What's going on?

The weekend is behind us and again we start anew.  What’s cookin’ this week at Tree House?

• Thursday will see the release of the latest batch of “Julius”.  It is delicious.  There will be a four 750 ML limit, and a six container total limit (per turn in line) starting out on both Thursday and Saturday.  This will be in an effort to keep the wait times down both days.  Please remember that you are welcome to bring food to the barn or leave and come back after placing your order should you so choose!

• We delivered kegs of “Eureka” to Cedar Street, Dive Bar, Armsby Abbey, Mcladden’s Noho/Hampden, Amherst Brewing Company, and  the Blind Pig in Athol.  Go get it!

• Our take on a modern American Pale Ale - a golden colored ale with six American hop varieties - is on dry hops and will see it’s debut next week.  More information on that coming soon.  We’re gettin’ pretty excited about it!  Dean’s tail feathers are going nuts. . .

• We’re gearing up for the ACBF!  We hope to see you there Friday May 31st and Saturday June 1st.   We recently received our booth location and we’re happy to report that Tree House will be hard to miss - right on the left as you walk through the big ol’ front door!

• We are scheduled to appear at a Town Meeting May 30th regarding an appeal that threatens our small business.  We strongly urge you to attend and show your support!  We’ll have more details in a separate post - for now, please save the date!

Come on, Thursday!

Notes for this week, May 13th and beyond.

First off we'd like to thank everyone who came out this Saturday.  The day was mellow and the rain held off just long enough for us to enjoy the Tree House grounds. . . and our new BumDrum!!!

I can't wait to try to hack an enclosure to the top of that beast and cook a pizza.  What an amazing gift from the guys at BumDrums.  Thank you so much!

What else is shaking?

• We shipped a ton (for us) of Sap to our accounts this weekend.  You should find it pouring at the following locations in the very near future:  McLadden's Northampton & Hampden, Dive Bar, and Armsby Abbey.  We suspect it won't last long so don't hesitate to support these great establishments!
• "Eureka", our single hop Nelson Sauvin Blonde Ale, is ready to be racked and will be available starting Thursday!  This is (in our very biased opinion) a perfect day to day beer, fitting for any mood or occasion!

• This weekend the Antique Show (aka Flea Market) will grace the expansive fields alongside Route 20 in Brimfield.  We’ll be open, as usual, from 11-6.  We would suggest alternate routes to the barn as traffic on Route 20 can become burdensome.  If you’re coming in from the West it shouldn’t be a problem.  If you’re coming in from Worcester/495 corridor/Boston we would suggest using Exit 8 in Palmer.  
• You could also plan to spend some time at the Market, which is world famous as a haven for restorers and antique pickers.  See here for more information.
• This year's hop crop is starting to show on Tree House grounds and it's more promising than ever!  We can't wait for this year's green hopped beers!
• Our generously hopped APA is tasting beautiful in the tank and should be ready soon.  More on that later!

Have a great week, everyone.

New Swag Saturday.

New T-shirts are available this weekend in the retail shop (along with loads of very fresh "Sap" and "That's What She Said").  The men's T's are a sweet green color with a simple but bold Tree House logo on the back shoulder.  The women's T's are jet black with a similar logo set.  Both on sale tomorrow at 11 AM - $20 ea!

Dive Bar recap and the days ahead.

Two barrels worth of six different Tree House beers made for a hell of a great time last Friday at the Dive Bar - we’re still reeling.  What a night!  It was nice to get to talk beer for while without having to worry about screwing up a brew day.  And it was nice for us to drink our beer on draft because we hardly ever get to do that.  “Sap” FTW.  Thanks again to everyone who came out!   It was great to meet you all.   Lets do it again soon!

Things are churning at the brewery.  The strenuous double brew days are starting to pay off -  Double batches of "Sap" and "Eureka" will find their way into the retail shop and back into draft accounts in the next couple of weeks.  "Julius" & "Space & Time" are resting comfortably in the tanks to be released in the next few weeks, as well as make their way to the Big City for the American Craft Beer Festival.   And finally, a very special  new-ish beer is fermenting away after this past Saturday's brew day.  More on that soon.

Onward.  

The Dive Bar & Tree House sitting in a ... Tree?

This Friday, May 3rd, we're bringing six different Tree House beers to The Dive Bar (located at 34 Green Street in Worcester) for an evening to celebrate warm weather, laughter, friendship, and beer.   We hope you'll come join us!

Sap, Curiosity Two, Julius, Old Man, That's What She Said, Space & TIme, oh my. . .

Reflecting on an extraordinary Saturday.

Actually found a pic - how cool is that?!

Sitting around Saturday with the crew sipping my shift beer, Julius, after fourteen hours in the brew house with Damien and Johnny, seven of which we spent astonished by the crowd that turned out for retail hours, I thought back to my kitchen years ago when we took the first sip of the first test batch of the beer that was to become Julius.  At the time Tree House wasn’t even a twinkle in any of our eyes, but we all knew with the first warm, flat sip out of a wine thief that if we ever opened a brewery and had to choose one recipe to represent our tastes and brewing proficiency, it would be Julius.

And here, as Tree House Brewing Company in 2013, we went through almost four barrels of Julius alone on Saturday.  That’s nearly a whole batch, 155 gallons, in just seven short hours.  By the end of the day we had Julius on three different growler filling lines and it still didn’t seem like enough.  We suspect it will be gone on Thursday during retail hours.  Turns out we were on to something with that warm, flat sip.  

While Julius was the star on Saturday, we have similar affections for all of our beers, and there was humbling interest in our other offerings.  "Curiosity Two" is now history, a successful beer that we hope to revisit in the future.  "Space & Time" continues to pour beautifully, and should last into this Saturday.  "That's What She Said' has a rabid fan base that grows by the week.  Despite the popularity of Julius, our goal at Tree House is to always have fresh, inventive, delicious beers available whenever you decide to make the trip.  This weekend we will feature super fresh "Sap", our Chinook based IPA.  It is bright, pungent, and super drinkable - a beer we are very proud of and can't wait to share again.  

Thank you to everyone who made our Saturday so wonderful and fulfilling.

. . .

I also want to address our process and ways we are constantly working to improve it.  The nature in which we fill growlers - fresh and on-demand to maintain the integrity of the beer - inevitably leads to long lines when the perfect storm of favorable conditions converges - lovely weather, fresh IPA, and a rapid growth of demand.  We are highly conscious of this and make every effort to move things along as quickly as possible, and to make the wait as comfortable as possible.  Kim and Lauren work their butts off filling growlers; Dean showing folks around.  For the past three to four weeks the taps have literally stayed open for the duration of retails hours.

We think the ‘Order Cards’ are a great solution to allow folks to freely roam while they wait for their turn in line.  We allow and encourage bringing your own food - we will dispose of the waste for you and you can find a place to sit in the retail shop, by the pond, or at the picnic table.    You are also welcome to place your order and return  later in the day if it's a feasible option.

Whoa

It should be noted that there was virtually no wait for beer during the last hour of retail Saturday.  If you can manage, it can be beneficial to come later in the day.

Still, it's not perfect.  We are working toward other solutions for long wait times.  We are excited about the prospect of a canner, but this will take some time and stringent investigation to ensure the integrity of our beer. . . Space is at an extreme premium in the barn.  Will it fit?  We will also be more diligent about limits per turn in line.  We are beyond thrilled when folks fill 8-10 bottles, but when 8-10 people in a row fill 8-10 bottles, how do we best serve the customer who just wants a single bottle?  We're asking for input, and creative suggestions are encouraged.

We can’t promise we’ll be perfect, but we can promise that we’ll try like hell.  

Rebirth & Rejuvenation

The weather we’ve all been looking forward to is finally here.  We’re not in full bloom here at Tree House, but the sights and smells of rebirth and rejuvenation are more apparent by the day.  

To that end we’ve been on something of a brewing binge in an attempt to keep up with demand.  We have 15 BBLS of ‘Sap’ in the tanks and after Saturday we will have 10 BBLS of ‘Eureka’, our hoppy blonde ale on the way.  Man we can’t wait.  Spectacular fresh warm weather beers!

What else?  A fresh pallet of 1/2 BBL kegs and a shiny new keg washer will be in next week and should save Dean a bit of sanity.  The way we’ve been cleaning our kegs is the equivalent of trenching a water line with a spoon.  And no one wants to trench a water line with a spoon.

Oh!  I almost forgot!  We’re working on a low ABV farmhouse ale - the most glorious summer tonic. It will be available. . . in the summer.

So, more toys and more beer.  Good news.

Speaking of good news, ‘Julius’ is on this Saturday!  You should come to Tree House and get some.  Take it from us, it’s utterly therapeutic to stare down the valley over the newly green grass and fresh leaf buds on a crisp spring day while you wait for your growler fills.

Come see us!

"Curiosity Two"

As brewers one of the most exciting times around the brewery is when new beers are being created.  We get an idea in mind of what you want the beer to taste like and we create a recipe using what we've learned over the years to chase the flavor profile we are trying to achieve.  The two to four weeks between brew day and tasting the new beer can feel like an eternity but tasting that cool conditioned beer for the first time from the bright tank is one of the great pleasures we get as brewers.

With "Curiosity Two", the second beer of the Curiosity Series, we wanted a 'big' pale ale meant to showcase five lovely American Hop varieties and backed by just a touch of sweet pale malt character.  And we wanted it to drink like a 6% beer.  We wanted it to be intensely citrusy, tropical, and resinous, with a soft bitterness just powerful enough to make you want another sip.   We wanted it to be intensely aromatic.

After 3 1/2 weeks in the fermenter, two rounds of dry hops, and a short conditioning period, our reaction to the first sip from the bright tank was:  :-D

"Curiosity Two" - Available starting Saturday, April 20th 'til it's gone.

Beer for Boston

Tomorrow at 3 PM-12 AM Jack's Abby Brewing and Three Tides & Marshall Wharf Brewing Company are hosting a fundraising event at The Tavern Framingham to benefit victims of yesterday’s tragic events in Boston. Tree House (Deano representing) will be there with a keg of Space & Time, along with a ton of great beer from many other New England breweries. There will be a raffle of dry goods / bottles and 100% of the proceeds from the evening's events will be donated The One Fund Boston, a charitable fund set up by Deval Patrick and Mayor Tom Menino. Please come out to this event if you’re in the area!

Other confirmed breweries include:

Maine Beer
Tuckerman Brewing Company
Oxbow Brewing Company
Allagash Brewing Company
Battle Road Brewing Company
Night Shift Brewing
Left Hand Brewing Company
Brash Brewing Company
Clown Shoes Brewing Company
Atlantic Brewing Company
John Harvard's Brew House
Cape Ann Brewing 
Left Hand Brewing Company
Ipswich Ale Brewery

So much support. We hope to see you there.

Just a few things. . .

It's Master's Sunday, the best Sunday, so I don't have a lot of time, but I just wanted to  mention a few things:

This is what Stout Fest looks like.

• 10 BBLS of "Sap" is angrily fermenting the away in the brewery after our first double batch day into a single fermenter wrapped up seemingly successfully.  More beer.
• We sent a sixtel of Space & Time to Armsby Abbey and it's now pouring alongside some incredible beers as part of their annual Stout Fest.  Go drink it, and enjoy a sublime meal while you're at it.
• We tapped a sixtel of "Julius" yesterday.  Lasted about five minutes and worked out wonderfully. . . random midday tappings may become more common. :)  
• We are releasing "Curiosity Two" this week and we are very excited about it.  More on that  later.  
• We had a great Saturday at the retail shop.  Thank you to everyone who came out - it's almost time to hang on the deck by the Koi Pond!

Enjoy your day, thirsty friends.

Space & Time

Oops

We have a new beer, Space & Time.

The name is born from the idea that spaces -  which are the foundations of memories - change, adapt, and progress with time, but the memories made within them never change, and our distance from them in time makes the heart grow fonder.

Think of your fondest memory.  Think of where it happened.  Was it outside?  Was it in a building that no longer exists?  Who were you with? Chances are you can remember the sights, sounds, and even smells of the space you inhabited during this memory and together they build a strong emotional and nostalgic connection to this Space.  These spaces may change - a building may be razed or trees may grow tall or be cut down - but they never disappear.  

When you return to these spaces many years later your memory takes over and the power of Time can overwhelm you  - the space is still there, it’s essence still the same, but much in your life has changed.  You’ve fallen in love.  You’ve fallen out of love.  You’ve had a child.  You’ve managed a few more creases on your forehead.  You’ve lost someone.  Still, you are instantly transported back to the original moment when your memory was created.  

Round and around, and back home again.

That’s the power of space.  And that’s the power of time.

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What does that have to do with an Imperial Stout?  Absolutely nothing.  We just like the sentiment.  And who knows?  Maybe this beer will become part of your story.

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How does it taste?  Think bitter dark chocolate, espresso, and a bit of toast.  A touch of dried fruit and caramel sweetness as it warms, but definitely a beer for the bitter chocolate/coffee fans. A medium body for a stout of this stature with a smooth carbonation makes Space & Time way more drinkable than it should be given the alcohol content.  A phenomenal food beer.  Batch #1 and just the beginning.  Available April 13th, 2013 'til it's gone.

Save the date.

On the evening of May 3rd we'll be at The Dive Bar in Worcester to celebrate the official opening of their patio, live music, and good company with an assortment of Tree House beer.  We hope you can make it. :)

More details soon!