CITY LIFE
THE NEXT DRAFT
Tree House transcends: Brewery to expand empire with new taprooms in Sandwich, Deerfield MATTHEW TOTA
L
ast week, Tree House Brewing Co. became something larger and more enigmatic than a craft brewery in Massachu-
C O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 16
roughly 7,000-square-foot building at 98 Town Neck Road – currently listed for just under $1.6 million – has been on and off market for years. In Deerfield, Tree House chose the picturesque former home of Channing Bete Co., a publishing company that closed in 2019. The roughly 50acre site off routes 5 and 10 – listed for sale at $4.95 million – offers a verdant setting akin to the Charlton brewery. Of the Deerfield taproom, Tree House said, “With over 300 parking spots and 100,000 square feet of building set on 50 wooded and secluded acres, we cannot fathom a more ideal location to extend our roots to. In addition to the expansive
outdoor space, the indoor atrium, complete with a sea of live plants in a flood of natural light, is a stunningly gorgeous piece of architecture.” Tree House described both moves as strategic, the result of deep reflection over the limitations – despite constant investment – of its brewery in Charlton. “Over-demand and under-supply” necessitated expansion, the brewery said, not concerning the beer, but the Tree House experience. “Listening intently to your feedback, we wish for nothing more than to bring you the most delightful and memorable experience possible — a place for friends, family, and kindred spirits to leave the world behind for a bit over the celebratory pint with
straightforwardness to its sound, but there’s a nice amplifier fuzz to the guitar and a low curl to the vocals that add interesting dimensions to the song. Things pick up again with “Armageddon Waves,” with its imagery of surfing on the seas of the dead. The dime-turn tempo changes and the warm tone of Halfdead’s voice make the song truly arresting, a feeling that continues as the song’s close is buried by the avalanche of percus-
sion that kicks off the next track, “The Ghost of Mr. Jones.” “It’s all clear/I’m moving on,” sings Halfdead, but the title and something ephemeral in the song make one think that maybe the song’s persona is mistaken. The song radiates danger, as does the subsequent “Iron (to the Face),” although the direction the danger is coming from is different. Perhaps that, then, is the key to what makes this album compelling: How it takes danger and makes it familiar, rather
than otherworldly. We know streets that are more deadly than they seem. We know a world that turns children into monsters. We see that world every day in the newspaper. The album winds down with a high-spirited cover of Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues,” which takes the original’s sense of wistfulness and resignation and amplifies it, stepping up the speed and the volume. It works immensely well, and sets the stage for the album’s closer,
the adrenaline-fueled punk banger, “Shut This (Expletive) Down,” a song that gives the album a closure. The song in some ways feels like it’s an inevitability, like this was the only way the album could end, and that in and of itself is a statement on the violence and aggression in which the album has reveled. This was the place the album was always headed: A good song about a bad end, and that’s an extremely satisfying conclusion.
19
thing is mutated and decayed/so Alice/can you burn it all away.” The song moves savagely, and is extremely addictive, hook layered up on hook in a dark ballet of desperation and propulsion. Things slow down a bit with the bass-driven groove of “Bad Ass” and the Spanish-tinged “Infected Fiesta,” but the energy sustains itself from track to track. The song “Negan’s Way” has a hard-core
CHRISTINE PETERSON
WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM
LISTEN UP
Customers enjoy the patio at Tree House Brewing in Charlton in a 2018 photo.
health and wellness. “When Channing Bete closed there was a lot of uncertainty, but now having Tree House come into the area could be a huge economic multiplier for businesses not only in Deerfield, but the entire county,” said Town Administrator Kayce Warren. The town did not immediately think brewery when it started looking at possible businesses large enough to take over the 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, according to Carolyn Shores Ness, chairwoman of the Deerfield Select Board. Instead officials focused on housing, namely senior and assisted-living, working with Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Mike Kennealy’s office as well as various Realtors. But from the moment Tree House expressed interest in 1 Community Place, Shores Ness said, the town knew the brewery would be the right fit. Tree House hasn’t filed its plans yet, she said, but conversations have already taken place over how the brewery will manage its wastewater and safely serve the legions of people expected to visit the taproom. “This is one of the best relationships we’ve had with a business,” Shores Ness said. It’s a little surreal talking about a brewery in this way, as perhaps having the same economic impact on a place as a 66-year-old publishing company. But Tree House is a transcendent force. “Tree House will have a hugely stabilizing effect on our tax base,” Shores Ness said. “Channing Bete left a huge hole, and Tree House is filling it. They are bringing good jobs and a good attitude.”
N O V E M B E R 12 - 18, 2020
setts. As people were glued to their televisions and phones monitoring a still-undecided election, Tree House dropped two massive updates about its future. The brewery told us it would expand its empire outside Central Massachusetts with two new taprooms: on the ocean in Sandwich and amid woods and pastures in South Deerfield. To some extent, Tree House has always been an outlier, but now, the brewery has proven it doesn’t need distribution to succeed. It has shown it doesn’t need a taproom, even as it prepares to open two new spaces next year. Tree House hasn’t sold draft beer since March 15, instead operating as perhaps the biggest craft beer drivethru on Earth. And yet, as other breweries tighten their belts ahead of a winter that will likely see rising coronavirus cases and the threat of another state shutdown, Tree House has invested millions of dollars in new real estate. Tree House is the brewery equivalent of Phish, a band that can sell out Madison Square Garden 13 straight nights without ever having produced a Billboard hit. As expected, the new taprooms will provide beautiful views for us to admire as we wait in line, either on foot or in a car. The Sandwich taproom will sit on Cape Cod Bay, between Town Neck beach and Scusset Harbor. The
no frills,” Tree House said. “We have not been perfect and in spite of our most earnest efforts to overcome our shortcomings with continued reinvestment we had to admit to ourselves that Charlton is not enough.” Tree House plans to open both taprooms by 2021, depending on where the state stands in its coronavirus response. They will start as “On the Fly” taprooms, Tree House’s name for its to-go beer program, but eventually transition into serving pints and hosting events. As always, Tree House could not be reached for comment. However, I did hear from town officials in the communities that will host the brewery. All of them are now familiar with the brewery’s reputations and global following. Sandwich’s director of planning and economic development, Ralph Vitacco, told me Tree House has not reached out to his office yet but expects formal discussions to start soon. Historically, the lack of parking has been an issue at that location, known locally as Horizons. “We will have discussions about traffic and parking,” Vitacco said. Tree House, he said, represents the kind of businesses that Sandwich loves. “We’re not a town that really relies on franchise business,” he said. “We like those craft businesses. So Tree House fits in with our personality.” In Deerfield, local officials expect Tree House will provide the same economic benefit to their town as Channing Bete, which employed hundreds of locals at its site over its 40-year run in South Deerfield. The publishing company printed instructional flyers and educational materials, mostly concerning public
