20th Anniversary Doppelbock
Millstream Brewing Company

Perhaps nobody will see this cause this beer is now kind of "old". But, I just cracked open one of 2 that I'd been cellaring yesterday. Previous reviews weren't that strong. BUT,,, after 2 years and 7 months, maybe TIME is the key. Don't know why I decided to start drinking everything I've been saving but I'm glad I did. This beer was great. Everything a Doppel should be and absolutley "Heli-smooth"!!!

I asked Millstream if I could cellar this just after I go it. The answer is absolutely YES!!!

Thanks to Dan @ Gannon for this..
Appears a dark, dense, mahogany color with crimson edges when held up to the light.
Smell is of rich malt, vanilla, doughy bread, caramel, brown sugar, with a touch of mild oxidation that is fitting for the style.
Taste is of the same aromas. I'm liking the mix, as doppelbocks are one of my favorite styles.
Mouthfeel is medium bodied, sugary, brown sugar laden, cakey, and...did I say sugary? Carbonation is nice in this one. It's like a well done dessert.

Deep coffee/amber color, very clear, only a thin crust that doesn't last too long. The aroma is a bit weak, with notes of roasted, raisiny malt. The flavor starts out with a nice chocolatey sweetness and toasted nut taste, but it quickly leaves a finish that is a bit flat and unremarkable. The mouthfeel is slightly watery with average carbonation. I was hoping this would be at least a decent brew but it just really didn't excite me at all. It was a nice try, but I don't think I would recommend it. I feel bad for Millstream because I think they are a bit limited by the Iowa liquor laws and this beer might have been better with a higher alcohol kick...

First off, cheers to Millstream Brewing. 20 years is a damn long time...one of the first in the craft brewing industry. Also thanks to MABZ for providing this bottle - I moved out of Iowa shortly before this beer was released.

Been hanging onto this one in my fridge for a long while and tonight, after an all-nighter last night, it's time. Hard pour gets one finger of light brown head over a partly cloudy brown-red liquid. Nice color. Smells richly caramel with perhaps a sourish edge (a scent I get in super-malty beverages that have a backdrop of alcohol). Aside from the deep caramel, I get some toffee and mild chocolate. Vienna malt plus a dark fruit characteristic, reminscent of the dark fruit you find in one of the leading belgian darks (minus the phenolic funk, of course).

Tastes candy sweet, wet, thick almost syrupy mouthfeel. Sticky caramel that was held a bit too long on the stove so it's a touch burned. A delicious spritely dry enters upon the swallow to team with the heavily caramelized sugar. Still a sweet finish, but a nice counterpoint. A gentle edge almost too faint to detect that I find indicative of Munich malt and a german o'fest yeast. The toffee dangles between chocolate notes and simply an overly robust caramel. I'm glad this is a bomber as I have another glass to look forward to. Compared to the malty, the hops are mild. The ending and aftertaste have a sort of minty quality accompanied by some hop grassy rough (very low...I find this only with searching) in the center back of my tongue. A true decocted bock character is *not* present, but it's definitely in the style. Alcohol can't be tasted distinctly because (I think) of the sweetness, but there is the faintest sting accompanied by a whisper of vodka-esk.

An offering that was nice to dissect, but not one I'm eager to return to.

Pours deep mahogany brown with ruby highlights. Head is thin and dissipates to nothing.

Smell is complex with roasted malt, carmel, toffee, nuts, and strong coffee notes.

Taste is similiar to the nose but stronger. Some alcohol flavor. Hops make a welcome understated appearance in the finish. Nut flavor lingers on the tongue.

Mouthfeel is surprisingly smooth and creamy.

I really enjoyed this brew and look forward to another sample.

Pours a cloudy Brown color with a thin off white head.

Smell is dominated by sweet Brown sugary malt aromas.

Very malty, has a slightly sweet flavor with an almost beefiness to it. No hop bitterness whatsoever.

Mouthfeel is slick and thin.

Drinkability is ok, no off flavors, but nothing to make me run back for more either.

Deep cherry brown color with a clearish body and thin, dark sandy brown capping of firm foam. Top fades quickly to a collar and the lacing is drippy in big globby strings with a glare of spots sticking.

Aroma is a bit light on the nose, but never the less carries the doppelbock character with a richly dark tone of malts bringing baked raisins, brown sugar, cinnamon bread, dates, and figs.

Taste is good; smooth, soft, and malty. Not as lengthy or as bold as most doppels tend to be. The duration of flavors that are found don't last long. How unfortunate. Because this could be quite nice if it could just reach the next level of needed character, thickness, and boldness. Flavors are lightly dabbled in dark toffee with super tiny slivers of the dark fruityness listed within the aroma along with a small scotchy, earthy rough spot thrown in there. Some watery vanilla middles it out as it ends in a rush, not letting anything gain strength as it finishes. Toffee tends to sit late on the palate with a chewy coating of malty lagered texture. Helping, but still not enough.

Feel is shy of medium in body with a wateryish area in the mid ranges. It trys hard to surge ahead in length as it finishes but never makes it as it simmers very softly hinting to the lagered malty texture and semi chewy smoothness that comes with the dopplebock style. So with that, it does make for a decent drinking beer.
It's smooth, soft, and moderately malty with an uncontested short length and character to its body and flavor. An above average doppel, only siding well with me due to its clean crafted profile and well mannered attention and drinkability.

A thoughtful gesture from BuckeyeNation to send this to me for no other reason then to be one hell of a nice guy!! Thanks!!

got this one from Duane in a trade, thanks. from the bottle. poured a granet, with a small beige head that didn’t stay around very long. aroma 1st impression, wine cooler, chocolate,malts, molasses, brown sugar, dark fruits, caramel. flavor, dark cherries, honey, malts, caramel. very good.

Deepening cherry hued with a quick beige skim. It's largely odorless, with only a few (forcefully inhaled) wafts of caramel bread and black raisins.
Fuzzy, static maltiness up front. Pumpernickel-like breadiness, with a trailer of dry spice. Low levels of prune and cherry juice, and oaky pinot noir traits....though the cherry juice reprises itself near the close with a bit more gumption. Brisk lagered qualities throughout the middles, as it concludes with a low key but leafy, smoky, and earthy hop bitterness. Mild seems to be the operative condition all around.
Medium bodied, but greasy in feel with a lowered carbonation.
On all accounts, this is well-made. But a doppelbock should be a malt bath, and this is barely a mist. Even regular bocks usually bring it harder than this.
However, and aside from the price, it's a perfect near-Vienna Lager styled quaffer.

Dark caramel brown that becomes dusky black cherry with brilliant orange edges when seen through even the most meager backlighting. It's a gorgeous color that reminds me of an aged barleywine. The dark honey colored lid is extremely tight and finely textured. Unfortunately, it's also too soft, which results in a featureless upper surface and no lace.

The nose is a big letdown. First sin: low on candle power. Second sin: what I do pick up isn't that intriguing. Weakly roasted caramel malt, a little cocoa... uh... I'm thinking... For such a big release (in this state at least), I expected more. Of course, all olfactory sins will be forgiven if the flavor is a palate pleaser.

20th Anniversary Doppelbock is better in the mouth, although calling it a palate pleaser would be going too far. It's definitely on the lighter end of the style scale and is a reminder that doppelbocks are lagers. There's as least as much flinty, dark caramel as there is chocolate. I'm also picking up a hint of tangy peatiness that gives it a 'Scotch doppel' character. Lightly toasted walnuts are an added bonus.

The beer is neither sweet nor bitter. If forced to choose, I'd say that it favors the latter. Earthy (probably German) hops emerge on the back end, which is at least partly due to the fact that the beer is anything but a malt bomb. In the end, it isn't deep enough to find its way securely into my good graces. The mouthfeel may be the highlight. It's lagery smooth and has a stealth light chewiness that increases drinkability considerably.

I was hoping that Millstream 20th Anniversary Doppelbock would be my favorite MBC beer yet, but it wasn't to be. Even though it will never make Deutschland's best quake in their doppelbock boots, it's still a solid offering from Iowa's only brewery and one that is worthy of the Anniversary appellation. Happy Birthday Millstream! May you continue to brew quality beer for another 10 years and beyond.

650ml bottle. Limited edition - 1000 bottle release.

Sweet gold lettering on the label; nice design as well.

I needed a fairly strong pour to get much head, but it actually held up for a few minutes, eventually leaving a respectable film that stayed for the entire life of the brew.

Smell is a bit lacking..it's there, but faint. Molasses & toffee roastiness mixed with some very light chocolate notes round out the majority of the aroma. Tastes pretty much follow in line with the smell...buttery toffee up front with some roasted malts behind it. No alcohol can be detected in the taste.

The mouthfeel is a bit too thin for a dopplebock, in my opinion...maybe it could get away with this if it were labeled a bock. If this had a bit more muscle to it, it would probably be a damn fine beer. As is, it's pretty drinkable and nice to try such a rare offering from a local brewer.

Pours a translucent ruby color with almost no head. Not impressive.

Smells like strong caramel and bock chocolate. Sweetly alcoholic, like grandma, only tart.

Tastes like it smells. Fire caramel up front, sweet milk chocolate in the back. Not as candyish as a really good Dobblebock, but still pretty good.

Millstream tries their hand at a big boy beer and comes away with a pretty good offering. Kind of makes you what they'd be capable of were it not for Iowa's bullshit laws...

Clear. Dark amber in hue with a bit of ruby as well; the liquid seems thin, even though I poured it into a wide half-liter mug. I was expecting a more compacted, darker beer but, I suppose, what I got means nothing really aside from some lost aesthetics. The head was beige in color; at the apex the foam was a mere fourth of a finger in height, not so impressive. The bubbles faded rapidly away to nothing. I mean nothing. That is substandard. Likewise, there was no subsequent lacing. That, too, is very disappointing. Hell, overall this beer looks average at best… and it caught me on a good day.

At first, upfront, the nose is very rich with dark fruits (raisins, figs, dates), toffee, caramel, and brown sugar. That is pleasant enough but I wish there was some alcohol warmth to backup these aromas, damn Iowa’s abw cap on native brewed beers. By no means is the nose not inviting, because it is… however, the nose does lack depth. Clean. Sure, lagers are clean but a Doppel should be a little dirty. This one is not. After my initial pleasurable impression the nose ends up only being a tickle better than average.

Every Millstream beer has the same underlying vibe; I don’t know what it is. The water? Yeast? And/or the every prevalent DMS? I think it is a combination of the three. I know I could pick a Millstream beer out of a lineup of thousands. I was hopping/expecting this Doppel would not to have the Millstream house flavor. Sadly, for me anyway, this beer tastes all too familiar. Sweet, earthy DMS with grassy undercurrents mess-up the appropriate flavors of raisins, dates, figs, brown sugar, toffee, and caramel. The malt backbone is healthy. Clean empty finish, aside from some light (but pleasant) residual sweetness. The palate has high points and low ones, when everything is all said and done I can call this a tolerable Doppel. It is far from great, it has too much “Millstream” in it for me.

The mouthfeel is not filling but it is not too thin, however, it is closer to thin than beefy. I would rather see a beer like this lean on the beefy side of things. Low carbonation. Medium in body, the mouthfeel is workable.

This Doppel doesn’t grab my attention; honestly I am pretty bored with it. I’m nursing my bomber like it is a bottle and I am a baby. Maybe I dozed-off and that is why I have so much beer left. Maybe it was just my palate that fell asleep. Anyway, cheers to Millstream for 20 years of brewing beer in Iowa. Thank you BuckeyeNation for the bomber.

The beer poured into the glass crystal clear deep amber brown with a low tan head which rose slowly and fell quickly, and just couldn't quite lace the glass.

The aroma was chocolate malt with a coffee presence. Some light hop spice aroma was present and a good dose of caramel.

The flavor was malty with a nice caramel presence followed by a drying chocolate malt flavor. The coffee presence in the aroma also was slightly present in the flavor, but did not detract. The malt did not have the expected dark fruit character of raisins to any large degree. The beer had a very, very slight DMS (vegetal) flavor.

The finish was dry with a lasting chocolate and caramel flavor into the aftertaste. The body was medium.

22 ounce bottle, thanks MABZ for this one of a kind, limited edition brew.

This was a 1000 bottle limited release to celebrate 20 years of good Iowa brew, available only in 22oz bombers at the brewery. Another interesting note is that this beer is the highest ABV that can be commercially brewed in the state of Iowa.

The beer pours thick and chocolatey with absolutely no head to speak of, even off of a hard 2nd pour. It was a bit disappointing in that aspect, but other than that it's looking good. Only see-through at the edges, and a bit hazy at those points.

The smell is very biscuity and malty, not to mention some mocha and chocolate aromas. Has a bit of an alcohol zing in the end.

The taste is quite good as well, containing the same flavors as in the nose. Starts off light and sweet malty but fades into a slightly dry and gently roasted biscuity finish. Tastes almost like a mild brown ale, remniscient of Rogue's Hazelnut Brown Nectar.

The mouthfeel is thick and chewy. Quite exceptional. Drinkability is good, but not quite perfect due to the richness of the malt flavor. Another damn fine offering from Millstream.