Doppelgänger, the last of my series of Tree House beers to review, number five of the quintology…. ……or is it…. (dun dun dun!) Actually… no… in fact, its not going to be the last of the series, because I’ve also gotten to try Intemperance the other day, and I will be reviewing that as well, turning this quintology into a sexology? Septology? …Two trilogies? Yea, lets go with two trilogies… Sounds a lot less weird.

Also, yes, don’t worry about the picture. It is taken in the shower, and yes, that is somewhat relevant (or more to the point – I’m going to make it relevant), and no, don’t worry, there is no more pictures than that one. So you’re fine, and this is still SFW (safe for work).

This is a part of the backlog of beer reviews I’m finishing up now. Started this one on January 20th, 2020…. and now getting to finish it on February 12th, 2020. Sounds reasonable, not too bad, only a week’s worth shy of a month later. (Over a week actually, so I’m good.) Between getting all of the other blog posts ready, and the activities I’ve been up to with the blog, this has kind of taken a back corner. Just one of those I know *IS* going to get done, its just a matter of *WHEN* it gets done. And now is *WHEN*. Perfect. So, please, enjoy!

Sometimes we all just don’t feel well. Sometimes we all work a long day, annoyed at the world, over stressed out, and sadly, they still forbid throat punching at most works. (Unless you work for the UFC, and even then I think its pretty rude and hard to do.) So, whats the next best thing? Shower beers!

Turn on the hot water. Lay back in the shower, let the spray hit you, feel the steam rise and loosen your pores, crack open a delicious craft beer, and just slowly consume. Perhaps some music in the background, like whale songs or something. Some scented candles from Bath and Beyond…. the lights dimmed. Just relaxation.

Ok, maybe not all that is necessary. But what is necessary, is the beer, and the shower, and thats all I needed to feel better after a stressful day at work and getting over a cold. And Doppelgänger certainly did the trick. Number one, its a fantastic beer, number two the shower was nice and warm, and number three, it had just the right amount of ABV to melt away the annoyances of the world.

Let’s turn on the shower, crack open a Doppelganger and melt away our stress!

Beer: Doppelgänger
Brewery: Tree House Brewing Company
Style: IPA – Imperial / Double
ABV: 8.2%
IBU: 88
Untappd Write-Up: This beer is an imperial version of Alter Ego. It is intensely kettle and dry hopped to produce a pungent and flavorful Double IPA that is super pleasant to drink. It is simply and easily described as a juicy and dank citrus bomb.

The thing about drinking a shower beer is, you’re doing it straight from the can. No glasses, nothing pretty, its just straight drinking from the can, like (insert your deity or non-deity here) intended. For the sake of reviewing though, this does hamper things a wee bit – in so much that I can’t really be reviewing its appearance. I also don’t like doing reviews based off of other people’s pictures, for numerous reasons (could be fakes, their lighting, their beers might be aged or expired or oxidized, etc, etc, etc). Thus, I’m sorry to inform all of you that their won’t be an appearance segment to this review.

And therefore, moving on, this review will begin with the aroma. Even with my cold, even with the shower going, as soon as you crack the tab on this puppy you get the hop aroma in full force. Not sure what opened my pores and nostrils more, the steam or the amazing hop punch from this olfactory sensational brew. This gives you really a two-punch pow-pow of hop aroma right to the nose; first you get hit with a combo of mango and peach, and then you get crossed up with a right hook of citrus and pine. You get the real fruity notes right away and then you get zapped with the hop aromas. The citrus and pine pushes out that mango and peach and gives you a wonderfully layered treat for your nose.

Taste is incredible. Its juicy, its mango, its peach, its citrus, its pine, its hoppy, its powerful, its strong, its eye opening, its eye widening, its powerful, its heavy hitting, its amazing. Its a fantastic shower beer. …Ok, its a fantastic beer, period, in general. There is just so much to like with this beer. Not sure words are the best way to describe it, possibly just thumbs up is the best? I’ll try with words, but I think I’ll have to go against Shakespeare here (Brevity is the soul of wit…. thank goodness I’m witless). This is super juicy; like dank hoppy mango and peach juice with a citrusy zesty zip to it. This is a great mouthfeel to it, its heavy on the tongue but light as you drink, and there’s no cloying, no off putting nature to it, no grittyness or sediment. The mango and peach flavor tied in with the hop and zest to it is just a great and perfect combination with the carbonation. There is no extreme hop bite but you definitely get its presence, nothing too bitter, just everything in nice proportions. All in all this is just a fantastic beer, made fantastically well, and deserved of all the praise that is heaped on it. Great for a stress filled day in the shower (or out).

My Untappd Rating: ****.50
Global Untappd Rating: 4.48 (as of 2.12.20)

Well, this *WAS* going to be the last of my series of Tree House beers. But shocking conclusion twist! (M. Night Shamalyan style twist ending.) Thanks to my good friend D. Arndt who had gotten me the other Tree House beers of this series, the other night he generously let me have at a can of Intemperance, and woo booooooy was I hooked. So, there’s going to be a sixth to the series now!

For those of you keeping up with it all, the series thus far is: Sap, Autumn, Julius, Haze, and now this current one here – Doppelganger. It was great getting to try Intemperance because its a Stout, my first stout from Tree House, and it was great seeing them nail a different style than the New England IPAs. For the next few days I’m hoping to pump out 2-3 beer reviews a day, to get this backlog of beer reviews done. So bare with me, you’ll either get an overload of them, or a slow trickle, either way, they’ll get here. Hope you enjoy them!

Thanks for reading everyone, go grab a hot shower, a beer, and think of me….. (ok, maybe not think of me), and enjoy! Cheers!

-B. Kline

Oooh boy that was a classic of a game. Lead off with a 3-0 lead and then the Cincinnati Bengals quickly let it all slip away and allow Steelers to go and score 27 points unanswered for a 27-3 thrashing that would leave Freddy Krueger with nightmares.

It was ugly. It was brutal (five sacks that were less than four seconds from snap). It was…. it was typical Cincinnati Bengals in primetime. Thats about the gist of it all right there. Zac Taylor. Marvin Lewis. It doesn’t matter. Just the same old same old.

So how do you handle mediocrity going depressing into complete and utter dumpsterfire? By drinking at your local saloon, thats how! And by local saloon I mean Boneshire Brwe Works, and by drinking I mean having some excellent craft beers.

I started off with the Tried and True Mango. Which was absolutely phenomenal. If you click the link there, you can read my review on it. I have loved the other Tried and True variant as well (pineapple), and of course the original Tried and True is outstanding.

So after having a delicious and juicy beer, I decided to flip gears a bit, but still stay in the supposedly “lighter” territory (going from Witbier to IPA)…. but with TWIST! (Cue Adult Swim M. Night Shamalayan voice.) Its a Black IPA! A style not done a whole lot, not just in this area, but in general it would seem. And a style that… can go either way and be either a flop or be a great beer. It is easy to get some off flavors with this style (in my opinion) and get some astringency and really bitter burning flavors.

The BJCP has the following to say on Black IPAs:

21B. Specialty IPA: Black IPA

Overall Impression

A beer with the dryness, hop-forward balance, and flavor characteristics of an American IPA, only darker in color – but without strongly roasted or burnt flavors. The flavor of darker malts is gentle and supportive, not a major flavor component. Drinkability is a key characteristic.

Appearance

Color ranges from dark brown to black. Should be clear, although unfiltered dry-hopped versions may be a bit hazy; if opaque, should not be murky. Good head stand with light tan to tan color should persist.

Aroma

A moderate to high hop aroma, often with a stone fruit, tropical, citrusy, resinous, piney, berry, or melon character. If dry hopped, can have an additional floral, herbal, or grassy aroma, although this is not required. Very low to moderate dark malt aroma, which can optionally include light chocolate, coffee, or toast notes. Some clean or lightly caramelly malty sweetness may be found in the background. Fruitiness, either from esters or from hops, may also be detected in some versions, although a neutral fermentation character is also acceptable.

Flavor

Medium-low to high hop flavor with tropical, stone fruit, melon, citrusy, berry, piney or resinous aspects. Medium-high to very high hop bitterness, although dark malts may contribute to the perceived bitterness. The base malt flavor is generally clean and of low to medium intensity, and can optionally have low caramel or toffee flavors. Dark malt flavors are low to medium-low; restrained chocolate or coffee flavors may be present, but the roasted notes should not be intense, ashy, or burnt, and should not clash with the hops. Low to moderate fruitiness (from yeast or hops) is acceptable but not required. Dry to slightly off-dry finish. The finish may include a light roast character that contributes to perceived dryness, although this is not required. The bitterness may linger into the aftertaste but should not be harsh. Some clean alcohol flavor can be noted in stronger versions.

Mouthfeel

Smooth, medium-light to medium-bodied mouthfeel without significant hop- or (especially) roasted malt-derived astringency. Dry-hopped versions may be a bit resiny. Medium carbonation. A bit of creaminess may be present but is not required. Some smooth alcohol warming can and should be sensed in stronger (but not all) versions.

Comments

Most examples are standard strength. Strong examples can sometimes seem like big, hoppy porters if made too extreme, which hurts their drinkability. The hops and malt can combine to produce interesting interactions.

History

A variation of the American IPA style first commercially produced by Greg Noonan as Blackwatch IPA around 1990. Popularized in the Pacific Northwest and Southern California of the US starting in the early-mid 2000s. This style is sometimes known as Cascadian Dark Ale (CDA), mainly in the Pacific Northwest.

Characteristic Ingredients

Debittered roast malts for color and some flavor without harshness and burnt qualities; American or New World hop varieties that don’t clash with roasted malts. Hop characteristics cited are typical of these type of hops; others characteristics are possible, particularly if derived from newer varietals.

Style Comparison

Balance and overall impression of an American or Double IPA with restrained roast similar to the type found in Schwarzbiers. Not as roasty-burnt as American stouts and porters, and with less body and increased smoothness and drinkability.

Vital Statistics

IBU

50 – 90

SRM

25 – 40

OG

1.050 – 1.085

FG

1.010 – 1.018

ABV

5.5% – 9%

Commercial Examples

21st Amendment Back in Black (standard), Deschutes Hop in the Dark CDA (standard), Rogue Dad’s Little Helper (standard), Southern Tier Iniquity (double), Widmer Pitch Black IPA (standard).

Iscariot has been a staple for Boneshire Brew Works, cycling on their tap lists and through their brite tanks / fermenters regularly, and is one of my favorites. So let’s break her down.

Beer: Iscariot
Brewery: Boneshire Brew Works
Style: IPA – Black / Cascadian Dark Ale
ABV: 7.5%
IBU: 75
Untappd Write-Up: Torn between the Light and the Dark, Iscariot is a juxtaposition of flavors at war with itself. Roasted malts initially blanket your palate, only to be quickly stabbed with the bite of bitter hops. Which side do you
prefer? Enjoy the internal struggle.

The Untappd write-up is pretty accurate. There is two sides to how this beer tastes and plays out in your mouth, but ultimately it makes for a good combination, and works in a wonderful tandem (…not necessarily how the tandem of the original Iscariot worked with his ‘boss’….. ….just saying…).

Appearance is a lovely darker brown going to black. It has a very rich creamy looking head with a light brown coloring. Varied bubbles, good carbonation, nice dark black IPA coloring, everything is looking right and correct so far. Slight murkyness but overall its able to have a light shine through it.

Aroma is roasty malts, hoppy, and stone fruit. Very little stone fruit, the majority of the aroma on this is coming from the very roast forward malts and then the hops taking a big kick out of your nostrils as well. It all matches very nicely to make for a wonderful smelling beer.

Flavor is again, malt forward, but with a hop bite afterwards. There is a some caramel to the malts but for the most part its straight roasty. Due to the malt bill, its not super easy to pin down what exact hops are used but it has an earthy / grassy hop note. The flavors are kind of all bouncing around in your mouth fighting back and forth – the light and the dark – but it makes for an very tasty and interesting conclusion. Mouthfeel is nice and consistent, nothing cloying, no astringency, nothing off, nothing bad, its a like drinking an IPA as far as mouth feel goes, just with more roast notes, and with a darker look, thats all.

No after taste that’s off putting or causing weird burps, just a nice tasty flow and ending.

My Untappd Rating: ****.25
Global Untappd Rating: 3.7 (as of 10.1.19)

Midwest Coast Brewing Company reached out to me tonight and we finished our interview and got some pictures from their big grand opening weekend there in Chicago, so look for that to get posted sometime between Wednesday – Friday (most likely Thursday). Should be a good look at a promising new upcoming brewery!

Keep drinking tatter tots!

-B. Kline