Greetings fellow drunks! Horatio Cornblower filling in for makeitsnow, who is no doubt scratching off calendar dates with increasingly shaky red x’s as his self-imposed 30 day sabbatical from sweet, sweet alcohol winds down.

(C’mon makeitsnow, do it for your old pals at DFO!)

Today we’ll be discussing two beers from Treehouse Brewing Company, a tiny but growing brewery located, for the moment, in scenic Monson, MA and run by a plucky group of the nicest people you’ll ever meet after standing in line for 45 minutes in the freezing cold. Which, as you can see from the above picture, is not an uncommon occurrence. Especially if you like growlers; if you like growlers you better have the patience of a saint.

And that is the problem* with Treehouse. They do not sell outside of their own brewery. They have limited hours during the week and due to the (increasing) demand and reputation, more and more people seem to show up every week, so the lines get longer. There are also limits as to how many beers you can buy per person; I bring my non-drinking wife with me and double up. This is such a common practice that these people are referred to as “Beer Llamas.” My wife prefers “Beer Mule Bitch”, but that doesn’t seem to be catching on amongst the hoi polloi.

Treehouse is in the process of building a bigger facility in Charlton, MA. It is slated to open in 2017. When completed they’ll have an initial capacity of 30,000 barrels with a theoretical ability to go up to 125,000 a year. I have no idea what their current barrel capacity is but this will be a lot more and may make it easier to get your grubby little hands on a can or two of their liquid gold. For now you’re stuck with this preview of two of their brews, unless you’re of a mind to drive up yourself, because you’re not getting any of mine!

Why two beers? you ask. Because I’m writing this post and I say we’re having more than one beer!

The first is Julius, an IPA clocking in at 6.8%.

This is apparently the beer that started it all for them. Unfortunately I drank my last one last night. Fortunately they’ve made more and I may be headed up tonight.** How does it taste? I do not have the ability to translate what I’m drinking into pretty words like makeitsnow, (my palate is just not that refined), so I’ll let the fine folks at Treehouse do it for me:

Bursting with pungent American hops, Julius – our flagship American IPA – is a bright, refined, and juicy beer filled with flavors and aromas of mango, peach, passionfruit, and a melange of citrus juice. A soft, pillowy mouthfeel and rounded bitterness ensure Julius will never tire the palate

From my Philistine tastebuds I would add that it’s very citrusy. I can definitely taste the mango and peach flavors and I’ll take their word for the passionfruit, although I’ve never had it. Like most of their beers Julius is very cloudy; hold it up to the light and you won’t be able to see through it. I once cracked one open about two hours after it came off the line and was overwhelmed by what smelled like basil. It didn’t affect the taste at all but it was certainly memorable. Now I usually let it sit for a day. “Pillowy” is also an excellent way to describe how this beer hits your mouth. Granted saying that makes me uncomfortable enough with my masculinity that I now go need to yell about who gets to use what public bathroom but the reality is this beer just gets right on your tongue and gives it a nice soft hug and you just want more of it.

That reminds me of another thing about Treehouse; you don’t hoard their beers. You buy them, you drink them, (cold seems to do nothing to the taste), you go buy more. I find they taste better out of a glass. Some beers, (looking at you Heady Topper), are starting to say that they’re better out oft he can, which in Heady’s case is true but in Treehouse’s case is not.

Getting back to Julius it’s an excellent beer. At 6.8% you can have 2-3 but after the third one you’ll start to think that a fourth one wouldn’t kill anyone and after that you’ve gone and ruined the next day.

Our second one is Haze, my personal favorite. This is a double IPA and clocks in at 8.2%. It seems to punch higher than that though. I’ve had other beers at higher ABVs and I do not feel the effects as quickly, or as deliciously, as I do with Haze. 2 of these and I’m done for the night. One night I had four. I don’t recommend doing that if you have anything important planned for the next couple of days.

Again I will defer to Treehouse in their description of their own beer:

Our Double IPA! We smell a ton of peach on the nose, with complimentary notes of orange and passionfruit. The flavor is similar with a blast of citrus fruit & peach quickly followed by a bounty of tropical fruit. A lingering and pleasant saturated hop oil finish awaits. . . . A real juice bomb of a beer!

“Juice bomb” is an apt description. I can’t top it. Treehouse has another variety called “Juice Machine”, which I’ve never had but which is semi-legendary in the lines. I can’t imagine it being juicier than Haze but if it is I would very much like to lay my hands on some. Haze pours a little lighter than Julius but also clouds up nicely. Just a really damn good beer. Probably the best I’ve had. I have 5 in my beer fridge right now. I will have 3 in there tomorrow.

Hopefully Treehouse will be a little easier to get sometime in 2017 or soon thereafter. Not because I necessarily want any of you to be able to get it with less effort than me, but because I don’t want you standing in line in front of me. I’ve got shit to do.

*This is not actually a problem for Treehouse; they’re making money hand over fist and having a blast doing it. And they are seriously some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet.
**I am not heading up tonight. Tonight’s menu is Julius at 6 cans PP, Haze at 2 cans PP, (but only 9 cases left so they’ll be out in a half hour), a decent beer called ‘Lights On’ at 2 cans PP and a ridiculously good beer called ‘Bright’, (think Haze but crisper, with more of a berry taste than the tropical taste of Haze), at 8 cans PP. And they’re doing growlers. The line is going to be INSANE. I kind of want to see it.