You’d be hard-pressed to find more than a handful of the more than 3,000 craft breweries in the United States that doesn’t brew an IPA. The hoppy beer is the most popular style being brewed today. If you look at the Beer Advocate list of the top 250 beers, sixty-five of them are some form of India pale ale.
And, if you want to find some of the best IPAs being brewed today, head to the Pioneer Valley and Monson, Massachusetts, a pretty town with nice people and picturesque farms. There’s not a lot to draw people to Monson. Oh! Except for the IPAs. A lot of people come—locals, people from around the state, and those from other parts of the country—for some of the best IPAs, not just in New England, but anywhere.
On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, Tree House Brewing Company opens its tasting-room doors, and hop heads gather to get their hands on growlers and 750ml bottles of Tree House’s world-class brews. “What creates the phenomenon? I really don’t know,” says Cofounder Dean Rohan. “Every week, we say, ‘It’s going to be a slow day.’ It’s not. There’s not ever a slow day.”
