Tree House (2024)

Had Very SSSapppy yesterday, it was indeed excellent. Also had Bear, their Winter Warmer, and split a JJJuliusss and Canada Gold Sugar Maple. All beers were excellent.

Very SSSapppy and Bear were recs on this thread, thanks guys!

Going on a Monday afternoon is super chill, great place to hang out when it's not slammed. I also didn't know there were no drink limits during the week, including just being able to go up to the bar and order and pay.

 

LOVE Bear. Don't see too many brown ales anymore, so I'm glad this one exists.

Glad you had a good time and enjoyed the beer!

 

Also, what happened to That’s What She Said? Can't recall the last time it was available. That beer is absurd for being 5.6% and not containing any chocolate. It got its own proper can and everything.

I wonder if they backed off making it because of the name? I mean it's not "offensive" but with breweries like Lawson's changing "Maple Nipple" I could understand if they were feeling reluctant. Also I'm guessing it's incredibly difficult to brew and it never really sells well.

I do hope to see it come back, in one form or another.

 

Would like to try the winter warmer at some point, one of the most underrated styles in my book. Really have had a kick on re-exploring the seasonal styles that were popular a decade+ ago the last year or two and winter warmers might stand at the top of those for me.

Canada Gold Sugar Maple did not work for me, unfortunately. Was super excited to try it but honestly thought it tasted like a 2x4

 

I absolutely agree with this. I used to look forward to going to Julio’s in Westborough MA every November and December in the early/mid 2000’s and buying mixed six pack 12oz bottles of every Christmas/holiday beer they could get! I would more or less try every single one. There was something that was so special and innocent about that time and learning styles and honestly being more excited about the labels and brand than hops. I really do miss that time. Though, most of my friends didn’t give a shit and used to kind of shit on it and complain when people didn’t bring bud or miller to a party. So it had its plusses and negatives. Now they’re all the Brewey family invaders. The Sierra Nevada holiday mixed 12 pack of 12 individual holiday beers . As well as the 6 bottle Sam Adams winter pack. Never, ever found and affection for Harpoon Winter though….nope

 

Hey all, going to make an order in the next day or so, as I'll be back in the area for a few days over the holidays. Any can't miss suggestions from recent batches? I'm normally a "core beer" person, I suppose.

Will certainly be picking up Super Sap (perhaps my favorite beer they make) and a smattering of Julius, Green, and normal Sap, but what else? I stay away from heavily doctored stouts and while I do like Tree House lagers, I'll probably swing by a packie and pick up some Notch or Schilling to scratch that itch (unless of course, you all convince me otherwise).

Thanks!

 

Lights on, no question.

King Julius as well

outside of that it’s a lot of the more interesting holiday beers currently.

 

I enjoyed Canada Gold, but it probably my least favorite.

Crap, forgot I also had Vvveryyy Green. That was nice, was looking for something with more bitterness so I had that.

Their Winter Warmer is off the Lukr which really adds a nice dimension to it.

Ha, I recall those days. Now everyone I know goes to breweries. My how times have changed.

 

Looked at the Google doc, it was available twice in '22, once in '23, 0 in '24. Weird. It was a beer they liked to have different versions of on tap, too, fudge, banana, marshmallow, all those things.

 

Random TH question... I was just watching one of the recent Tree House videos on youtube from Nate where he goes over what's currently available, and I'm just listening to him rattle off detailed notes about all of these seasonal beers they do and referencing past years' versions and all the different changes and one-off ingredients they use. And he does this constantly in these videos, I really enjoy watching them.

But I'm just wondering, do you think he knows and remembers all this stuff just off the top of his head, or does he have to go back and look at notes to recall all of this? It's staggering how many variants TH puts out annually and how many years they've been doing it, and yet he seems to remember all these subtle differences and tasting notes in these videos and I'm wondering if he has like this photographic memory for his beer or if he's just reading this stuff out of his notes?

Side question: how involved is he with the day-to-day brewing these days? I can't imagine how busy he must be with how much they constantly have going on. Does this guy sleep?

 

It was out at some point this year (edit from above post: I guess not). They've just leaned into the heavy adjunct stuff, and also seem to brew less stouts. With how many options are available, the ratio of stouts is quite small.

 

Man, OG Double Shot was so good. It's just a pastry bomb now IMO. I've avoided stouts for a couple years now and have leaned more on lagers. I think they've gotten far too sweet and boozy across the board; it's not just Tree House. Seems that's what people are buying.

I'll just have a dark lager if I'm craving that "chocolate" flavor.

 

Completely agree with all points. I tried a taste of one of their peanut butter stouts and it was just way too sweet for me.

I miss when breweries were less heavy handed, or had no adjuncts at all. Having Stone Russian Imperial Stout two years ago was awesome. Brought me back.

 

I tend to always have their stouts on draft at Charlton for the gimmicky oreo/marshmallow/whatever sweet tooth thing I may be craving, the trick I learned is let those mf’s warm to room temperature. Soooo much better. Otherwise it tastes like a goddamned Yoo-hoo.

Mast Landing has a few HOTS-ish offerings with various adjuncts, not bad for the price.

 

Got to give it up for the OG Tod Mott for making unapologetic BA stouts that just taste like barrels, booze, and toasted malt

 

If you want adjuntless Imperial stout, you can still get Space and Time at some locations, it looks like.

 

Maybe, but a few of the more recent iterations have been drain pours, IMO.

 

Yeah, they did have a bad batch of Mott recently. But did offer refunds. This fall was fine.

 

Chiming in to say that this current batch of Lights On is impeccable. Their 5%-ish ABV pale ales have been the highlights of my last couple visits. Incredible the amount of hop flavor they are delivering in such a light package. To me right now this is tasting like a version of Haze that delivers all the peachy hop flavor, but without the underlying sweetness, which makes it a big winner for me.

 

Drinking one right now. Couldn’t agree more. I’m actually enjoying it more than the Julius and Green I had yesterday. The Green was not to my liking at all. Don’t see myself getting that again anytime soon.