The Best Beer in Massachusetts Is Also At Its Most Beautiful Brewery

Sometimes a place lives up to the hype so much it's crazy.

Sometimes you hear about a place so much, that it feels like a legend, or at least that there's no way it's as good or cool as everyone says. And then you pull up to a place like Tree House Brewing Company and it just delivers on all fronts.

Delicious beers in a gorgeous space

There are a few breweries that blow you away from just the looks of the place before you even try a sip of beer. For us, one of the first places to do that was Sierra Nevada's taproom outside of Asheville...the next one? Tree House. to say this place is beautiful is an understatement. Rolling green hills with seating throughout, a massive barn-like covered patio, and then this open gargantuan interior with enough room for a few thousand people overlooking all the pretty stainless brewing equipment you'd ever want to see. After you get over the beauty of the brewery, the beers just reinforce why this place is one of the busiest, hypiest breweries in this region that doesn't need to sell a beer outside its taprooms to make it big. We watched so many people taking home 4-5 cases of beer as they left, the girl behind the bar said she had rung up a guy the other day for $2500, even having been in the beer world for so long, it always blows my mind when I hear and see things like that. But as soon as we had our first tastes of beer, I got it; and immediately regretted not getting some to go haha. We've been kicking ourselves ever since.

Where do we even start with these beers?!?

The beer menu is, like the brewery itself, MASSIVE! There seemed to be an endless list of sours, all kinds of IPAs, burly stouts, lagers - anything and everything you could ever want. We started with the ones we'd heard about - Green, Julius, and King Julius. These were the IPAs we knew from all the people who told us we had to stop here. Each one had a similar enveloping mouthfeel that was so silky smooth and yet still had the hops front and center on your tongue. The version of King Julius we got was Peach King Julius and this Imperial IPA drank like a delicious peach-orange smoothie with a hint of vanilla and a sweetness that was just enough to keep you coming back without leaving you feeling like you needed to chug water to feel refreshed. And then came the one that knocked our socks off - Juice Project Citra + Motueka. Back at New Image Brewing, we used Motueka in our flagship beer Coriolis Effect, so we were both familiar with its tropical and citrus aroma and flavor, and Citra is always a great go to; but whatever magic Tree House placed on this beer took what we knew to another level. This Imperial IPA was similar in body to the others, but the amount of stone fruit, mango, papaya, and pineapple in this went above and beyond. It was so big in the aroma and then just magnificent once you tasted it - like a tropical sorbet trying to outdo all the other flavors before it. Why did we have to leave?!?

Boston brings out its big guns

Driving/parking a van in Boston? One of the absolute worst experiences we've had the entire time we've lived in the van. Parking it way the hell out of town and riding the subway in to get to some breweries though? The opposite of that, a damn delight! Just wanted to get that out of the way because those experiences feel like they might've affected our time around town and maybe tempered our reactions at two different storied Boston spots - Trillium and Night Shift. First off, both were beautiful places to grab a beer. Trillium's spot is in a cool area in Fort Point, close to the water, a bunch of fancy restaurants, and, best of all, a Trader Joe's! Behind the windows above the bar are beautifully lit foeders and give the whole room a cool feel with the mix of industrial build out and natural wood showing through. The IPAs we had were both great, nothing that knocked our socks off, but solid beers. Again, maybe it was the exhaustion/frustration of trying to navigate our van around the city that put us in an off mood to try a bunch of beers, but overall it was fine experience.

Pizza and beers can never steer you wrong.

After learning our lesson about trying to navigate the van-unfriendly streets of Boston, we found a spot for our home in a paid lot 30 min outside the city and took the subway back in. Back at New Image, we had done a collab years ago with Night Shift Brewing and working with them was fun so we knew we wanted to stop in. We took the subway to their location in the North End at Lovejoy Wharf. It's a really cool space, with a bright mural of the city to one side and a glass wall behind the bar showing off the small batch system they brew taproom specialties on. The Craigerator IPA we had was full of the peachy, orange flavors we love in a nice East Coast IPA, but one of the things that really made this spot shine was their insanely delicious Detroit Style Pizza! We could go on for days about the pie we had - prosciutto, burrata, tomato-fig jam, and black pepper - it was so damn good! The toasty, crunchy crust, the sweetness of the jam mixing with the salty meat, the creamy burrata, it was pizza heaven...take the train in and experience this wonderful place when you're looking for a perfect mix of great beer and food in Boston

Where should we stay?

We've got a nice secret spot close to Harvard....

But...you gotta roll in later and leave early! Parking is free, quiet, and super handy on this U-shaped street, but only from 6pm-8am. There's a Planet Fitness about 5 min away too, so when you leave early, you can swing over there before 8am for free parking, pay for a couple hours and wander around Harvard. Hit up these coordinates and respect the neighbors: 42.37605, -71.12693 #craftbeer #boston #treehousebrewing #trilium #nightshiftbrewing