Tree House Brewing Company (December 2015)

Discussion in 'New England' started by eb1610, Dec 1, 2015.

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  1. darkandhoppy

    darkandhoppy Pundit (955) Dec 26, 2008 Connecticut

    social media would inevitably kick in but I think leaving word to spread organically would definitely slow the crush. there wouldnt be 80 people in line 2 hours before scheduled open. People might also think twice about taking a day off to drive hours each way without a presumed guarantee of success.

    Like I said, Im just thinking out loud. I don't know what the answer is. I don't even know if there's a problem.
     
  2. Sweatshirt

    Sweatshirt Initiate (0) Jan 27, 2014 New Hampshire
    Deactivated

    Silent releases and smaller maxes are the answer. The TH crowds are more ample and filled with more asshats than ever before. Either they react to the situation or develop fanboy and neighbor problems.
     
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  3. adventurtons

    adventurtons Initiate (0) May 30, 2015 Connecticut

    So I was there today at ~3:30pm. When we pulled up the street it looked horrible with fields full, street parking, mud, etc however we were flagged into the main lot and parked right down front with no problem. The line was crazy at this point and we already missed sap. This seems to be the norm now that the word is spreading. Luckily this was a can only day or the lines would have been even more crazy.

    I do commend th on the parking attendants (saw dean out there directing as well) quickly moving people in and out, especially given that there wasn't a lot of room. Also commend th on the speed at which they process. There were at least 4 payment stations rotating and quickly moving people in and out in a pretty cheerful manner.

    Some thoughts.
    • They do need to figure out a better parking plan as crazy is the new norm and it will only get worse. They really can't have people parking in the road, its a hazard and makes neighbors angry.
    • It would be more efficient to separate can only and growler sales entrances. I know logistically they don't have the room but its only going to get worse.
     
  4. SenorQuesadilla

    SenorQuesadilla Crusader (438) Jul 18, 2014 Connecticut
    Trader

    Just as a counter to all the criticisms: Tree House released what was sure to be a crazy popular beer during one of their busiest times of year, and kept the wait to an average of about half an hour.
     
    #604 SenorQuesadilla, Dec 31, 2015
    Last edited: Dec 31, 2015
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  5. LessThanHKY10

    LessThanHKY10 Initiate (0) Apr 4, 2008 Rhode Island

    I arrived today around 2:15, and saw cars from CT, RI and NH heading back north on east hill rd. I immediately knew they opened (way) early and hoped the line wasn't too long. By 2:40 I was out with my 12 can allotment. Really a pretty easy trip for me, I've waited that long (or even longer) at a couple good local breweries in southern RI several times...its the new norm where good, local, fresh beer is being sold at a faster rate than it can me made. TH is just a little crazier than other places.

    Just saying, I was much more frustrated by the 'line' that formed on I90 on my way there.
     
  6. RuckIt

    RuckIt Pundit (940) Apr 29, 2008 Massachusetts
    Trader

    Effing snake pit traders are the problem - this is why we can't have nice things. See The Stars, FO, or VR for a couple cans of fresh hops? GTFO.

    Over / Under 10am when the line hits 100 people today? 2pm opening.
     
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  7. sjverla

    sjverla Initiate (0) Dec 1, 2008 Massachusetts

    I expect that if I bought a house on a quiet farm road, I wouldn't have to put up this shit.

    I realize that there's not much that TH can do about the parking situation, and, in fact, work very hard to keep it running smoothly. But based on the last month (since Thanksgiving), I think they're going to start having neighbor problems yet again if things don't slow down soon.
     
  8. ajcuster89

    ajcuster89 Zealot (683) Apr 14, 2014 Vermont
    Trader

    Been going to TH regularly for a little over 2 years now, and I thought that the 9-5 working stiff customers like me got shafted on this release. The back to back release of Sap (a beer everyone has been waiting to come back for months) and JM on a holiday weekend really catered to the out-of-town trader crowd. Just looking at the line at open should have been enough to lower JM limits to 4pp. I would have been happy to get 4, and I know a few other working stiff friends like myself would have been happy to get some (arriving at around 6pm every time we go), but by the time we get off work we see that the JM is on fumes and are 30mins away in Springfield, MA, and Coventry, CT.

    Little bit of sour grapes, I know, but I had to put my opinion out there as a regular customer of TH. Some of us don't have the luxury of taking a day off of work to stand in line; we have to wait until after work to stand in line. And releasing such a special beer near a holiday so all the traders can snatch it up? I didn't like it.
     
  9. ryanlefebvre93

    ryanlefebvre93 Initiate (0) Sep 29, 2015 New Hampshire
    Deactivated

    I don't have an opinion on the parking/lines that hasn't already been said, it's the holidays. However the people that put up a trade for VR and FO are absolutely insane if you ask me. I understand wanting to try a better beer and what not but people need to know when you are genuinely just ripping someone off...
     
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  10. IPAkindaguy

    IPAkindaguy Initiate (0) Aug 20, 2010 Florida

    This is my first time waiting in line for a "hyped" or "crazed" can beer release, been going to treehouse when they had the old location in Brimfield( not gloating ). I think all things considered they handled things VERY well. The early opening cost me some Sap cans but in no way am I going to be mad about them trying to control a crowd and a line before it becomes uncontrollable. Only thing I could think of is holding off announcing what is being sold until like 230 if you are opening at 3, just to hold off the crowd a little bit. People Im sure will be lining up regardless at this point it seems though. They could probably hold some cases back for a day 2 release or something to spread the wealth a bit, but not sure how efficient that would be. The only issue is people parking in front of neighbors lawns, driveways etc. This is sure to cause a problem down the road. Heard a lot of people talking about getting their cans and moving them for VR, Good Morning etc. That is what it is and you can't do anything to control that. All told though, JM is an amazing hop bomb and might be second to Very Green in terms of best Treehouse hop beer IMO.
     
  11. Rysk22

    Rysk22 Savant (1,228) Nov 12, 2014 Massachusetts
    Trader

    I guess the only thing I'm curious about is their plans down the road. It's insane how quickly they've grown. I wonder how big they'd like to get. Even if they double their capacity they would still be fighting to produce enough beer to make everyone happy. Good problem to have!
     
  12. MenardMa

    MenardMa Initiate (0) Feb 6, 2011 Connecticut

    mostly word of mouth over the past 3+ years and the fact that they have never made a beer that isn't stellar. Personally I started going in 2013 when they were still in their original backyard location and since then I have turned 6 others into regulars who have all turned several others into regulars...i'm sure a lot of people have similar stories. It's SO good that once you share it with a beer lover, it's easy to get hooked.
     
  13. MenardMa

    MenardMa Initiate (0) Feb 6, 2011 Connecticut

    Come on dude. Even a small amount of sour grapes about not being able to buy a very limited beer just because the release didn't work with your personal schedule is too much. How exactly do you figure that all the people who didn't work until 5 yesterday are "the traders"? A lot of people are on vacation this week. I'm usually a 9-5er as well but took some days off. Saw a lot of regulars there yesterday.

    They usually open at 12 on Wednesday for cans anyway...so if this was a normal week with a release like this, you still wouldn't get any with all the people that would flock there by 5. Keep reminding yourself that "it's only beer, and it's for everybody who wants it - not just me, and not everyone works M-F 9-5" every time you feel an unreasonable gripe building up :slight_smile:

    Besides, surely you have some fellow regulars you're friends with who can share a can with you right?

    Happy New Year!
     
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  14. LukieBL

    LukieBL Initiate (0) Jun 10, 2015 Massachusetts

    Dude get real. You think TH gives a flying fuck about whether the "9-5 crowd" doesn't get a fair shot at special releases? Laughable. They don't care about who is buying the beer. They brew it, can it and put it out there for sale. If you can get there and get some, good for you. If you can't, sorry, that's a you problem.
     
  15. oldbean

    oldbean Initiate (0) Jun 30, 2005 Massachusetts

    I'm curious as to what percentage of Tree House's product is actually going to these horrible traders everyone is blaming for the crowds. My guess is that they're not actually the problem, to the extent that overwhelming popularity is a "problem". I mean if 20% of the people there are only getting the beer to trade it, that would be a LOT. I don't think beer trading is anywhere near that popular, though it might seem like it is if you spend a bunch of time on the BA forums. But if it really was 20% and you were somehow able to kick all those people out, do 1600 people in and out in one day really present that much less of an issue than 2000?

    Mostly it seems like all the concern about traders is just an effort to place the blame for the long lines and parking situation on someone else. People who aren't as worthy of the beer as you are for some abstract reason. But the majority of the issue is just that the beer is really damn good and everyone knows it. I wonder if there's some kind of website dedicated to promoting the existence of really good beer? Maybe one that allowed users to score beers, and compiling those scores into a top-100 list of some kind that anyone in the country can easily access? Well, if such a website existed, it would certainly be a major contributor to Tree House's extreme and widespread desirability...

    [​IMG]
     
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  16. dmolz

    dmolz Initiate (0) Dec 2, 2014 Connecticut

    as somebody who comes to treehouse regularly once a month or more on an hour plus drive, I'd be pissed for silent releases. it actually kinda makes the hype factor and urgency worse. ppl will post it within the hour anyway. I coulda told you after thanksgiving it'd be busy as hell the day before new years eve after last wk and thanksgiving. it would be hectic with julius and green on. not as, but come on. minimal gain for loss in further hyping isn't worth it. maybe for a few locals who get there quicker before the rush, but that's about it. it'd make it tougher for ppl like me who worry on busy releases, if I go, if I'll end up there s.o.l. not being able to survey the damage on here 1st before I even go. th kills it and gives a ton more ppl a chance at great beer. ppl just hate lines. but when you pump out word class stuff, if it's more than a can a person ppl gonna be there regardless. let em do their thing. the can limit thing, I'm impartial. again, it'd suck to drive for minimal cans on can only day. growler days, different story. but either way. they don't allow you to get back in like like cycle and some other spots and are pumping out enough for 1800 ppl in a day, 30-40 min wait TOPS (with that many ppl I'm the amount of hrs opened is crazy) to actually have enough to share with their friends (mostly). be happy they're even there already. most aren't. happy almost new years ya'll.
     
  17. breadwinner

    breadwinner Initiate (0) Mar 6, 2014 California

    Cripes, what a perfect storm -- a silent TH release of an IPA with the word "juice" in the name. What a bunch of crazy.
     
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  18. HeyHayward

    HeyHayward Initiate (0) Dec 13, 2013 New York

    I'll keep repeating it: they're doing a fantastic job. The worst line I've seen was Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I was at least 40 people back *on* East Hill Rd. I still only waited roughly 80 minutes for a case of Tree House. The vibe in line is always very calm, the staff are friendly and they produce some of the best beer on the planet.

    I visit TH every week or every other week from NYC, I know I'll come back with phenomenal beer, regardless of what's on that day.

    I don't know who was expecting them to get through the holiday period without drawing massive crowds...
     
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  19. lic217

    lic217 Pooh-Bah (2,056) Aug 10, 2010 Connecticut
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    You can make some people happy all the time. You can make everyone happy some times, but vou cannot make everyone happy all the time.

    People are going to find something to bitch about no matter what. No matter what decision treehouse makes it won't be perfect. If they lower limits, that just means more work for them and then people will bitch about the amount of beer they get. They need to sell their beer and the faster they do it, the more money they save and the less bullshit they have to deal with. It seems they do their best to get good beer to the people that visit them. How can they better deal with 1800 people showing up to their brewery out in the middle of no where?

    If you do not like waiting in lines do not go. That is the reason I do not go almost ever (also it's expensive). If they are out of beer when you get out of work, go to the package store, trillium, New England brewing company, Jack Abbey, night shift, Beerd's, OEC, Two Roads, etc. It is okay if you do not get to drink every beer you want. Treehouse is one of many great breweries both local and no local. I frequently do not get the beer I want because it's expensive or I do not have the time.

    It's just beer and there is plenty of it to go around. If you really love the over the top tropical fruit bomb beers, then learn to homebrew. In my experience they are one of the easiest styles to brew. Throw a shit ton of hops in late, use almost no specially malts and ferment with a clean ale yeast at a some what low temperature. I am not saying they will taste like Treehouse, but it will be a hop bomb and you will not have to worry about getting to treehouse every week and spending hundreds of dollars.

    Happy New Year everyone.
     
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  20. -Rick

    -Rick Savant (1,083) Dec 22, 2014 Massachusetts
    Trader

    Well that is certainly the fastest I have seen a beer enter the top 250 (Juice Machine).. It has been on the market for less than 20 hours! (not that the Top 250 matters..just saying) It is simply amazing, the quality of the products coming out of that brewery!!
     
    #620 -Rick, Dec 31, 2015
    Last edited: Dec 31, 2015
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