Tree House Brewing Co (New Brewery Discussion Thread)

I wasn't talking about cans. And I count the hour or two before they open for huge releases as a part of the total time.

 

phewwww

 

Ok. I think half the battle (if you're really concerned about wait time) is going at the right time. I always try to get there between 6:30 and 7 PM and never have too many issues. I almost missed growlers for Very Hazy getting there right around 6:30 but still was out in 1:45 for growlers that night. The only time I would ever go before opening is if I had plans later in the evening/ day or Saturday if I really wanted some cans left over from Friday.

 

You're still not waiting 3 hours.

 

There's so much talk on Tree House-themed message boards about waiting in line. There's no doubt Tree House has become immensely popular in the last few months (steadily before that, and the trend has accelerated since Oct-Nov). Unless you feel compelled to stand in line before TH opens for business, you don't have to invest huge chunks of time to buy their beer. There are plenty of periods in the Weds-Sat schedule where you can buy beer with little wait. You might miss a rare offering, but all their beer is good/great. Thrilled about the new place, not because it means shorter lines, just because maybe it means more beer available more of the time, and possibly more access to those rare offerings. Maybe I can bring a friend and share a pint on-site. And because it means a great company is experiencing terrific success.

 

This is exactly one of the things that affects trade value. Idgaf either way but it will lower the value. Which is sad because people trying to get into the lambic game from trading IPAs if the fucking funniest thing Ive ever seen.

Hopfully it at least puts a halt on the 15-20 dollar cans on ebay, mbc, and like sites.

 

This is just wrong. I've been caught in a 3 hour clusterf**k wait there. It has happened.

 

Ha! So true.

 

I'll second that. Remember going right before Christmas '14 to the old spot and it was at least 3 hours due to two new releases, Bear and Harmony. Neither of which were worth the wait, good beers though.

 

It's definitely not the norm at all, but it sounds crazy so people like to throw out these random comments. Yes, if u go on a major holiday or EBF week u will experience a serious shit show. But, on most days can wait is under 20 minutes and 45 minutes for growlers (which is what the reports seem to be for tonight). Lining up hours in advance is not necessary unless u have scheduling conflicts obv.

 

Didn't say it was the norm. Was responding to a post that said there was NEVER a 3 hour wait. There was, and it wasn't a major holiday or EBF weekend.

 

More info about the expansion and potential distribution: http://www.brewbound.com/news/cult-beer-maker-tree-house-embarks-on-massive-expansion

 

Ha! You know it's comin'! Glad to hear this though - I gave up on them because of the crowds and the inefficiency of growler fills. Psyched that more Tree House is on the way....

 

Wrong. @JayKoz knows everything about everyone's experiences and he said it never happens. It certainly does. Luckily, with the new expansion there will be other things to do.

 

Did anybody read this awful piece? Apparently Treehouse started in 2015 and only had two co-founders:

http://www.boston.com/food-dining/2...xY34HA386cFK/story.html?p1=stream_food-dining

 

An awful boston.com piece? Color me shocked.

 

This is what I mean when I talk about the cult of the long wait. The paragraph below is from the brewhound.com blog post and I think anybody would agree that the while scenario described can occur, it's reckless to describe it as normal.

``Want to buy some of the company’s top-rated Julius American IPA? You’ll have to drive to the brewery, wait in line for hours and you’ll still only be able to walk away with three 16 oz. cans at $3.75 each.``

 

I went tonight and asked Dean at checkout whether it was too early to speculate on the scale of retail in the Monson location and very he definitively said nothing's really changing in Monson - he said there will be can sales and tons of one off growler fills. He said it'll still be a really fun place. I know the new location isn't super far from the Monson spot but it's just further enough away for me to probably have to do some planning ahead. I was selfishly a bit bummed that my favorite spot was going to be just out of reach to go with the frequency I have now but was really relieved to here that it's still going to be chugging along and not primarily just used as storage spot like it sounded like from the blog post. I of course will visit the new place often but it's not super important for me to be able to get a pint while I wait so if I can still buy the same beers in Monson that I could get in Charlton, color me thrilled!

 

When have you been stuck waiting for 3 hours? I've been to the big releases, and if you're showing up 2 hours early, you're not waiting 3 hours total. I'm genuinely curious, not sure there's a need for the attitude.

I mean, has it happened to you once? Twice? Their efficiency continues to improve, but I've been a regular visitor for a while now, and some people make it sound like growlers are often multi-hour waits, when they really are not. I hear it from first time visitors in line all the time: "I read growler fills take hours so I'm not going to bother". I've started in the low 200's before and been out in under 2 hours. This was on big releases obviously, the norm is much shorter.

 

What is Alchemist's current output and projected output once the new Stowe building is online?