Burlington in November

Other people can speak to this probably better than I, but I'm not sure if you're in-and-out of Tree House in only 45 minutes on a Thursday night, and even if you are, trying to get to Boston in 75 minutes during rush hour is going to be rough. You're doing the reverse commute, which is good, but some traffic will still be inevitable. That trip takes longer than 75 minutes under ideal traffic conditions (i.e. Sunday morning at 5 a.m.) -- so good luck.

As far as Boston bars, you're in a good location. Your hotel is a ten minute walk from Temple Place, which has both Stoddard's and jm Curley's. Stoddard's probably has the better beer list, but both are good. A little further away, Tip Tap Room also has a very good beer list and is maybe a 15-20 minute walk from your hotel (or a quick Uber ride. If you're going to be in Burlington/Boston, get Uber and use it religiously so you're not drinking/driving. Super easy and very cheap).

Night Shift is certainly worth the trip as well, and I believe they close at 10 p.m. on Thursdays, just FYI. If your schedule changes and you do have time, make sure you hit up Row 34 before/after your Trillium trip for dinner. It is LITERALLY next door. Great seafood and they have what I believe is the best tap list in Boston. It's further from your hotel, which is why I didn't mention it above, but this place has a tap list with a ton of options and lots of variety. It's worth checking out. Also, Fort Point Market on the other side of Trillium is one of the better bottle shops in the city, and I find them more reasonably priced for Boston than a lot of the other ones around here.

If you have any other specific questions, feel free to send me a PM, as this is already bordering on tl;dr like most of my posts...

 

A few points: These are some aggressive timelines overall.

I can't speak to November as I've done the wait there only during the summer, but if you arrive at Hunger Mountain at 8:30, you may or may not get Heady. They start selling promptly at 8, and availability depends on how long the line is that morning. Getting there at 7:45 vs. 8:30 could be a huge difference.

Leaving HF at 1:15 and arriving at TH at 5 means absolutely no traffic -- which is probably accurate until arrive in the Springfield area at rush hour. You'll hit traffic on the turnpike between 91 and Exit 8 (Palmer). I was there just two weeks ago at that time and the ride took about 10-15 minutes longer than it would without traffic. You're also unlikely to get out of Tree House in anything less than an hour if you're going for growler fills at opening. The can line moves a lot faster.

Tree House to Trillium at that time of day on weekday in the Google Maps-allotted travel time is nearly impossible. You'll hit some traffic surrounding Boston. If you're not supposed to leave Boston too early on Friday, I'd probably slot them in on Friday instead. They open at noon. Instead, just swing by Jack's Abby on the way to Night Shift.

 

Only way to make TH work would be to do cans only and skip growlers. I made that trip yesterday evening; even with the reverse commute it's 90 minutes back to Boston.

 

Another idea to consider is to put an ISO/FT up to do an in-person swap at Tree House. Lots of folks who go to Trillium also frequent TH.

 

I've never been to Navigation. The new Jack's Abby space looks really cool, although I haven't made it there myself yet.

 

Navigation, IIRC, just had the last night at their old space (a garage bay by the railroad tracks) yesterday. I couldn't make it down there, but I'm pretty sure I read that correctly on their Facebook page.

Navigation is opening a new space soon. Very cool guys and some good beer, but I'm just not sure if they'll be open any more on Thursdays or how that works.

Like @Justin42, I haven't made it to the new JA's space yet either, but I can't recommend their beer enough. Trillium is my favorite brewery in the state, but Night Shift and Jack's Abby aren't far behind. (Unfortunately, I rarely make it out to the western part of the state, so my Tree House experience is rather limited, but I have *absolutely loved* everything from them that I've had).

 

In burlington go to the farmhouse. Best tap list in town, food is good too. Focal is only sold in bars and restaurants, if they are out ask if any of their sister Restos. Have some. I'm not sure on heady drop times for Monday morning. Try calling the cider mill In South Burlington ask them when heady ussallyshow arrives, rt 7 liquors is a bunch of price gouging aholes Imo. If you can't wait for heady drop you should be able to find other great locals like tribute, crop, frost.. Try Healthy living nice beer selection and snacks for the drive The lines at hf shouldn't be bad on a thurs in November. iMO skip treehouse and hit trillium. Set up an ip trade in Boston for the treehouse stuff. Also you could be dealing with snow especially around hill farm which will throw of your driving times

 

Had focal banger at bueno y sano in burlington today, cheers.

 

The plan for our new space is to continue Thursday evenings from 4-9pm as well as the 1st Saturday of every month during the Western Ave Studios open studios hours. It's still a part time gig for us but we're working towards more hours in the future. If all goes well when we reopen at the new location (mid-Nov. 2015) it will be with a pouring license for the taproom. The plan is to have rotating food trucks on sight during our open hours.

Thank you for the kind words. We think our fans are very cool too.

Cheers!
Bob & PJ

 

@Justin42 and @BRYeleJR are on point. The drive to Tree House and Trillium will likely take longer than your estimate and it is unlikely you'll get out of there in 45 minutes. If you just want cans it could be quick, but if you're planning on getting growlers fills the wait will probably be closer to 1-2 hours. Check the Tree House thread the day you're driving down, that will give you a good estimate of the wait time.

I'll also second the idea of doing an in-person trade. If you post some Ohio beers or something you pick up in VT you will likely find some BA members willing to trade some MA beers who will be at Tree House that day. That also allows you to get beers that are sold out at those breweries during your visit. Trilliums hoppy beers are starting to sell out after one, two, or three days.

 

Doubt you'll make it to Trillium in time, you also have to park and walk over so account for 3-5 mins there. Keep in mind Thursday night traffic can be a little crazy, The Who is playing at the Garden so there could be some residual traffic from that. You might luck out though.

A few blocks north of your hotel next to Boston Common is Stoddard's and JM Curley ... both worth checking out.

 

Not a shot in hell you can get from Treehouse in Monson leaving at 5:45 to trillum before they close, park, get in for growlers. I90 will laugh at you the whole way in.

I'd be tempted(depending on whats available at TH) to skip TH and just do trillium. Then you can enjoy the city. Rather then drive back to Boston from Monson, the area of nothing.

 

If I had to pick between TH and Trillium, I'd make it a day-of decision based on what's available. If TH has an awesome can day where you could walk away with ~18 cans of a combo of Haze/Green/Julius/or Curiosity, etc., but Trillium just has the "standard" stuff on for bottles, I'd go TH. On the other hand, if TH only has one of their IPAs (my bias here and what I'd be looking for) with a 4-6 can limit, but Trillium has great bottles, go Trillium.

But if you can do an IP swap at TH, that's the ideal scenario. Even with stuff selling out more quickly these days, Trillium's bottles are easy to come by in quantity for those of us who live/work in Boston, so it *shouldn't* be that hard to find someone to pick some up for you with a few days lead time.

 

A very well thought out description of what my post was trying to convey haha

 

Great minds!