Homemade
Tree House Brewing Company

 

 

Taking inspiration from old school cookie making, Tree House weaves together the favors of walnut, maple and chocolate into a bold stout for that nostalgic taste only found at grandma's house.

Jet black and pouring with less pastry density than expected, Homemade starts to build an espresso-like creme and an aroma of dark roast coffee, roasted nuttiness, cocoa and cream. Sweeter with blackstrap molasses, honey and sweet cream, the malt sweetness leans into more savory flavors of coffee and baker's chocolate layered with bitter nuttiness. Finishing with espresso-like balance, the imperial milk stout is off-pastry and rounded with dessert-like confection.

Full bodied, rich but still daringly drinkable, the stout's only hiccup is the artificial sweetener taste that lingers in aftertaste.

 

 

Tree House is known for their hazies, but they do a good job with pastry stouts, IMHO. This is a really good one, with lots of chocolate and maple, balanced by the walnut that prevents this from being too cloying. Really good stuff, again IMHO.

 

Poured from 16oz can into pint glass in October 2025, that I purchased at their brewery in Tewsbury, MA. There is a date of "Autumn 2025" on the bottom of the can, and I drank this about 1 week after I purchased it.

Appearance: Very dark black with 1-finger head. The head was dark brown, and disappeared after a minute. It left only a little lacing on the glass, and no head remained after a minute.

Smell: Strong mix of aromas filled the room as soon as the can was opened. Roasted coffee, maple syrup, and chocolate aromas. Not much hop style citrus or pine aromas.

Taste: There is taste of maple syrup, chocolate, and licorice. Also, some vanilla and roasted malt flavors. They are more balanced than I expected from the aroma. Flavors are very bold. There is a strong alcohol presence that matches 9.6% advertised. A sweet chocolate, and maple syrup aftertaste with edge of coffee, that is really enjoyable.

Mouth-feel: Very thick, but with an extremely smooth and creamy body.

This is a very good Milk Stout, and one of the best I have ever drank. It has a variety of flavors that adds a nice complexity to the beer. The balance of flavors is outstanding. The flavors of maple syrup and roasted malt nicely balance the bitter coffee with the sweet chocolate and caramel flavors. This reminds me of the Tree House 'Hold On To Sunshine' stout, which is also very good. This is very smooth and enjoyable to drink. I have enjoyed all the beers I've bought at Tree House, and I would buy this again.

 

On tap in Tewksbury.

Presents opaque almost-black with a thin head of tan. minimal retention or lacing. Nutty dark fudge drizzeled with maple. Sweet as most of the TH stouts are. The nuts and maple are fairly subdued but present.

 

 

 

 

Decanted from a 16 oz (473 ml) can into a Tree House snifter; canned 10/28/20, code TOP SHELF COOKIE JAR MATERIAL.
A: Pours a very dark brown to black with no appreciable highlights, a one finger, brown head, no more than rim retention, and minimal, spotty lacing.
S: Very inviting. Aromas of fudge, root beer, mocha, macadamia, and plum peel.
T: Sweet. Rich flavors are a complex melange of the nose, emphasizing fudge and root/birch beer. Solid bitterness allows sweetness to come through without becoming cloying.
M: Full bodied with low carbonation. Slick and easy drinking for such an outsize ABV.
O: A fudgy, milk stout. The alcohol really is subsumed beneath the flavor pallet, but don't be fooled: it'll hit you like a (metric) ton of bricks before you get too far, so take it slow or share. Sérieusement! Worth it, though, because it's absolutely delicious.

This stout has got distinct notes of coffee, chocolate and nutty notes. There’s traceable maple in here as well, and the beer has a full-body. Great evening snack!