I could be off on the number but it was first 5 for sure. The funny thing is I don’t really remember the first Monson space. I wonder if anyone has a picture inside there? I have pics of Monson 2.
Bubblegum/yeast flavor is not a myth. Sometimes their beer still has it. Nowadays most of the time it does not. Whether or not this was a deliberate change from Treehouse is debatable, but that's the reason I would buy their beer. It's what made them unique and standout in the first place.
Everyone raved about two aspects of their IPAs from my recollection. The bubblegum note and the mouthfeel. I believe both were attributed to a rumor they were using a Hefeweizen yeast for their IPAs. I distinctly remember we did blind side by sides with a Tree House IPA (I forget which) and an Idle Hands IPA (it was either Galaxy Four Seam or Six Seam, I forget). The mouthfeel and bubble gum stuck out so I could identity which was one was Tree House. Mind you, this didn't make it necessarily taste better, just different than the Idle Hands beer. Both were enjoyed.
Craft beer crowd was never about doing the math or getting the most value from their money. FOMO gonna FOMO and tickers gonna tick I suppose......
Since we're on the topic of remembering the good ol' days: One [4-Pack] (IPA, 6.8%, 16oz) One is a throwback. It's the first in a series of beers where we reference old hand-written batch notes from our nascent days of existence. Here we have Julius, in what would be the first commercial batch of Julius. It's hard to say if this will be a pure throwback, since our choreographed dance of brewing, which is so important to the outcome of the beer, has evolved over time, At any rate, this should be a fun one to try. Definitely want to try this.
I never heard about the hef yeast, that'd be kinda interesting. However, I never really picked up that banana shit that comes from hef strains. I do feel like treehouse used to talk about their house yeast a lot, they still might i dunno, but yeah it was without a doubt their signature thing for a long time. First time I ever had a julius was very much a 'what the FUCK?!' moment. I was turned off by the sweetness and gumball thing for the first half of the can but needless to say it grew on me. Their IPAs are still the best I can get around me since i can buy them at the Pru, but I don't think I'd be driving out to Charlton anymore for them. It's hard to not just drink fiddlehead IPA at this point because that feels like one of the only consistent IPAs I can buy.
Cool idea but it's definitely not going to be anywhere near the original product (not saying it was better back then, it's likely much better now). There's old pictures out there of Julius and it looks like Heady Topper
Whoa, that's crazy. There was a long thread awhile back debating who actually made the first true New England IPA as we know them today (like your second image above). If I recall all signs eventually pointed to Congress Street. I don't believe they intentionally made it that way but when they tasted it was amazing. Tree House was either trying to replicate that and hadn't dialed it in yet or tweaked it until it became like that after figuring out the exact flavor profile they wanted.
I haven't looked at this thread from Home Brew Talk in years but I believe these guys uncovered that they use a blend: https://homebrewtalk.com/threads/isolated-yeast-tree-house-how-to-identify-and-characterize.623221/
Jesus fucking Christ i finally feel validated. I remeber some growlers, and 100% Green cans that had an overwhelming bubblegum/banana flavor and I swore to people, there is something in this beer or the yeast that leans Belgium or hefe. Later thinking I was nuts. There were cans of green that literally almost were off putting to me. And I was someone who came up through Belgium beer, then bitter IPAs and NE with the rest of us early adopters. I think it may be a cilantro type deal. Some people get it and some don’t. I think some perceive it as a melon flavor. Which is where the jokes come from. But I have not tasted that in years(melon) I know the yeast bubble gym thing immediately when I taste it. My guess is the aggressive hopping and refinement of brewing have masked the yeast to an extent and the hops are more pronounced. But, I can think of certain beers that it 100% hit on recently. I’d have to go back and look, but there was a curiosity we all went insane for I think in 2025 that was a bubblegum OG bomb. Maybe it was 139?
Would texture with cascade and anchovy being about a month and a half old and trail wai-ti being about a month old be a detractor from purchasing? I know they’re lagers so they will be pretty much fine but the whole draw is to that fresh dry hopping that really pops and I wonder if that has faded to the point that the beer is n it quite as good as it was.
I won’t scoff at most craft beers under two months old. And I think Tree House IPAs hold up better than most. I’ll defer to those who have had these lagers though. With a lager you’re likely not as hoppy as an IPA, so even a slight fade in hop aroma/flavor may throw it slightly out of balance. But I haven’t had these Tree House lagers, so I don’t know.
Wow that thread is 148 pages. I remember skimming it a few years back when this very topic came up. Really cool. I'm sure they use a different yeast now because of the sheer volume they would need. Whatever they were using back in Brimfield was likely the best they could afford for the flavor they were going for. As for the lagers with a month on them: they should be absolutely fine with 3+ months on them. I've had haze from TH that was over 6 months old and it was shockingly good. They package really well (except that one can I had last week which was not filled) so very little oxygen ever touches the final product.
I mean, they have seemingly infinite resources and I imagine they've got a lab going which allows them to better understand how their yeast evolves and to get the best usage out of the yeast. I imagine, I do not know. I am guessing there are some changes, but I imagine they're better able to utilize what they have now as well.
Don’t forget the experimental beers they put out a few years back that specifically used blends and changes to their yeast. Which I’m sure was to find something people liked to put into greater use and rotation.
Baby Bright is back. Put the tracker on to see how long it lasts. Remember it's first run and it hung around for about 9 months?
Adding to this, here is my 10ish+ years ago Julius. Think I just had better lighting than the first pic but remember it pretty much like that the first few times.
Drinking a Juicee Project Citra Galaxy right now and feel like it has that bubble gum flavor a bit but not saying it's bad
