Tree House Brewing Company - January 2015

That's really surprising. They had over 150 people show up yesterday and the estimate was that they about 210 750's worth of Good Morning. That must mean that not everyone ordered Good Morning.

 

Yeah, I don't think tonight will be less crowded

 

Its a much nicer day out there. After yesterday it is mild.

 

3:20. 8 people here...

 

Not bad since they opened earlier last night.

 

There were that many people at 230 yesterday

 

Whole different story tonight. Arrived at 4:15 and was #23. Filled out my order, waited in my warm car until doors opened at 5. Out by 5:30. Shockingly easy considering they still had Good Morning on today.

 

Still a 4 bottle limit tonight 1/9? Or did they go back to 5? Just sizing up a potential cannonball run tomorrow afternoon.
Post skiing- pre Pats.

 

Ha. That was me that said that. I love TH and all (read: most) folks that go there, but if you want to get somewhere early to get in line, then you gotta wait in line. Once you get your ticket, do as you will, that's one of the big pluses about this joint - no lines, except pre-opening. There are zero other places where you get to hold your spot in line. Waiting for tickets somewhere like in the 90's, nope. Go drop your growlers off at the Mad Taco before a Lawson's release and see if they're cool with that? Sh*t man, they wouldn't give a guy an extra ticket for his wife waiting in the car. So I can go at noon and put my growler bag next to the door and proclaim 'first?' Right... Where does it end? Man up (sorry for sexism) and wait in line.

 

FYI for those headed out tomorrow per Tree House's Twitter from 9:15 tonight:

@TreeHouseBrewCo: hey, yo! we have +- 30 Good Morning fills left for tomorrow. tornado also low. Dirty Water, Harmony, and TWSS all solid!

** UPDATED 1/9/15 @ 9:15 PM: http://treehousebrew.com/on-tap/

 

They upped it to 5 bottles just before doors opened.

 

Any line yet?

 

Got here early, about 10th car. Dropped my cooler behind the others and got back in my car. Then a bunch of people jumped in line and that "cooler" order was done. Don't know why people do that. I went from 10th or so to about 20th.

 

Just excited that I should get a Good Morning!

 

I've never gone for one of these shitshow releases, but I think the reasoning behind cooler-jumping is probably this: Generally, obtaining any limited-release product where demand outpaces supply requires some sort of sacrifice. It's hard to complain when someone camps out two days early for Furbies, or Elmo, or Star Wars tickets because obviously they "wanted it more," and paid a premium with their time and poor hygiene. If someone drives to Tree House, drops off a space-saver, and then sits in a warm car fiddling with a phone or iPad for a couple hours, it's not clear where to draw the line. Can you drop off a cooler at 2:00p and go catch a movie? What about noon? I have a full-time job... Would anyone be mad if I dropped off a cooler on the way to work in the morning so I didn't have to fight all the people who have nothing else to do in the afternoon but head to Tree House extra early?

If all these hypotheticals sound unfair, what's different about sitting in a parked car on the side of the road? I can't really think of any other context where people are allowed to reap all the benefits of freezing their asses off in line without actually freezing their asses off in line. If this cooler drop-off becomes a sacred thing, like space-saving in Boston, I can easily imagine the beer-trading cabals sending an emissary with a trunk full of coolers in the wee hours of the morning before a big release.

 

Man I reaped the benefits hardcore at Tree House, I showed up on Thursday at 2:30pm was told by Dean (Who is THE MAN) to stay in my car and I was in fact in line. Then he (THE MAN) came and gave me a ticket (#10) I filled it out gave it back to him (THE MAN). Then Dean (THE MAN) actually came back to my truck and get my empty bottles.

The entire time I was hanging out in my heated car chatting with @ChrisinRI and using my iPhone (I could have watched a movie if I wanted, but the conversation was much more enjoyable).

As I person who has waited in line over night (multiple Darkness days) I do much more prefer the waiting in your car things. But that's just because I'm probably a big sissy.

Cheers

 

Space saving is now banned in the South End. I always thought it was stupid but some people get really mad over it like I stabbed their mom.

 

Yeah, the cooler thing doesn't offend me personally (probably because I don't even attempt to go when I think people will be lining up hours early). That said, I can understand why other people might not play along with it, particularly since it wouldnt be long before the opportunistic "FT: GOOD MORNING; ISO: YOUR 1ST BORN" crowd worked out a system to take advantage of the laid-back atmosphere.

 

Beating a dead horse here, but the notion that you need to stand in the cold to earn your place in line is ridiculous. Tree House isn't a Lawson's Farmer's Market Sale, or an Alchemist Truck Sale, or Hill Farmstead. It's Tree House. When Jay made us line up yesterday to get tickets, Dean actually came out and scolded him (jokingly) for making us get out of our cars. They're a customer oriented business, and they don't want us to suffer to get their beer any more than we have to. If you get there at 3pm and you're first, YOU'RE FIRST. If you're fifth, you're fifth. Period! Put your cooler out and get back in your car. I already said this, in this thread, but people AREN'T putting their coolers out and then "going to a movie". They are there, waiting, paying their dues, IN THE PARKING LOT, IN THEIR CAR. Sounds to me like the people who are advocating standing outside to earn a spot, for whatever reason, and/or who think jumping ahead of the "cooler" line is ok, just need to show up earlier...

 

I think you missed the point. The issue isn't the behavior of the close-knit group of regulars that spends three days a week at the brewery and collects growler tags. You're not the problem. Hell, they should just give you first-class tickets and a special lounge, and no one should bat an eye. The issue is what the practice could easily devolve into. If you don't actively police the cooler system, some people will eventually come in and exploit the goodwill. That's all I'm saying.

This isn't an indictment of you or your fellow parking lot warriors... This is an observation based on human nature and Tree House's tremendous popularity.

 

Exactly. No where else is this even close to acceptable.

 

This makes me laugh. Where else is this acceptable? When the iPhone 7 comes out, and you want to be first in line, put a placeholder near a mall fruitphone store door and see how long it lasts there. While I dig the camaraderie thing that comes out of a few folks accepting this wussification of America behavior of placeholding in line because it's too cold (wah), it's just not the way it works. And how do you know that they ARE there, waiting in cars?

 

Apple has a digital reservation system so you don't have to stand in line. They text you when your phone is ready so you can go do whatever you want and come back later in the day to pick it up.

 

This is hilarious. Putting a cooler down is now contributing to the "wussification of America"? Like standing in the cold makes anyone more deserving of a beer?

My guess is that every person who goes to Tree House, either drives or rides in some sort of vehicle, and if it's fucking cold outside, why not let everyone try to stay warmer (like Dean and the rest of the guys at Tree House basically forced us to do on Thursday)? Nobody is gaining an advantage by sitting in a car.

They do a great job trying to get the order cards to the people in order that they arrived, and for the most part, everyone who visits Tree House is pretty cool with going by order of arrival. Hell, I've walked up to get my card, and realized that someone who had been sitting in their car since before I got there hadn't gotten one yet, so yeah, I'll let them go first.

Nobody is dropping a cooler and leaving. It's fucking Monson Massachusetts, where the hell would they go? The "integrity of the line" is not being ruined by coolers and bags, but rather DBs who think that something other than first come, first served should apply.

 

Ok now I regret my original post... But yes, the coolers belong to the people sitting in their cars in the parking lot, so let's not get carried away. And that TH staff has encouraged this. I agree that the TH staff does an excellent job trying to get numbered cards to the people in order or arrival. I go there a lot and rarely see "line jumping". TH attracts great craft beer drinkers. Looking forward to my next trip.

 

I liken the cooler in line to setting up a chair at an open-field concert/ festival and then leaving it for the day, only to return 10 minutes before show time. I hate it. I respect it, meaning I won't move the chair or stand in front of it, but I hate it. Says a guy who has waited in line for 8+ hours, multiple times, at concerts.

 

Well, it doesnt really look like this will see consensus any time soon. I guess the best part to this conversation is that in just a few short weeks, the issue will, hopefully, be moot.

 

Best way to avoid getting upset at line shenanigans is to respect the business's hours and come when they are open.

In any crowd, unfortunately, I can't really expect 100% of the people to play by the same rules and that's when people get upset. I just assume avoid the entire situation, it's not worth getting upset over.

 

Yeah, I used to show up about an hour before opening and usually be 1-5 in line, stand outside for an hour in the cold (or sit by the coy pond for an hour when they were still at the house), get my beer and go home. Haven't done that in about a year though, I think just because the arrival time to be near the front and avoid waiting all day just got earlier and earlier, plus I felt a little shitty about not respecting their hours.

I think the last time I tried was when they released David...arrived at like 9:45 and saw a line across the parking lot and cars lined down the road, rolled right by and went home!

Can't wait to see the new place and hopefully have at least slightly some easier access to the best beer around!

 

Since the weather turned, I've decided I'm going to roll this way as well. You can show up at 4 (landing in the first 20 these days), wait outside for an hour, then an extra 30 min inside...or show up after the initial crush and wait 90 min inside. Pretty much the same wait.

 

It's too bad the local beer scene has devolved into this.

 

Waiting in line:


SERIOUS BUSINESS

 

Technically your use of "devolved" isn't entirely wrong, but it's not traditionally used in this context. I point this out only because you're being melodramatic.

 

Come on guys it is only beer (incredibly delicious, well made beer, that makes people go crazy, that tastes like magic).

On a serious note who fucking cares. If you are really worried about your spot stand in the cold or put your cooler out and hope for the best. Either way does it matter? If you drove all the way there and have time to wait over an hour for beer, your life is probably going to be okay either way. When I go up there, I am not in a hurry. I know I will be there for awhile, but I will be leaving with incredible beer.

 

Yeah, it's so melodramatic to point out that the majority of the conversation in this forum and among beer geeks in public is bitching about lines, prices, not getting thier beer, fawning over beer from 1-2 states from 2-3 breweries in the area, trading and comparing ticks and cellars. The scene is a shell of what it could be. Sorry for using devolved out of context.

 

That may be true for the front of the line, but I have definitely lost 5-10 spots in line from the back of the line when tickets dont make it that far back. Its a rush to get a ticket, fill it out as fast as you can and get it to the register. Especially my first time when I didnt know to bring a pencil/pen and who exactly to give the ticket to.

On that topic, are you allowed to print and fill out tickets ahead of time?

 

Print them? I would say just take a couple home next time you're there and keep an eye out for what's being poured and fill it out early if you're really worried about losing a couple places.

 

Thanks, good idea. Any suggestions for lunch in the area?

 

BT's Smokehouse in Sturbridge. About a 20 min drive. Awesome barbeque food, very reasonably priced and BYOB. Yankee spirits is right near BTs, which has a pretty good selection.