Bright - Nelson
Tree House Brewing Company

4.57/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Lives up to its name, which means its brighter than I want it to be, being a haze guy myself. But the Nelson Sauvin hops give it that tarriness I like, so this is something I can drink all the time and never get tired of.

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4.29/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

16oz can dated 4/3/20.

Pours clear yellow with a light haze. Moderate head and retention. Dank grapefruit, white grape, and pineapple in the nose. Medium bodied with a tacky mouthfeel. Weed, grapefruit, and pineapple on the palate. Finishes dry with zero malt, minimal bitterness, and lingering dank grapefruit.

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4.25/5  rDev -2.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Absolute white grape nose on first pop. Flavor follows. Im not huge on Nelson hops but if you are you will surely dig. Theres a subtle skunk nug presence somewhere under those grapevine vibes that really sells this for me. I actually think i prefer this to the mosaic version. This is clean crisp and beautiful. It’s a pint of pure romance. Champagne like, but perfectly smooth with no astringency. A Perfect date night beer. split a pint with your lady before buh-buh-buh-bangin! Or drink a whole one by yourself as you cry yourself to sleep... Either way.

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4.54/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

Canned 08/20/19
“classic date code”
Bright with Nelson?? One of my favorite offerings from TH hopped exclusively with my single favorite hop?! Amazing! Super earthy, grassy, and so damn smooth.

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4.38/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Canned 10.30.19 , opened 12.15.19

“ Got a blank space where my mind should be”

Can poured into a Treehouse Teku

Hazy amber orange liquid, two finger off white forthy, soapy foam cap, good retention, good soapy lacings

Aroma is citrus, orange marmalade, white grapes, orange pith

Taste is orange citrus hops, white wine grapes,

Hop nibble, hop taste lingers but doesn’t bite, Medium sudsing

Good beer

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4.36/5  rDev +0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

A: super hazy bright orange color with a 2 finger fluffy white head

S: mango, dank pineapple, pepper, strawberry , apricot, sweet biscuits , bread, white wine grapes

T: pineapple, white wine, pepper, earthy subtitle bitter kiss. Strawberry, oranges, and dry crackers behind that. Another big hit of white wine and crackers to close

M: medium, super fluffy with lower carbonation, though not as flat as some other NEIPA

O: real nice use of Nelson here. It’s not overly sweet, and has a nice earthy grape note. Extremely easy to drink and nice Nelson showcase

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4.25/5  rDev -2.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Picked-up four cans at the Tree House Brewery in Charlton for about four dollars each. My fifty first brew from these guys. Don't recall having too many IPAs w/ nelson, but digging this.

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4.19/5  rDev -3.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Poured into a tulip glass. Lovely thick foam rose to about 3”. The lacing stayed on the glass for the entiriry. Very complex taste with dry lingering melon flavors that stayed on the pallette.

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3.89/5  rDev -10.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3

This one is fully opaque orange with a tall, slow to settle white head leaving spotty lace. It still has a beautiful look to it, for a New England IPA, but these used to be more solidly West Coast. What happened to Bright?? None of them are clear anymore. I can dig it when it comes to the amped up Bbbrighttt variants, but the regular Brights are usually clear.

That Tree House fluff and juiciness does something unique to soften the peppery dankness of Nelson. It's delicious but also leaves me wanting more! A little hop spice and punch of kiwi accent here or there, while the melon bubblegum characteristic smooths it all out, and the softly frothy medium body finishes semi-dry.

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Actually, only after one week, the second can I had saw a lot of separation, as it was clear up until the last tenth of the pour. The flavors all but faded away, and then a slurry of hop sludge came out, only really adding acidity and not any additional flavors noted in the fresher can. This almost never happens with Tree House cans, but I have to ding this pretty hard for not holding up very well.

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4.35/5  rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Traded for this a while ago, as the date on the bottom of the can read 10/4/17 with "BRIGHT'N UP" written above it and "YOUR DAY!" written below that. I know that the regular and Citra variants of this are rated higher but this was my favorite out of the bunch because of the slightly exotic and extremely smooth nature of this, from start to finish!

Like all of their beers, this had a nice pour to it as the mildly radiant amber hue had quite a bit of hazy sediment to it that held in place. Very little of it settled on the bottom of my pint glass as this (unintentionally) aged well. Plenty of head topped this off and the lacing down the side of my pint glass was quite extensive as well with the biggest ring being close to the lip. Lots of Nelson Suavin in the nose but that's because I'm looking for it but the taste is where this beer really took off - tons of wine, gooseberry, light wood, citrus slickness, and a very mellow earthy dirtiness rounded this out as this was by far the most complex beer that I ever had from Tree House...

Like the other variants of this, there was plenty of alcohol here but you'd never know it unless you looked it up on here. It was nearly undetectable as the basic, recessed malt and yeast presence allowed the hops and dry mouthfeel to take hold. Really impressed with this as this changed my impression of what a Tree House beer could be. Here's to more variants of Bright in the future!

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3.82/5  rDev -12.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Poured from 16 oz can 1/24/19; “if the Bobby don’t Brent you, then the Jerry Phil” into tulip glass
Hazy yellow, opaque with 1 inch head that quickly dissipates leaving a surface coating of foam and lacing that reaccumulates with swirling.
I smell bread and white wine notes along with pine and guava
Body is full, pillowy and low to medium carbonation. Great mouth feel
Taste is sweet deliciousness with light malt, little amount of hoppiness and dry finish. I do pick up the savingnon blanc gooseberry aspect but only because I’m looking for it
Overall, a very quaffable beer. I like it better than the bright with galaxy I had last night

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4.22/5  rDev -3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

TREE HOUSE BRIGHT W/NELSON 2/5/19

Poured from the 16 oz. can into a Tree House stemmed tulip.

a; Cloudy straw yellow with am inth thick white head which receded to very thin surface foam and patchy lacing.

s: Floral and pine resin.

t; Pine resin over a substantial malt base accompanied by a moderate hop bite. Dry finish with lingering bitterness.

m; Medium, very good body and carbonation tingle.

o; New England look with west coast taste. The hops apparently make the difference from other versions of Bright. Still tasty and satisfying and a cut above most of the style.

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4.28/5  rDev -1.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Canned on 12/5/18; consumed on 12/9/18.

A: Poured from the can into a Piraat tulip/snifter-type glass. Body is bright, but hazy, golden-yellow. Half-finger of white head on top.

S: Definitely Nelson hops - white grape skins, tropical fruit and apricot. Plus an herbal earthiness.

T: Follows the nose, with a lot of tropical fruit (pineapple, mainly, but also underripe melon) and a ton of white grape/white wine characteristics. Hint of onion/garlic about 3/4 of the way through, along with some straw/grass. Finishes fairly dry, notwithstanding the juicy overall impression, with a good lingering lemony bitterness on the palate.

M: Nice juicy feel here; call it medium in heft.

O: Nelson Sauvin hops are not my favorite - so I knew going in that this would probably not rank up there with other versions of Bright - at least for me. But of course, Tree House has done a nice job with this, and while I wouldn't want to drink a ton of these, it's well-done and enjoyable.

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4.34/5  rDev -0.2%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

It was our first time to Boston so we made a pit stop at tree house. Fun experience for sure. The bright Nelson is definitely a tasty IPA. Can’t say it was as good as the Trillium Mettle or Upper case we had that weekend but still delicious. Has an interesting tast from the Nelson hops. Reminds me a bit of some of the Barrier beers we like from Long Island. It’s very smooth, not a lot of bite, has the great hazy color we love from NE IPAs and is slightly juicy with a good ipa bite. So again, not our favorite but definitely delicious.

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4.48/5  rDev +3%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Pint can 7/27/18 opened on 7/28/18 "Can tell the queen of diamonds by the way she shines" poured into an official long stem Treehouse glass

The liquid really does shine, bright gold, yellow and orange tints, totally hazed-out with an ultra clumpy, creamy white foam that has the consistency of a milk shake. The lace is intricate and sticky.

The nose has a wild citrus and cream style aroma, crushed white grapes, starfruit, tangy-edged mango, spicy earth and grain notes from the super clean malt.

The Nelson hops are certainly very unique with a white wine and melon flavor combo that I find to be strange but very interesting. There is a certain level of dry-bitter earth tones in the finish that I really dig. I love the simple, tasty, light and clean malt effect, grainy with an herbal and sharp tone. Mild and neautral American ale yeast makes the hops really shine bright (sorry). Sour and sweet edged white grapes, mango and herbal citrus flavor's seem to ride in waves, in and out.

The Treehouse mouthfeel and texture is always very consistantly excellent. Fresh, full, clean, dry, sometimes juicy....smooth and dry...I mean it really is that complex. It feels like a New England style ipa milk shake with a dry white wine style finish.
If you can imagine a full but light, clean but thick, juicy but dry effect....then you basically know what I'm talking about.

Soo Bright has taken an interesting turn with the strange but fun Nelson hops variety. Ipa meets white wine and serious citrus. Tastes rather tropical until the earthy layer of bitter dryness kicks in.

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4.5/5  rDev +3.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

its amazing how good this is. i liked the normal bright a whole lot, so i was excited to dip into this one not too long after. the nelson really pops this off, especially in the nose, where its obvious white wine and lemongrass notes really come to life. i still get everything i got in the regular bright here, all of the fresh fruitiness of the hops, all of the complex smooth earthy cereal malt base, and the frothy creamy feel that carries it all along. i get just a little more intense hop aroma and flavor here, the nelson coming in over the top of the others, strong white grape, white peach, pear, and even a flash of dill. its green and intense in here, not too much though, no hop burn, incorporated completely into the beer and not just on top of it. light melon and lemon notes, champagne and wet grass, fresh sliced orange, and a bit more bitterness than base bright has. wonderful complexity, the nelson works so well here, and the grain supports it brilliantly. of course these beers are crazy hyped, but they are deserving of the attention in my experience. this might be the best tree house beer i have had so far! in a class of its own, especially high quality, a standout in the style!

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4.21/5  rDev -3.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Canned 05/03/18, ‘IT ALWAYS SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE UNTIL IT’S DONE’.

The pour on this was a bit unexpected. This is my first time trying any of the ‘Brights’. Not completely hazy, but instead has a translucent deep golden yellow pour. Once pouring the rest of the can, some of that bottom sediment dispersed and “hazified” it. The head is about a finger and a half, frothy and bubbly, leaving a decent level of lace around the glass.

The nose on this is interesting. Initially getting grassy/earthy combined with subtle dry white wine qualities. Citrus and hops serve the backbone and make for a very interesting aroma profile.

Nelson Sauvin is one hop variety I’m not too familiar with. This beer is honestly giving me more “West Coast” IPA qualities than anything else. Grainy, malty, with pithy hops and bitter grapefruit define the flavors. Nice level of hop, and a good deviation from the usual TH Haze.

The body is fairly thin, but the medium level of carbonation give it a bit more body and leave an overall crisp, refreshing feel to this beer.

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4.11/5  rDev -5.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Poured from can into tulip, good 3 finger cream colored soapy head, great retention and lacing. Bright slightly opaque yellow in the glass. Smells like the name, getting bright citrus, lemon, minerality. Taste is initially sweet malt, some citrus in the middle, and finishes with a very mild grapefruit pith bitterness. Semi dry finish, very soft, juicy mouthfeel.

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4.16/5  rDev -4.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

I really enjoy the Bright series, with Citra being my favorite. This one comes in around the middle of the pack. Could use a bit more Nelson, overall. Tart on the mouth, some white wine grape, grapefruit pith, somewhat bitter. Very refreshing.

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4.29/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Poured into a 13 oz Tired Hands Teku. Pours a hazy orange yellow, with a massive 2 finger sticky white head that leaves a thick wall of lace behind, canned on 5/03. 4.5

Smell is loaded tropical fruit apricot, passion fruit, lemon zest, coriander, pineapple, and grapefruit rind. 4.25

Taste follows fairly bitter and that isn’t a complaint. Apricot, passion fruit, and pineapple upfront with some lemon/grapefruit in the rather bold finish. 4.25

Mouthfeel bigger than average, plenty of life, not dry but sticky from the huge amount of hops, and at 7.8% ABV it may drink a little bigger, but still insanely approachable. 4.5

Overall this is a tremendous NEDIPA from the legendary Tree House, that is far from one dimensional. It really uses the Nelson hops well and leaves a massive coating of hops sip after deliscious sip. 4.25

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4.25/5  rDev -2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.25

Drank from a 1 pint can purchased at Tree House Brewing Company, Charlton, MA
Served in a Tree House teku
05/03/18

Hazy, pale straw yellow appearance. The liquid was topped by a creamy, bright white, half-inch tall crown that quickly fell to a lasting collar. Some streaky lacing stuck along the glass. Later, the streaks transformed into a spotty wall.

Huge Nelson hop presence in the aroma. Super winey/grapey. Big white wine notes specifically. Sauvignon Blanc or a dry Riesling came to mind. There was a noticeable grape must quality too. Slightly dank. Bit of lemon and hay. Grapefruit was also detectable.

The flavor profile was terrific up front. White wine notes again came through strong. Big tangerine presence too. Really tart and tangy. Lemony in the center. The beer dried out and became much more bitter as it moved along the palate. White grapefruit took over. The beer finished with notes of pithy grapefruit rind and an overwhelmingly dry, resiny bitterness that lingered long after the swallow.

Fantastic, frothy and plush mouthfeel. The liquid contained a fine, fairly aggressive effervescence that fluffed up really nicely on the palate. Super creamy and smooth.

Bright w/Nelson contains those big musty white wine notes that I love so much about Nelson hopped beers. The finish, however, was far more resiny and bitter than I anticipated. With a bit more balance, this could be stellar.

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2.99/5  rDev -31.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

No question that anything featuring Nelson hops is going to be polarizing. No exception here.

Beer looks very good. Poured into a tulip for whatever reason from a 16-ounce can. Nice looking beer, looks like a haze bomb a la Tree House. How can that be bad? Orange/pineapple juice right out of the can. Looks great. The nose follows the appearance and it's a good thing.

This beer does not taste good. This is a bitter, messy double IPA which would not even be worth drinking 10 years ago. Tastes like what neckbeards have been saying about Hopslam since neckbeards have concluded that Hopslam jumped the shark. One of the only Tree House beers that I won't waste my time and money on after driving three hours north to do nothing other than purchase beer. I hate it when this is on the can list up there.

Medium mouthfeel, nicely and pleasantly carbonated.

Do not judge this brewery based upon what this beer tastes like. This is a miss from a truly outstanding brewery. Do not recommend.

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3.93/5  rDev -9.7%
look: 4.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.75

16oz can, dated 3.9.18, poured into a Tree House snifter glass.

The beer pours a hazy orange color, turbid and cloudy with a foamy and soapy white head, about two fingers tall that has great retention and yields fantastic lace. The aroma is nice, light tropical fruits, earthy and herbal grassiness with a bit of pine, sweet and doughy malt and yeast. The flavors are very good, nice bitterness, lots of citrus rind, mild tropical fruits, lots of grassy hops, a bit floral and dank, white wine grape and a bit of spice, pale dough and sweet yeast. The mouthfeel is good, coating medium body, creamy and soft with an easy and lightly dry finish.

Verdict: A good IPA from Tree House. The Nelson hops clash a bit with the Mosaic for me, Citra really brightened up this beer, but Nelson makes it a bit spicier and a bit more earthy, perhaps more dry and grassy, but still well balanced and very refreshing.

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4.33/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Reviewed 3/11/18.
Canned 3/9/18.
Gentle to moderate pour yields a one inch plus white head on top of a hazy golden yellow body with nice sticky lacing. Nose of citrus, slight tropical fruit (peach, mango), and a bit of floral dankness. Taste of sauvignon blanc grape, citrus (lime, orange), and a bit of pepper. Soft feel with a nice dry, wine-like finish. Overall, an interesting variant on Bright and a job well done. Cheers to Charlton!

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3.83/5  rDev -12%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.75

My least favorite Bright of the three I've tried (Mosaic, Citra, Nelson). Not in the top rank of TH's IPAs / DIPAs for me, but maybe only because I'm not a fan of Nelson hops (not sure - I can't remember trying another "Nelson" beer).

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