The Alchemist (April 2017)

That's a great read and thanks for the link. I particularly liked this line:

"You can be socially responsible and still make more money than you need."

I don't begrudge anyone who does decide to go corporate or decides that they want to make the really huge bucks. But I don't like that that is often described as the only sensible goal for a business.

 

Thanks for the help!

 

When this was released a few years back on draft I made the drive down to Waterbury for it and it was one of the best beers I ever had. Can't agree more.

 

Just curious, got a can of what I was told was skadoosh v. Opened it up and there were a ton of floaties. Never seen this from a can from other breweries that's supposed to be less than 2 weeks old. Can anyone else confirm they have seen this in their cans as well?

 

Just had one tonight. Yes it had floaties in it but they were delicious floaties!

 

I made the trek to The Alchemist today. Skadoosh V is fantastic!

 

Visited the brewery today -- empty around 2pm. Mud Season in full swing. Place is just gorgeous and the vibe is inviting. Got a 4 pack of all the beers being offered. Cracked an FB with dinner and had forgotten how absurd the nose is on this beer -- I can't think of a more aromatic IPA.

 

FBs I grabbed from the Brewery a little over a week ago have more floaties than I've ever seen. Looks like cold break not "hop resins". A little excessive IMHO. Haven't had that many TH beers but never had one floaty and their beers are substantially better than Alchemist stuff IMHO.

 

Tree House and Alchemist make pretty different beers. So many people lump Alchemist in with the NEIPA, but it's just not what they're about.

 

I wouldn't say some of them are that different honestly. TH might use a small percentage of XXXX to accentuate haze and a slightly different water profile than Alchemist but all of their beers are more refined and balanced than any Alchemist beer I've had.

 

First off, I think the comparison is not really applicable. Alchemist makes fantastic beer, and lots of it. When can you walk into Treehouse and buy 3 cases of top notch beer with very little wait?Not only that, but Alchemist is really consistent and their beers varies greatly in style. Luscious smokes pretty much all TH stouts save Good Morning (yes, better than any single/double shot/twss/whatever). Petite Mutant is really good, and Beelzebub is a great twist on a stout. When you can walk out of TH with a couple mixed cases of J/Green/AE/etc in under an hour, they can wear the belt (until someone Treehouses Treehouse).

As for HT and FB, they are superb beers in any conversation. Heady set the standard, and years later still is badass. It is such a well rounded IPA, and that cannot be said for many of the NEIPAs out now. Do I love the latter, yes of course I do, TH Green is one of my favorite beers. Very few beers match Heady though on nose, mouthfeel, hop character, taste, and bitterness. I am a little older, and like bitterness in my IPAs which a lot of TH and other NEIPAs lack. I like a good hop pillow as much as the next guy, but I want more backbone which both HT and FB deliver on every time. Last note on these guys is shelf life. No other IPA has a shelf life like Heady or Focal do, it is an incredible testament and a real accomplishment few if any breweries can replicate. Keep in mind also TH is mostly on the map because of people trekking north for Heady/Hill Farmstead.

Both are great, great breweries and we should be thankful they continue to crank out such wonderful goodness.

 

Totally correct with Heady shelf life. It is still a great beer with 6 months on it.

After sort of burning out on TH, Trillium lately, I've returned to HT and it really is quite a departure from the new school NEIPAs

It's pretty much just a benchmark beer in terms of balance

 

I prefer Alchmist beers by a lot to treehuse and trillium, because they meet my expectations of a great hoppy beer.. I think there is a significant difference between them. They are less tropical and more complex to me.

 

Skadoosh V is incredible. Citra monster -- juice to sharp and pleasant full on hop bitterness. Loving the new regular offerings. Despite all the new competition - the Alchemist is still on the podium.

 

I recently had a Heady with one year on it, saved as an experiment. It was crystal clear and amazingly delicious. It wasn't sweet or stale and didn't turn into a barleywine like other aged IPAs do sometimes. For comparison, it was drank side by side with a just-purchased Heady straight from the brewery. I slightly preferred the old one which totally surprised me.