Tree House (Charlton) IPA quality is disappointing

Tree House has had there growing pains , but lately I would say 3 months or so now Green has been unreal same with Julius . Haze has tasted a bit different to me , could just be the batch of hops I am no expert I can only say what my taste buds tell me .

 

I notice a big difference as well. I’ve had 2 bad batches of Julius, and a bad batch of haze. HOTS was a winner for me, but it’s not worth it for me to make the drive anymore.

 

The most recent batch of Green was as close to the same as the best from Monson.

 

Hell ya, a guy from Illinois doing a tldr post about Tree House expansion quality. Love this site.

 

doesn't taste as rare as it used to

 

No need to create a new thread, as plenty of this goes on already via OG. Problems with the flagship(s) exist

 

Humans are terrible at remembering what things tasted like when comparing to something they are having now. Truly terrible. Not to mention the beer probably tasted better because you were more excited to have it for the first time, another real psychological effect.

 

This issue is very interesting to me. I feel there have been some off batches since the move. That being said, I don't think you can underestimate the power of the mind. 2 years ago, It was really exciting driving to that farmland over the CT border in Monson to pick up 6 or 8 of those rare gems. Id maybe go every 4-6 weeks so I savored those beers. Each one was a huge treat and whenever I brought some to share with friends they were so excited. Now the beers are made in quantities so great that we can get 4 cases at a time.

Where, when and how you drink something does matter and contributes to your experience and enjoyment of that thing. While the limits were much lower in Monson, in my opinion, the experience was more enjoyable and fun. I always ended up chatting with the people around me in line, and saw a lot of the same people on different trips. Now the whole exchange seems a little cold.

I also think, from a more practical standpoint, that people can get sick of this style of beer. They're great, but If its the only thing you drink, the NEIPA style is going to grow old and seem kind of one note and overly sweet. Now if people want, they can drink nothing but Tree House. You need to mix in some other stuff. All of these things to me are contributing factors of why the beers don't seem to pop as much.

 

It is hype. You aren't tasting the hype anymore like you were on your first few batches.

Sure this are growing pains moving into a new facility and sure hops change year in and out, but, this read to me like a "I like their older shit before they sold out" music rant from my youth. Then again I am a really irritable person so who knows I could be off

 

Agreed, as an example, the first NEIPA I ever tried was Boom Sauce, and I thought it was one of the best beers I had ever had. Now obviously, I don't drink it, but since the style was so new to me I thought it was amazing.

I've found that I get palate fatigue of NEIPAs if thats all I drink. Give your palate a rest and don't drink beer or just have darker beers then come back to the NEIPAs and I guarantee they taste better.

 

You are stupid & your tastebuds are wrong. You should probably delete your account.

-Commenters on this site.

Obviously some hyperbole there but in all seriousness, I've heard this from A LOT of people who are TH regulars. But those people are usually shouted down. I don't know, it's still very, very good beer. But even to me some have been just as good as I remember (Green mostly) & some not (VG, Sap). But I probably just have terrible tastebuds too.

 

Agree w/your palate fatigue comment but curious why you don’t drink Boomsauce anymore ?

 

As mentioned, I try not to drink too many NEIPAs, and I prefer to drink TH, Trillium, Lamplighter, or Other Half when I do. I have pretty easy to access to all of them.

I'll still definitely drink Boom Sauce if its one of the only beer options available if I'm feeling a NEIPA if I'm out at a bar, just prefer not to buy cans and go out of my way to get.

 

I've had beer from Charlton on maybe 4-5 occasions and would say that overall it tastes like the TH I fell in love with back in Monson. It's super hard to compare to stuff that is mainly just a memory but the majority of what I've had from Charlton has maintained the same essence at the very least and in many cases has tasted to me right on par w/ what I perceive classic TH beer to taste like. Green in particular has been great the multiple times I've had it. I'll say that the Haze I got 2 weeks ago, while very good is missing a little bit of the punch and strong aroma that I recall, but it's still a great beer.

 

This is spot on in regards to the experience.

Green has been the only one that held it's consistency IMO, but the rest are coming around. I think Haze took the biggest beating with the move.

 

I do find it funny that the “tree house regulars” you speak of continue to be regulars if the beer isn’t up to par.

I definitely think it’s a combination of people tasting the rarity and palate fatigue. For me personally it’s nice to try different styles to break up the monotony.

That doesn’t mean that there aren’t off batches since the ingredients are organic and the brewery is scaling up.

 

I would pay real cash money to witness a side-by-side BLIND tasting of Monson vs. Charlton. Impossible, I know. But I'd bet vast majority of TH fans couldn't tell the difference at all.