The old adage about not judging a book by its cover is nonsense, whether applied to books or other things. When I’m browsing at the bookstore, what catches my eye is typically the cover of the book! Obviously, certain authors catch my eye, too, but if the cover pulls me in and the title sounds interesting, I usually don’t even bother reading the synopsis, I AM IN. I would venture a guess that the reason books are “displayed” is the book cover or the author or both.
As I said, the same applies to other things, such as the craft beer fun I enjoy partaking in. And craft beers are known for having a lot of wacky, almost graffiti-like art on their labels to match some off the off-the-wall names. Welp, I was browsing for beer a few days ago and came across Rusty Rail Brewing Company’s Waffle Sauce. Yes. Waffle Sauce … beer! And the cover was four stacks of delicious-looking waffles with syrup oozing all over the place.
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I AM IN. In fact, the ellipses are misleading because I didn’t even hesitate that long before committing and putting that bad boy in my shopping cart. If there’s any hesitation, it’s that craft beers, particularly if they are local, can be expensive. I believe for only four cans (and these are tall cans, at least), it was $10 and some change. Eek! Rusty Rail isn’t particularly local, as they are based out of Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania. But they tend to have a lot of goofy ones (I say with the utmost appreciation for all things goofy), apparently, such as a birthday cake-inspired ale, a caramel peanut imperial brown ale, a rainbow milkshake IPA and a pretty kitty hazy IPA, which is flavored like cotton candy. I think the latter is the only one wackier than the Waffle Sauce one I picked up, which is sweet maple flavor and aroma, with subtle pecan flavor on the finish.
Sitting at an alcohol percentage of 8 percent, this is a heavy beer, folks! Which I guess makes sense given that waffles are heavy. If you’ve ever had a Kentucky bourbon-inspired beer, this Waffle Sauce beer sort of tastes like that. I think it’s the combination of maple and pecan that gives it that slight bourbony taste and finish. Now, I don’t like bourbon, especially in my beer, but it wasn’t overpowering here as to be gross or anything.
I thought this was a delicious beer and only having four is probably appropriate since it is such a heavy beer and rather unique in taste. I generally like imperial brown ales, so this wasn’t a hard sale. Really, I tend to be down for any craft beer that isn’t a blonde or isn’t bourbon-based.
If you’re in the market for something different, consider giving this a whirl … responsibly, of course!
Milam's Musings 
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