I haven't tried the Madhouse IPA, but I don't like the wheat at all. Never had too much of a problem with the regular Pale (not great, but not the worst beer I've ever had), and I actually had it on tap once.
Not sure why, but it wasn't even recognizable on tap. In a good way. It tasted like a normal Pale, with a hop character that bordered on an IPA. Maybe they weren't serving me Madhouse, but whatever it was was delicious.
I've only ever had the pale in a bottle, and then on tap at a Buc's game once. It wasn't very good either time. A notch below Boulevard's pale ale (which I'm also not a huge fan of). It could be that 10% IPAs have destroyed my palate, but I'm just not feeling it.
I had some expectations for the IPA, but it was literally one of the worst beers I've ever tried. It had a bit of a wet/moldy hop character that was evident, but no discernible hop flavor at all. There was no body to it. Just an awful beer. I gagged after every swallow (I couldn't bring myself to sip it, as that would just prolong the drinking experience).
Best beer I've had from them is the coffee stout, which is pretty pedestrian, but not awful.
Way more style than substance with those guys. I hate it because I want them to succeed, but they make bad beer and then market the hell out of it. They are like the Anheiuser Busch of the Iowa beer scene without the scale.