Capital Dark Doppelbock

Brewed by Capital Brewery
Style: Doppelbock
Middleton, Wisconsin USA

Serve in Dimpled mug, Stein, Stem glass

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Bottle. More thanks to joeybgood for this! Dark copper body. Small tan head. Nose is rich malts, light caramel, dark, ripened fruits, and sweet, creamy malts. Light brown sugar as well. Taste is sweet malts, caramel, brown sugar, light toasted biscuits, and dark fruit. Some alcohol coming through at times, as well. Body is creamy and smooth with light alcohol warmth. Mild carbonation feel as well. Finish is more carmael, sweet malts, brown sugar, dark fruit, and pumpernickel bread notes. Another great beer!

Bottle pours a viscous deep dark amber, bordering on brown, medium fizzly off-white head, with spotty lacing.   Bready, malty & biscuity on the nose, with notes of subtle dark pitted fruit & cheese.   Smooth rich bready flavor up front, rather malty, with a good heaping of dark pitted fruit.   Fairly sweet, but not cloying.   Good body, with an almost velvety mouthfeel.   Smooth finish, lingering sweetness, malts, and dark pitted fruit.   Good stuff!   8% ABV isn’t noticable at all.   Thanks goes out to TAR for the trade!

Rusty orange. Broken foam with a tall, creamy fringe. Muted grape jam aroma with roast, root, molasses, and fruitcake suggestions. Tight, but semi-fuzzy carbonation. Soft, slick body, along with the rich breadiness, quickly caress the gentle alcoholic push. Delectably sweet with lengthy notes of candied, grapey malts. Drastically improves with each sip, especially as it warms, as the body thickens to reveal an artful contrast of dry, grainy roastiness and slick fruitiness over a cakey malt base. Perceptible tannic acidity tingles the palate and deepens the subtle bready richness. Finishes crisply malt-defined, yet, simultaneously jammy-thick and fruity with black licorice hints. This demands patience, as it was initially quite dull at just-below cellar temp. But with patience, the everchanging flavors that come about are totally worth the wait.

A bit darker than their Munich Dark. Alcohol is totally hidden, despite the thinness of the beer. Average doppel, not sticky, fruity, or chewy enough.

My expectation were high on this beer but it failed to deliver. Nice chestnut brown color with a foamy beige head. Malt dominates the aroma and the flavor. Some caramel and vanilla notes. Medium body and fairly nice in the mouth. Flavor was just average doppelbock.

Nothing will ever come close to Celebrator in the Doppelbock category but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some other good ones out there. This is a fine example of that fact. Pours a dark brown color with a reddish halo. Thin, dense beige head and thin lacing. The aroma is sweet roasted malt, nuts and dark fruit. Medium-bodied and smooth with a well-rounded array of flavors, from malt, caramel and vanilla to nuts and hops. The only downside is the flavor disappears quickly. The upside is taking that next drink to refresh the flavor isn’t hard at all. The finish is mostly sweet malt with a touch of raisins. Good work on this one by Capital.

Dark brown-red. Nose malty, woody, and a bit nutty. Great initial flavor, rich malts, raisins, loads of sweet roasted malts. Flavor drops off a bit too much after the initial swallow, but still a solid dopplebock.

Another solid lager beer from Capital. Dark ruby garnet with a minimal head of fine bubbles. Big nutty nose. Notably drinkable with a powerful malty flavor. Not an incredibly complex beer but tasty enough that you don’t miss it.

UPDATED: DEC 21, 2005 December 2005 bottle, consumed December 2005.
Deep, translucent chestnut brown in color with a short, creamy white-to-grey head. Milk chocolate bubble gum leads the aromatic display, along with slight plastic band-aids crossed with chocolate scented scratch n’ sniff stickers. Some caramel contributions and a dry pecan edge in the nose as well. Wonderful milky sweetness oozes in for the flavor portion, equally imparted with caramel, chocolate toffee and honey roasted hazelnuts. Dry crackle at the sides of the tongue mimic the teeth snapping unsalted pecans, and its likely aftermath. Sweet, viscous syrup accents akin to maple vats, imparting a pacified wooden smoothness. Only detraction is a bubblegum current of a failed Bubble Yum chocolate-flavored gum experiment (would that I could blame this character flaw on their bottling operation in Monroe, where a dark shadow is cast on the Wisconsin brewing industry as a whole.) Perfectly succinct and balanced, finishing like buttery Rolos hammered onto Heath bars. Barely skips a beat from last year’s version, and I still love this doppelbock to death.

December 2004 bottle, consumed January 2005.
Excellent beer - definitely one of (if not) the best doppelbocks I’ve ever had. Pours a deep ruby brown. Little to no head with small lacing - one of the lighter doppelbocks I’ve had. It didn’t appear to be as thick as I was expecting when I poured it into the glass, but the taste delivered. Smooth and complex semi-sweet chocolate malt nodes and moderate carbonation. Definitely a rich, whole-mouth experience. Tastes yeasty, almost like a liquid bread made with brown sugar. Traces of oak and roasted nuts. Alcohol is very well hidden and isn’t evident even in the finish. Leaves a nice nutty, malty aftertaste which I can still remember and pine for as I write this review. Fantastic beer.

Reminds me more of a Porter than a Doppelbock, at least the ones I’ve had. Has the slightly bitter coffee taste which I don’t mind. Since I am not a big fan of heavily hopped brews, I’m glad the bitterness isn’t the type that comes from lots of hops. The head dissapates faster than I’d like to see, but all in all its a pretty well made, pleasing, rich, hearty, flavorful brew.