Tree House fastest growing Mass. regional brewery in more competitive market

A long line of people waiting outside a building

Photo | WBJ file Hours-long lines are common at Tree House Brewing's Charlton headquarters, but Greater Boston residents and visitors can now head to The Prudential Center to get a taste of the brewery's beers.

PHOTO/ZACHARY COMEAU What beers Tree House will make available on any given day is something of a mystery, as the beers sold depend on what is made and what has sold out.

Courtesy Tree House brewery co-founders Damien Goudreau, Nate Lanier and Dean Rohn are pictured at the groundbreaking of their Charlton facility in 2015.

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By Zachary Comeau

The craft beer market is becoming saturated and competitive, causing many breweries to report flat or negative growth, according to a report released the national trade group Brewers Association.

That slowdown hit Central Massachusetts breweries in 2018, although none of them reported the negative growth impacting other beermakers in the state and the nation.

Tree House Brewing Co., based in Charlton, grew by 130% last year, tops for growth in Massachusetts among regional breweries, defined by the Brewers Association as breweries with at least 15,000 barrels produced.

The brewery opened its Charlton brewhouse and taproom in summer 2017 after previously operating a small location in Monson. As a result, Tree House brewed 44,250 barrels last year compared to 19,250 in 2017. Tree House only sells its beer regularly in Charlton, though the company occasionally pops up elsewhere around the state.

Tree House, critically acclaimed for its selection of hazy IPAs and other carefully crafted beers, seems to be the outlier, as the Brewers Association made note more new breweries are eating into the growth of others.

In Westminster, Wachusett Brewing Co. -- the largest brewery in Central Mass. -- had a slowing growth rate. It grew by 8% in 2018, increasing its barrel count by 5,000 to about 69,491 after growing by about 13,000 barrels in each of the two years prior.

Jack's Abby Craft Lagers in Framingham grew 11% in 2018 to 49,000 barrels, after growing 28%, 74% and 41% in the three years prior.

Worcester’s Wormtown Brewery, with 21,328 barrels in 2017, reported 24,615 barrels in 2018 for 15% growth. In 2016, the brewery grew 44% last year and 103% the year before that.

Outside of Central Mass., regional brewers didn't see much, if any, increases. Canton-based Trillium Brewing Co., typically ranked alongside Tree House as the highest-rate beer in Massachusetts, reported a 6% decline in 2018 despite opening a satellite brewery in Boston.

Boston-based Harpoon Brewery, the 18th largest regional brewer in the country, was flat at 185,000 barrels in 2018 after three consecutive years of negative sales.

Boston Beer Co., better known as the brewer of Samuel Adams, which saw a 7% dip to 1.9 million barrels. It is the country's second-largest regional brewery.

Of the 20 largest regional breweries in the country, 13 saw a decline in production in 2018. The largest, D. G. Yuengling and Son Inc. of Pennsylvania, dropped 2% to 2.7 million barrels.