Wafflebanger
Tree House Brewing Company

 

 

16 oz can dated 3.23.2026

Pours cloudy opaque dark golden orange with a large dense creamy white foam head. Smells like whipped cream, vanilla, maple syrup, blueberry, some tropical fruit, citrus, melons, slight caramelized toasty bready grainy malt, and dank resinous floral earthy herbal grassy pine. Tastes like whipped cream, marshmallowy vanilla, dark amber maple syrup, subtle woody chocolate, slight caramelized toasty bready grainy malt, some tropical pineapple, passionfruit, mango, honeydew melon, cantaloupe, lemony orange citrus, grapefruit, blueberry, and dank resinous earthy herbal grassy floral pine. Feels full bodied with creamy smooth moderate carbonation. Overall a real nice DIPA with maple syrup and Mosaic hops.

Muddy amber-brown color. Two-finger initial head which settles to film but leaves wider streaks on the glass.

Strong hoppy smell of freshly cut weeds and ground pepper. No perceptible malt outside of a subtle sweetness, but there is a slight amount of alcohol to the nose.

This is a bit of an upside-down beer. The initial sip is quite bitter. So, I'm expecting a hop bomb. Instead, the beer slides into a mild sweetness to bring balance to the initial hop shock. The alcohol is subtle on the tongue. The finish ends up balanced and leaves a lengthy aftertaste. The body is rich but the carbonation is equally high creating a balanced mouthfeel. In short, this is a delicious, of completely unusual NE IPA.

 

 

 

 

I never would have thought that maple syrup would taste so good in an IPA. But it does. At first I was thinking of Buddy from Elf and maple syrup on spaghetti. Feel safe in this brew.

1/5/24 dated tall can.

Typical TH NEIPA looking pour, lasting khaki cap and loads of lacing and froth left behind.

Strong honey/maple syrup on the nose and more of the same on the palate and all around the mouth.

Over the top sweet and really more then a tad too sweet for me..might be the least favorite TH beer I have tried.

 

Poured into a 20 oz tulip glass, canned on 11/22/23. Pours a very attractive hazy orange yellow, with a 2 finger sticky white head that leaves thin streaks of lace, with excellent retention. 4.5

Aroma is maple, peach, mandarin, blueberry, and apricot. 4.25

Taste follows the beer is very balanced, maple, peach, mandarin, a hint of blueberry, and apricot. 4.25

Mouthfeel is is above average, soft gentle carbonation, not sticky or dry, and at 8% very easy going down. 4.5

Overall I went in a tad nervous, but as always Tree House delivered a very interesting and well crafted NEDIPA. 4.25

Serving: Can
Canned: Nov-22-2023
Consumed: Dec-22-2023

Wow. First word out of my mouth and I've repeated it since. This is a very interesting and different beer. It is so insanely pastry-like that I can scarcely believe that there is not lactose and/or vanilla/flavoring in it. If not, then even more wow! What an accomplishment. Gun to my head, this is definitely not my style of IPA nor is it an everyday drinker, but it is damn good and damn bold.
Pours cloudy orange with a good head that sticks around the whole time. I might be a marketing sheep, but I swear it tastes exactly like what they describe. Aroma is a wall of creamy, fruity, lightly resinous sweetness. The flavor is batter-y with a hoppy berry sweetness and a big malt-yeast-hop sweetness that really lingers. Somehow the maple syrup is there throughout, but is especially aromatically present at the tail end of the finish. A big, gloppy sweet, full-bodied beer that could be a breakfast on its own. I knocked it the tiniest bit on a couple categories in comparison to it just being a "normal" beer. There is A LOT going on in this beast.
Some caveats:
If rating it purely as a novelty beer, it'd likely be straight 4.5s.
If it is literally what they say it is (a normal, adjunct-less, flavoring-less, lactose-less beer) then honestly it deserves straight 5s, cause how could you do any better?

4.25...4.25...4.5...4.25...4.5

 

Beer- its not just for dinner anymore. Tree House searches for inspiration at the breakfast table for a banger of an IPA with a blueberry, waffle and syrup reason to get up in the morning.

Turbidly golden and taupe, Wafflebanger patiently builds a creamy eggshell froth and a bold citrusy scent with dark berry, cream, maple, herb and fresh pastry. And then to taste, its the pastry and cream flavors that carry a sweeter and maltier tone as flavors of honey, light maple, pastry dough and shortcake bring a smooth and dense maltiness to the early palate.

As the ale broadens across the middle palate, its the taste of hops that reign supreme with bold flavor of red grapefruit, tangerine, lemon and passionfruit before the radiant but controlled taste of blueberry bring an overt fruitiness to the balance. Trending herbal with the bitterness of tea leaf. verbena, hemp and fresh spruce, the hops outlast the malt for a drying and smoothly bitter finish.

Full bodied for IPA but remarkably drinkable, the otherwise pastry IPA finishes with an even keel bitter-sweetness with a long follow through of blueberry and maple, and only a hint of vodka warmth.

 

Interesting. First sip was, "whoa". Next few = "maybe". I kind of get different flavors on every other sip. Occasionally even an intense caramel flavor (which I suppose is the "syrup", but definitely more caramel than maple flavor). Maybe even whipped cream notes somehow. A lot going on in this one. Only halfway through it, but seriously, give it a minute between sips and you get different flavors. Not an everyday beer, but maybe just right for a sipper to last 2nd half of the game.