Luxurious bourbon-aged full body (17% ABV) places fudgy cocoa-nibbed vanilla richness alongside chocolate-covered coconut confection. Serene bourbon vanilla persistence and sweet chocolate rampage engage ancillary black cherry, raspberry and burgundy grape rasp as well as subdued toasted marshmallow chewiness.
Richly creamed confectionery milk stout dupes fudged chocolate brownie and fudged toffee candy in molasses-sapped maple syrup for heavily lactic heavenly nightcap. Chewy cocoa fudging absorbs ancillary chocolate cake-frosted milk-sugared coffee tones and hazelnut-glazed vanilla beaning. Recommended for sweet-toothed denizens.
Decadent ink black Double Shot variant with thickly chewy Anisette-liqueured medium roast coffee creaming gaining fudgy maple-syrupy dark chocolate richness while retaining sharply spiced bourbon vanilla sweetness. Ancillary chocolate cake, coffee candy and nutty espresso illusions flutter thru warm cocoa-nibbed java nightcap.
Creamily fudged chocolate and toffee gain momentum for coffee-stained vanilla bean essence. Chocolate pudding-skinned texture thickens bittersweet vanilla affluence, leaving dried cherry tartness, molasses-candied caramel residue and syrupy anise snips upon mossy earthen bottom.
Conditioned on freeze-dried pineapple, novel pina colada-like cocktail may lack stylish coconut milking, but its zestful lemon-candied orange peel tang and sour-milked vanilla yogurt creaming recall sugary Creamsicle. Latent pine lacquering seeps into pineapple-pureed citrus brightener.
Assertive copper-hazed King Julius offshoot utilizes toasted coconut to further sweeten lemon-peeled grapefruit, orange, peach and pineapple tanginess and marshmallowy vanilla taffy candying. Sea-salted brining and piney residue soon embitter vodka-licked citrus spritz and descending coconut-milked souring over firm pale malt backbone.
Perfect ‘novel cocktail’ builds upon Julius’ zestful orange-mango juicing by utilizing freeze-dried bananas in a creamy vanilla setting mingling ancillary yogurt-soured guava, passionfruit and gooseberry tartness with lemon meringue piquancy. A lovely banana cream frappe knockoff hiding candied orange and sour lemon rind snips. Yet another fine creamsicle!
CHARLTON, MASSACHUSETTS
Occupying a cavernous nouveau Industrial black-glassed professional complex in the wooded hills of countrified Massachusetts township, Charlton (an hour west of Boston), TREE HOUSE BREWING COMPANY has become one of the most vital and successful brewpub destinations in America, selling its brews in-house only at the top-selling taproom in the country (as of 2021).
Now with expansive locations in Deerfield and Sandwich (Cape Cod) as well as Woodstock, Connecticut, the independently owned business originally came to fruition when three challenging homebrewing pals decided to turn a red barn at nearby Brimfield into a small batch brewery in 2011. Since then, Tree House has concocted hundreds of superior recipes, many leaning on the robust, full-bodied, frothily creamed, dark side.
The pine-wooded 50,000 square-foot interior at this Adirondack-styled 100-acre brewing manor in Charlton is awe-inspiring with its Cathedral-ceilinged wood expanse, enormous exposed pipes, spacious bark-paneled serving stations, abundant community tables, epoxy-floored illumination and exemplary beers.
A centralized copper top bar with wood plank walling and a fantasy mural served a myriad of mostly complex hybrids and barrel-aged serums. For Octoberfest, the smaller side bar offered one-gallon mugs of German pilsners/lagers.
During my two-hour journey, I sat inside at the middle couched lounge, then the large hearth-warmed benched pavilion, sipping five exceptional, well-rounded brews with wife and dog during September ’21.
Musty earthen German pilsner, Trail, combined astringent corn-dried vegetal herbage with muskily grassed Noble hop floral daubs and a splash of lemon above a biscuity grain base.
Effervescent golden yellow hazed Green, a moderate-bodied ‘cross-continental’ IPA, gave its sharp lemony grapefruit-orange bittering, candied pineapple tartness and tangy tangerine tinge a mild piney hop pungency above earthen mineral graining.
Like a wondrous fruited gumball, King Julius Peach, a vibrant golden-hazed Imperial IPA, rang out with luxurious peach tanginess gaining vanilla-creamed marshmallow sweetness, a fine Julius offshoot with tertiary fig-dried apricot tartness and pina colada-like cocktail sugaring contrasting sedate pine lacquered grapefruit bittering in a peachy summertime setting.
Bright ambrosial fruited NEIPA, Doubleganger, let marshmallow-puffed vanilla creaming absorb zesty pineapple, peach, tangerine and mandarin tropicalia as well as tart mango-salted lemon meringue liming above dank piney-hopped orange rind bittering for a splendid milkshake-like dessert.
Creamily molasses-smoked brown chocolate syruping draped the caramelized coffee sweetness and fudgy toffee-spiced nuttiness lifting That’s What She Said above most of its heralded milk stout competition, leaving mild oak-charred hop resin in its lactic mochaccino wake.
SOUTH DEERFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS
Just off Route 5 in Western Massachusetts, South Deerfield’s TREE HOUSE BREWING COMPANY is an expansive 100,000 square-foot “on the fly” pub taking the pressure off of its two initial sites at Sandwich and Charlton. Including a large taproom, restaurant and patio area, this professional red brick Industrial warehouse in the shadow of pastoral Mount Sugarloaf opened September, ’21.
Though I visited beforehand in July (to buy beers to go) prior to the Grand Opening, its pickup service has been incredibly busy. I discovered several impressively decadent and creamily thick Double Shot variants here, including the original coffee-enriched Quadruple Shot, QS Peanut Butter Banana, QS Peanut Butter Coconut and Cold Brew Stout plus Coco King Double IPA, Vanilla Bean Catharsis, Persevere Imperial Stout, Love Imperial Stout, Impermanence Milk Stout, Fudge Milk Stout and Tree Of Life bourbon-aged barleywine (all reviewed in Beer Index).
STURBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
Round back of an old industrial red brick warehouse, ALTRUIST BREWING COMPANY came to fruition January 2018. A rustic hideaway with a dank cement-floored, wood-ceilinged interior and community-tabled front patio, Altruist brewmaster Bob Bixby and his assisting son, Cam, craft mostly well-rounded one-off brews maximizing flavor profiles.
The homespun nanobrewery features a 14-seat L-shaped bar (including 12-plus tap handles with a reclaimed wood backdrop), left side seating and a small front stage. On my initial September ’21 Saturday evening stopover, I downed all seven available brews (skipping the Ginger Hibiscus Kombucha Tea).
Dry white-wheated lemony grapefruit spicing graced Pucker, an expansive Berliner Weisse with delicate cinnamon-spiced vanilla sweetness, musty salted herbal licks and vodka-nipped peach/pineapple remnant.
Pink Himalayan-salted Passion Gose let lemon-pitted strawberry-kiwi souring reach lightly vinous white grape esters.
Sharp-spiced autumnal, Pumpkin PI, let mild cinnamon-nutmeg seasoning seep into the brown-sugared pumpkin pie crusting, leaving phenol esters upon the piquant gourd finish.
Lemon-oiled tangerine tanginess sufficed for Single hop With Galaxy, a lightly salted NEIPA with dry wood tones.
Smooth coffee-roasted Force On Nitro Oatmeal Coffee Stout gained dry wood-burnt nuttiness and hop-charred mocha luster above maple oats.
Like a Black Forest cake, Fiske Ale brought cherry-bruised dark chocolate to the fore as red grape-jammed cocoa nibs secured the backend.
PB&J knockoff, Sassy Cassie Stout, allowed black grape bluster to storm dark cocoa-syruped peanut buttering and moderate charcoal-singed hop bittering.
WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS
On Worcester’s Shrewsbury Street main drag in an old-styled Coca-Cola warehouse, REDEMPTION ROCK BREWING, not only offers fine beers, but also home-brewed coffee, snacks and apparel since January ’19. Head brewer Greg Carlson’s elixirs satiate “casual fans, traditionalists and experimentalists.” As a proud Certified Benefit Corporation, the cafe-styled pub provides local charity services as well.
A baby blue Redemption Rock insignia welcomes patrons to the side entrance. An enclosed deck at the overhead door features a closed-in picnic area (with turf-fielded summertime plastic furnishings and ). Inside, the immaculate cement-floored brewing cafe offers casual splendor as its comfy couched area, community-benched midst and cozy lunchroom atmosphere capture the eye.
The blue-tiled tap handles at the eight-seat back bar served the seven sundry suds I’d thoroughly enjoy this beautifully sunny Saturday at noon, September ’21.
Since autumn was upon us, Thackery Oktoberfest let leafy hop foliage leave dewy splendor on the mild spiced apple sweetness contrasting desiccated orange souring and wispy black peppering.
Zingy orange-oiled banana and clove sweetness faded a tad for Edelstein, a slightly divergent hefeweizen engaging fungi herbal yeast funk and floral lemon licks to its pilsner-malted French breaded bottom.
Wildflower-honeyed unripe peach souring received gently creamed wheat sweetness for Yass, Honey!, a peachy weissbier with dried apricot, musty plum and waxed crayon snips.
The One With Coconuts, a demurely coconut-toasted cream ale, stayed mild as oaken vanilla-daubed pilsner malting bordered mild grassy hop astringency.
Flagship New England IPA, War Castle, retained juicy floral-daubed citrus zesting as mellow crystal malt creaming sweetened its tangy orange-tangerine-clementine combo to contrast waxy grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering and resinous piney hops in a clean cucumber-watered setting.
Nitrogenated Irish-styled Blackstone Stout plied freeze-dried coffee, dark chocolate and espresso tones to an oncoming walnut, Brazil nut and macadamia nut influence blackened by its charred hop residue.
Black grape, black cherry and blackberry fruiting guided Dark & Sunny Tropical Stout, tossing dark chocolate-draped Blackstrap molasses and dark-roast peanuts at charcoal-stained hop bittering.
WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS
Right in the heart of Worcester’s bustling Canal District alongside the minor league ballpark, retail shops and restaurants lies BAY STATE BREWERY & TAP ROOM, an enormous publick house in a modern entertainment complex with two hockey rinks and sufficient game room. A grey-bricked orange-topped facility, Bay State’s large L-shaped bar services the Industrial designed high-ceilinged tap room featuring several community tables, twelve tap lines and an overhead garage door leading to a front benched deck.
Opened since January 2020, Bay State’s entrepreneurial homebrew-schooled owners, Chip Jarry and Shawn Rice, create ‘distinctive small batch lagers and ales’ in the 10-barrel brewhouse that used to be Nonna’s Pizza. Originally occupying a smaller nearby Leicester space, Jarry & Rice complement their variegated beers with a worthy pub menu (wings-hummus-nachos-soup-salad).
My wife and I settle in at the front deck to consume a classic hefe and a Belgian tripel on a warm September afternoon, ’21. I also bought Blood Orange Lager, Kelley Double IPA, Becky Likes The Smell Double IPA and Velvet Revoluce Black Lager (all reviewed in the Beer Index) for home consumption.
An expectant banana-clove sweetness gained a mild lemon twist for Cuttyhunk Hefeweizen, an herbal-licked summertime moderation with sourbread wheat base.
Creamy caramelization coated the candi-sugared plum, prune and raisin dalliance plus perfumed orange sweetness of Tripel Trap, a Noble-hopped pilsner malted Belgian blonde ale.