The best part of these Juice Machine releases with different can labels is the untappd reviewers giving it a lower score than they did for JM in the regular can. Shows how pointless beer reviews really are
Not surprised by that at all. A lot of legacy Trillium and Tree House beers aren't rated as high as they used to be with more recent reviews. It's why you've never seen a lot of these beers toppled by other IPAs over the years. They were the pioneers for the style so it was blowing people away. Now a good New England IPA is more common place. Think about it, has Tree House lost their fastball and never created IPAs better than King Julius?
I mean, they're the most consistent for high quality NEIPA. If the bar your're setting is KJ, and 90% of their offerings are within a 10% margin of that beer, I'd say they have NOT lost their fastball. Yes, there's lots of good stuff you can find on the shelves, but a lot of it is a gamble the first time you purchase. With TH, if I buy an IPA between 6.5 and 8.5%, I know exactly the kind of high-end experience I'm going to get
Sorry, I may have misworded it. I don't think they've lost their fastball. I just think many many breweries can make a good New England IPA now. Since moving to the Northshore I've went to a lot of different breweries I didn't normally go to previously. A solid New England IPA is fairly easy to find, I was pleasantly surprised. The top 10 Hazy IPA list on BA in order is: Julius, Jjjuliusss, DDH Congress St., Green, Focal Banger, Alter Ego, In Perpetuity, DDH Melcher St., Congress St., and CitraQuench'L from Heist. The last beers to be added to this site from that list was back in 2015. In over a decade none of those breweries (especially Tree House given the sheer volume they produce) has created a beer that people haven't rated as high or higher? Those beers are still excellent, it's just that the ratings from 10+ years ago were likely inflated due to novelty.
Headed to Hartford for the marathon this fall. Looks like Charlton, Deerfield, and Woodstock are all 50-60 minutes away. Would the train be an option to any of those locations? Are either of the non-Charlton ones worth pursuing or should we stick with the main location? thanks!
short answer is no. regular, efficient, commuter rail outside of the CT shoreline or greater metro Boston is almost non-existent. There is a CTRail commuter line that runs between New Haven, through Hartford, up to Springfield. From Springfield, you could transfer to the PVTA buses to get up to Deerfield area. That train seems somewhat frequent. If you get to Springfield, buses from there probably run regularly/somewhat frequently. You'd still need to get a ride from the station to TH. You could also take Amtrak from Hartford to Greenfield MA, the next town north of Deerfield, but that's probably a little spendy, and you'd need to Uber down to Tree House. It's on the Vermonter/Valley Flier line, so it might run 3 times a day M-F. Not sure how you'd get back to Hartford in the same day. It would be a pretty convoluted itinerary to say the least. there's no public transportation from Hartford to Charlton that I know of. You'd have to Uber. Woodstock is literally out in the MOFNW. You could probably use UBER to get out there but might not be able to get Uber service back.
The Three Sisters beers are a bit odd. I love seeing more saisons but the Peach variant tastes just like Peach Tart. There's not really any funk or saison yeast that I can detect. Could be the fruit is overpowering the base beer, as I've not had that one. I had a bottled saison back in Monson that was excellent. So they can definitely do the style well.
for how much I thought the first few natives were just ok when they debuted them at the 4th anny party, that series and the other saisons from similar timeframe ended up having a whole bunch of bangers. My understanding was that stuff all ended with Brendan’s departure and it’s too bad, they were really locked in for a bit
A few years ago (four?) I bought a 750 of one of their mixed fermentation beers. It was close to dreadful.
I’ve only been to Saratoga my last 3 visits to TH, but every time, it wasn’t too crowded, ordering beer on a screen was easy, the bartenders were incredibly nice, allowing me to sample anything I wanted - so I agree, anyone within easy driving discovery a TH outlet is lucky.
Vanilla bean Tree of Truth. I'm not usually the biggest fan of stout/barleywine blends, but this might be good
It’s been a while since they’ve done this one but I liked it the first time because the Barleywine really played well with the Vanilla. Just picked up a bottle, hope it’s just as good.
Just like I remember it, the Barleywine is a good thread against the intense Vanilla of Vanilla Bean Truth which can be very assertive. IMO it still does lean heavier towards Truth vs. Tree of Life but it’s really nice.
I might grab one tomorrow along with Tree of Reckining. That lighting is crazy, it looks ike your glass is shattered
This is the most non-AI, AI photo, in this history of photos. I agree, it looks like you chewed on the glass.
