How long until Treehouse is replicated?

I haven't had anything from Trillium or TreeHouse, so it's entirely possible that I could go to NE and be completely blown away, but it seems to me that people want a clone of every world class beer, and it's just not necessary. Maybe nothing tastes just like Heady, but that doesn't mean there aren't DIPAs out there that are just as good. Everyone wants to do a BA stout just like Bourbon County, but offerings like Parabola, CBS, TG's Assassin, etc. have shown that you can do just as well by going your own route. People are always looking for Zombie Dust clones, and I'd posit that there are better single-hop Citra beers.

I know, it's all opinion, and I know that the fact that I don't live around Ma. lowers my argument's credibility, but the basic point is, what's wrong with letting TreeHouse be TreeHouse, and letting the others guys do what they do? IPAs and the like are getting fresher and fresher (more people are dating cans/bottles, canning tech is better than ever, more breweries are doing things like Stone and Enjoy By Unfiltered, etc.), stouts are getting more and more decadent, and the list goes on. The strength of craft beer is precisely that everyone is not the same, and its the differences (and seeing what the other guys are doing) that make the beer so great.

Also, I see a lot of Illinois people on this thread asking for something like TreeHouse or Trillium. I can't do it. We're already so spoiled for beer here, that it's not even funny (with that being said, my brother better pick me up something the next time he goes to Boston)!

 

There is nothing inherently special about Tree House's beers that make them impossible to copy or outclass. Any brewery could hop at 8+ lbs/bbl and make a similar or better beer. What makes them special is that they are small and willing to take a huge cut on profit to produce these beers. For a 2,000 bbl/yr brewery, a hugely hop intensive beer is not that hard to suck up financially, they pretty much self distribute, have low overhead, and are free to mix and match hops into their beers as they are available. Now, a 100,000+ bbl year brewery probably cannot afford to eat the cost of a similar beer, when their profit margins must support a huge overhead, extensive distribution, and cost of ingredients. I would love to brew a beer just like Julius, but on a big system (50-100bbl), that's like 400-800+ lbs of hops @ $~15.00/lb for one brew. If the big boys wanted to brew something similar and could make money on it, they certainly would.

 

I love Grimm's offerings but LOL at either their hoppy beers or stouts being on the level of Treehouse.

 

There are tons of breweries that are also small and also willing to use crazy amounts of hops in their beers. A vanishingly small number of them are on Tree House's level. It's not nearly as easy as you think.

 

To reiterate, Grimm has some quality offerings, but I don't think they are even as good as Other Half or Singlecut, let alone Treehouse or Trillium.

I was also under under the impression that Grimm brewed in Massachusetts, even though they are based in NYC.

 

Terroir is also not as significant a factor as some would have you believe.

 

It's only a matter of time. You already see some larger players going that direction, e.g. Sam Adams Raw and Stone Enjoy By Unfiltered

 

Those beers are not even close to the same quality.

 

I never said they were.

 

that is not true.. Gone Away is very good.. I have it on draft at my work... It does not come close to Tree House and Trillium

 

What was the relevance of them to OP's question about large scale production comparable in quality?

 

TH is selling 1000 cases of cans a week at ~$90-$100 a case plus growlers. Love those guys but to say they are sacrificing profit w/their business model is not accurate....it's precisely that model and the insatiable demand for their excellent product that is making them gobs and gobs of cash and profit.

 

Not as good sure. But King Sue, Sosus, XGold, Pompeii are pretty damn delicious. I've never had the stouts...

 

I cannot comment as to it being better/worse than Tree House or Trillium because I haven't had any beer from them, but I truly believe it stacks up with Heady Topper and Sip of Sunshine when fresh. If GoneAway or those other beers don't "come close", then I am very excited to try their stuff.

 

One of the things these breweries have going for them is that pretty much every beer they sell is being consumed when extremely fresh. I don't know if that would be the case if these beers were being widely distributed.

 

where are you located? im downtown.. PM if you want to try some..

 

If by replicated you mean have unfiltered hop trub that tastes about as grassy and vegetal as a cow's rumen, I wish the answer is never.

 

The first time I went to tree house was before they blew up in popularity ( I know hipster thing to say). I walked in and was greeted with a smile, handshake and "welcome, first time here? Try some tasting and if you like anything here's a card to fill out for growler fills. Enjoy".

I haven't forgot that.... Every new brewery should replicate that, before they try to match another places beer IMO

 

Treehouse didn't invent hoppy beer...there are many local breweries making similar recipe, high-quality beer. In Southern Cal, you need not look further than Noble Brewing... widely distributed, and without all that brewery release fuss.

 

Yeah so far I agree. It's all very, very good. But maybe not quite on that level. Although the Zombie Dust is extremely close in my opinion.