A quick pass through Tree House Brewing

Here I was, ready for a short break from drinking, and good beer pulled me back in. It happens every time I try to quit.

Once again Trev deliver some unexpected cans acquired on a trip to New England. I had never heard of Tree House Brewing, although obviously I should have. My days of keeping up with every must-have brewery are largely over - there are too many to count these days.

Opened in 2011, Tree House has emerged as a cult brewery in Massachusetts. Tree House only releases cans at the brewery, releases vary and typically sell out by Saturday of every week.

With Tree House an early purveyor of New England-style IPA, I was immediately curious. Here’s a short run through the four beers I sampled. The only way I can really ding them is some tasted a little similar to each other, even if they still tasted great.

Haze Double IPA 
With the ascent of the New England-style IPA, I imagine a lot of beers want to claim this name. But Tree House deserves it from the first sip of this topical IPA. Papaya and mango erupt from the nose as it is poured into a glass. Just try to guess the alcohol content, the flavors are too lush to reveal its heft easily (8.2 percent, which is scary). At times I even get notes of pear flesh. There are occasional bursts of hops, but not the West Coast hops IPAs have made everyone expect. The aftertastes are all pleasant layers of citrus and tropical fruit. IPA is rarely this easy, satisfying and complex in flavor. I think Haze is helped by not being as heavy-bodied as some NE IPAs – the lighter body hides the ABV. Haze is a big IPA but also balanced and mellow. Haze never turns into a bruiser.

Lights On American Pale Ale 
The flavor profile is not a drastic departure from Haze, but presents those flavors in a more sessionable format. Late on the palate, the flavor is augmented a sensation of sliced peaches. Lights On also skips the heaviness of many unfiltered IPAs.  

Sap 
New England style with the standard West Coast hops of Centennial And Simcoe, this is a much different animal than I expected. The cloudiness refracts the sharper instincts of those hops, although the sticky, pine resin character is strong. It’s nice to see this style done with Simcoe and Centennial, since the hops perform in different ways than the trendy, tropical fruit hops like Citra. The pine, grapefruit sharpness does emerge over time, and it takes nothing away from Sap.

Julius 
I probably should not have held Julius until the end, but it holds its own compared to the rest of the Tree House lineup. The orange and peach notes are more assertive here, with just some bitter fringes on the edges. This is the money spot of NE IPA.