Tree House (2021)

World class brewery my ass. Make you drive to the brewery to buy their product and charge you a premium price. No excuses to be selling shit beer…

 

Yikes. Taste oxidized?

 

Yes, very oxidized. I was curious if it was just one bad can seal, so went for another. When it became two in a row I knew it was perhaps a batch oxidation issue.

It’s funny seeing the Untappd checkins that reference the batch. Probably 50/50 with people keeping it real and admitting this is an off run vs. people with a picture clearly showing the oxidized batch and saying it’s amazing.

 

I went for the first time in a year recently hopeful that things would be better. After waiting in line for 45 minutes late on a Sunday afternoon I was expecting big things.

First time trying Very Hazy (late August batch) and I remember regular old Haze being much better so I was massively disappointed. King Julius was okay, kind of brownish (not oxidized). King Cobbler tasted like a peach High Noon in beer form and I don't mean that as a positive (stunned at the reviews, absolutely stunned). Heat Wave was pretty good. Curiosity 118 was a big meh.

A real shame, won't be back for a while and maybe never again if I can continually be in and out at Trillium and Vitamin Sea. Much higher quality and consistent product with 1% of the hassle.

 

Haze was always better than Very Hazy.

 

Right, but my point is that the expectations are now set and known. That's how learning from your experiences works. TH knows they're going to blow up any new "small and quaint" locations, so none of us should be surprised that the neighbors are complaining or that their system is strict and difficult to maneuver around.

I've no doubt they'll make it work, and it's working now, but they'll always be hamstrung by their location choice and it will always be a point of contention with their neighbors. Always. But we have to assume TH knows this and is okay with this outcome. Just seems like more headaches than it's worth, but on the other hand, I can't fault TH for not wanting to take the "easy" way out with massive, remote factory-esque locations to satisfy demand. After all, their entire brand is built around what places like Brimfield and Sandwich represent. Unfortunately, it becomes a lot harder to maintain that when you're the most popular brewery on the planet.

 

Damn, haven't been to TH since pre-pandemmy and was gonna make a run soon but these past few pages have me feeling that's a big waste of my time and money.

 

I’m headed up to southern VT next weekend, was considering a Deerfield stop but may wait for some more recent feedback

That said, I did go twice earlier this year (Charlton pickup in April and Sandwich in July) and thought the beer was definitely up to expectations. That July VG was excellent, KJ was great both times, Doubleganger fantastic, etc. - hoping for that experience when I pick up again

 

I was at Charlton Saturday afternoon, and had a great time and enjoyed some delicious draft with friends. The line was long for the main bar around 3:30/4:00pm. Other than that, the weather was great and I picked up beer to go. So far I’ve had Autumn which was fantastic, Trail Simcoe which was solid, and Galactic Storm which was good but not great, at least to my palette.

 

Picked up a little more than a case on Sunday for the first time in a long time. So far have had Beginner’s Mind, Autumn and BOC which were all very good. Opened a VG tonight after reading this and yes it’s off. Tastes more west-coasty and oxidized a bit. I wouldn’t call it a drain pour by any means (still drinking it now), but definitely off.

 

Oxidized a bit? It’s like slurping on a wet hoppy Manila folder.

9/21 Batch


Late June batch

 

Meanwhile, out west, Deerfield is less than half the drive time for me that Charlton was and I’ve never had to wait in a line - I just pull in, flash my I.D., someone wheels my beer out on a hand truck, and I’m gone. I’m home before mammosilenus even has a chance to wonder where I’ve gone.

I’ve pretty much given up drinking anything else and my jeans are getting uncomfortably snug.

 

I can not support this. Monson Very Hazy from 4+ years ago was a special beer.

 

That VG batch looks terrible.

I haven't been up in about 2 months but the last time I was there it was my second trip in a months time and both hauls I had were top tier. Nothing was oxidized and everything tasted great. I've had bad cans in the past but never more than two per haul

 

Well it’s almost October, here’s my 2021 TH shopping list:
- any OG/core/house/classic ipas
- Any BA stout, especially at $5 - $10
- 1 or 2 packs of lagers (skip anything hopped)
- Juice Projects are generally very good, but the abv is pushing it

MISC
- Woodstock location is like an afterthought , maybe this is due to the pandemic or…cider, but that thing is totally odd. Guess it’s like whatever is the worst Disney park, weird sure, but it still prints money.
- it was great to go back to Charlton and have a draft beer
- lots of Juice Machine lately
- my wife still hates going to Tree House

Any speculation on what are they building near the entrance to Charlton?

 

Well my baseline was 3.5 years ago, but I have no doubt b1 was better.

 

Nah, I was there last week. You're good. Agree with other posters on Autumn, and everything else i've been drinking from the mixed case has been really good to great.

 

I go every week or two since I live near Sandwich, also have been a customer since Brimfield shed days. I've yet to get an oxidized can from them, but I can believe it happens. My only gripe stems way back to the scaling up at around the Charlton opening. I know the whole "better in Monson" thing is a meme, but it's also true. For me the noticeable difference at that point was the muted flavors and overall samey taste, and the lack of the signature yeast notes that made the stuff so special. I feel that it's improved gradually since then, and that now I can bank on getting at least one out of four 4pks to shine through with that old signature taste. The problem is that it's random which ones are on point.

Most recently I loved Seven, and September Sun was pretty nice as well. Going to pick up today at 2pm and most looking forward to the cold brew restock. Having them close by is a huge help, it was a bummer to come home with several cases after that shite drive to Charlton and have a lot of duds. FIngers crossed that they keep improving, because when its on its so good.

 

Hope your physique doesn’t mirror that in your avatar.

 

Impossible. That's peak male.