Tree House (2025)

Right now closest is a 2-hour drive to Tewksbury. That keeps me humble, I suppose.

If they build something up in the north country like a Tree House Ski Lodge then I'm gonna have to quit alcohol so I don't die.

 

Just buy this. Absolutely fantastic 7% version.

Figured the glass was fitting as we had snow on the ground today.

 

Just bought cans of this, Curiosity 7, Hold on to Sunshine Barrel Blend and Peachganger at Deerfield today. I'm excited to crack into them. My pours of Half-Truth and Pineapple Doubleganger were both really good. And the pizza was fantastic as always.

I know I'm part of the problem in bringing my son to Tree House (even if he was just baby bjorn'd to my wife for most of it,) but goddamn there were a ton of kids there today. All well behaved honestly, but it was just insane. So many strollers, ours included.

 

I don't think parents like you who are watching their kid (and others described who were well behaved) are the issue for breweries.

It's the huge birthday parties and even worse, the parents who are not paying attention at all to their kids and let them run around that's the issue.

 

I experienced this last Saturday, including a barking dog...

 

I don't know nearly enough about this, but does tree house even have those types of relationships? They seem to kind of just do their own thing. That's fine. That's their choice to make, but nothing in their past has screamed, "Let's make sure other breweries thrive alongside us" the way Allagash did all those years ago with Maine Beer, Rising Tide, etc.

 

The mouthfeel on this is ridiculous. Reminds me of Green from back in the day.

 

Julius (Charlton) vs Julius (Woodstock)…. Is one better than the other? Would love to know what people think?

 

Oof don't even start! I am going to do a Juice Machine - Charlton to JM Woodstock (picked up Saturday). Hops are there, totally mind-blowing beer for the ABV, I feel it's a tad thinner with this pure clean Quiet Corner water

Woodstock Alter Ego hit the spot and nukes any shelf turd hazy. I'm not even that far from Woodstock but go there maybe 3x a year. However *puts on fedora* big line at open, maybe 15 people and then listening to the 12 normies waiting for draft pours was amusing. If anyone wonders how they make their money, lots of late model German cars and there is my mf'ing Mazda crossover.

 

Their apples are bit too green

 

That would be awesome: we vacation at Rye beach every summer

 

Dude, first, parenting is hard. And it’s like being isolated sometimes at first. Get out there with your baby and have a little fun. Juuuuust keep the consumption low when you’re out ha. Enjoy just being out of the house. I remember having my little one at the original Bissell, meeting with some family friends and she just slept in her carrier the whole time. If anything I was just happy to be out as I think I was essentially DD outside of a pour. But as she’s gotten older it does change when and where we go with her. So most brewery trips are alone time. Just sort of have to fit it in. I just can’t bring her to TH or the sort and expect her to be happy. Kids want to run and play. I would’ve been bummed at my mom and dad if they did it to me. My memories were more farms, fields, apples orchards and places us cousins could fuck off but not really bother anyone. It’s not a huge deal by any means and who am I to tell people what to do. But yeah, there is a weird shift where it’s almost like the parents are out to have a few double IPA’s while the kids run around and set it off. There are so many times we’ve visited treehouse or Trillium and it truly feels like a Salt and Oak post.

As I’ve aged I see two things that shifted for me. Learning as a parent you sacrifice a lot. And with that comes things like brewery trips and being out. But, having also faced some adversity, it made that part, almost irrelevant to me. And my time with her is the part I cherish. It may sound dumb, but I do think there’s something to the like two stages of it ha.

 

All this, but also: hang in there and one day they’re driving you to the brewery. But then you have a short window (17-21) for them to be DD.

 

Yeah, it's an evolution over time. My son (now 14), brother-in-law and I have a tradition of going to a couple of breweries on Black Friday each year. Before my son had a phone, we'd usually pick up one of the beat up board games most breweries have or we'd bring our own deck of cards. Now it's a combination of bringing our cards and him quietly doing crap on his phone. My 7 year-old daughter ... much harder to entertain at a brewery and she doesn't join as often on such trips.

Or you could go to Treehouse Sandwich where all three of my kids go enjoy the beach then come and have some pizza when they are bored while my wife and I have a beer or two. BUT ... that's a rarity in terms of brewery locations that truly lend themselves to that kind of freedom (for everyone).

3 Thansksgivings until I have that DD window with my son!

 

Tree House Ice Cream? That's not going to deter people from bringing kids

 

It was definitely a lower consumption day for me. Two beers and three slices of pizza over about 3 hours. My wife said I could get another and she'd drive but I decided against it.

I've definitely lowered my drinking numbers since he got here, and I'm not angry at it. I wasn't even drinking a ton before, maybe 7 - 10 drinks a week, but now it's closer to 5 - 7, if even that much.

My childhood was spent with my dad at the Millis AMVETS. I'd be given five dollars in quarters to play pool, a fountain coke in a plastic cup with a cocktail straw and a personal red baron deep dish pizza. Ahh... (Kind of sad, according to my wife) memories.

 

I’m heading down to our office at the Pru on Thursday and plan on picking some TH up on the way back. I’m much more of a fan of West Coast IPAs, but may have to give this one a try. I have had several TH hazies that I do enjoy. Just gotta slim it down to things I can get back home in an Uber with my backpack, not my vehicle.

 

I can only tell you that the beer I got at the Woodstock facility was great and the vibe (for me) was better than Charlton.

 

I would add this one in. These have been very similar to Treehouse of years back. Which is a very good thing and a bit different from modern versions.

 

I’ve talked about your last paragraph with Em recently regarding friends and experiences of that exact place and setup. That was very impactful to say. Much respect for discussing that spot and your experiences there. You certainly weren’t the only one. Altered Beast for hours.

Cigarettes and cheap beer.

The odds that for some random reason I told her about Millis Bowl within the last two weeks and you share a story here is so slim. I love the power of BA. She’s away all week at her mom’s since she has to go into her office all week. I can’t wait to tell her this when she’s back! Maybe it was because she’s going to Montreal and the Dan O story came up and somehow we got to bowling or the video store he worked at ha? But so random!