of those two incidents occurring I would still have full confidence TH would only suffer a marginal and temporary setback. Not anything that would cause a scale-back.

 

Going to Boston, sucks. Parking, traffic, rude drivers, and chaos. Having lived there previously I can say I love to visit but it’s not as often these days. Getting out of the city sucks as well. Their demographic would be the foot traffic crowd and local public transportation folks. Most people in Boston proper weren’t really traveling to Tewksbury or other locations I assume to even make a dent if they just stuck to the Pru now. Boston might as well be its own island to other areas. I don’t think it would have any impact aside from some more cash flow.

And while yes, I agree all of the above tap rooms are always busy, especially on weekends. A lot of that is location beeping Brighton, the seaport and Fan Hall. But if you were to ask at random 10 people from each place to describe Galaxy or Mosaic hops. They’d probably just pull out strains of weed from their Fanny pack, shoulder strap, wanna be bike messenger bags things kids wear. They aren’t the crowd dissenting beers, nor does that matter. I think the other venues tend to pull in the more matured pallets and drinker. So it’s kind of a win win for Nate.

 

I think it’s worth adding the transparency, level of attention to detail and extreme amounts of precision and engineering that goes into his products. It’s almost untouchable. The videos and just Nates fascination with progression and contrast innovation is intoxicating in itself. People who shit on them are lying to themselves or truly think a lager or triple decocted beers are the only kewl ones.

 

I've got to say, the video where Nate was supposed to pick which New England state each blind beer was from, but where he went ahead and correctly identified the actual beers was freaking grandmaster level. Never seen anything like it. Dude's got a palate on him.

 

I think if Tree House was relying on knowledgeable beer geeks as their fan base they wouldn't be making the amount of money they are.

I agree about Trillium, Harpoon...etc. beer geeks likely aren't going there. But Notch Brighton definitely gets a lot of beer geeks with knowledge.

To say it's untouchable would imply that there's this much visibility into what other brewer's are doing. Not saying this isn't correct, but are there other brewers of Tree House's ilk who put out that much content? And I get it with the videos, he does a great job. Heck, my Bud Light drinking brother likes them too.

I don't really see people shitting on Tree House that often on these boards, quite the opposite. Personally I just don't feel their beers (any brewery's beer in 2024) are markedly better than others. People have their favorites, as do I, and some are obviously making better beer than others.

Last week I went to CBC, Idle Hands, Trillium, Harpoon, Sam Adams, and Notch. I had different styles at each and they were all solid experiences. Ironically we thought about leaving Boston and going to Tree House in Tewksbury but decided to just stay in town.

 

Link please and thank you

 

Grabbed a 4 pack today in the Pru and the man himself was there giving an interview. Picked up a 4 pack of Mount Katahdin and the Juice Machine 10th Anniversary. Still crazy to think that 4-5 years ago if I wanted Juice Machine I'd be driving an hour+ to wait 2 hours+ and then driving another hour+...oh and just buying the max allotment of whatever they were selling that day. It sure is nice just biking down the SW Corridor and grabbing whatever I feel like.


The hustle and grind did make the beer taste better though.