Capital Eisphyre

Brewed by Capital Brewery
Style: Eisbock
Middleton, Wisconsin USA

Serve in Dimpled mug, Snifter, Stein

12oz Bottle. Crazy, rich dense alcohol raisin spice. Wicked nice. Prunes, plums and fruitcake. Bits of spice. Pours a vivid, red orange, with silky white head. Flavor is generally sweet, but develops nice well-incorporated alcohol complexity. Lots and lots of delicious raisin character, brought forward with cinnamon toast. Chewy. But the alcohol and malt texture leaves the tongue not cloying. Nice!

Very dark and beautiful amber color, with a white head that left very nice lacing. Smell is of burnt caramel, dark fruit, and a bit of toffee. Taste was similar to the smell, but not as good. Nice, thick mouthfeel, medium carbonation and medium bodied. Pretty good, and certainly worth a try. I’ll see what some age does to my remaining bottles. Update: Age has helped this quite a bit. I’ll have to put up an official re-rate.

Bottle I’ve had in my cellar for a while courtesy of ? (most likely footbalm or iowaherkeye). Pours amber with no head to speak of and some off white bubbles sparsely dotting the glass. Smells smoky with a pronounced warming alcohol bite and lots of sweetness. Tastes oaky and tarte with some nice sugary touches and some hints of smokiness on the finish. This beer has really come together with some age on it!

Bottle courtesy of iowaherkeye. The pour reveals a cloudy dark amber color with a thin beige head. Very pleasant aroma of rich, luscious malt and caramel. Very good flavor of rich, round malt with caramel, there’s some sweetness but it keeps at a decent level, the malt has all the place to express itself in all its luscious glory, also, the alcohol was undetectable. The body is medium with a creamy and liquorous texture that feels really fine and the carbonation is gentle. Very solid.

UPDATED: JUN 3, 2008 Wow, this is a nice brew. I have to thank Brigadier for the honor of having it, I am very thankful for this one. Pours a dark copper color with a nice light tan head. The nose is pretty clean with a hint of my favorite (when not overdone) scent; carmel. Nice roasted malt with carmel and other sweet flavors like vanilla that hide the alcohol in this fine brew. Well done beer by Capital Brewery; it’s my first from them but definitely not my last.

Bottle thanks to toncatcher for sharing. Flavors of malt and sweetness. A pretty good tasting brew that had me wanting more. Interesting style.

Pours with a frothy, initially two-finger thick, amber tinged, tan colored head. The beer is a reddish tinged, deep amber color and shows a brilliantly clear, bright cranberry color when held up to the light. The aroma has an immensely rich, concentrated malt aroma to it that seems just characteristic of a Bock. Bready malt notes, sweetly complex grain, green raisins, ample biscuit notes and huge, caramelized, toffee-like malt notes. The alcohol notes are hidden quite well. As the beer warms up the nose starts to suggest at the age of this beer; lightly oxidized with some Sherry notes noticed if you dig around for them.

Sweet tasting, but amply rich enough that it is not cloying. Thick, viscous, chewy, this beer is a meal in a glass; the beer coats the mouth and palate with a velvety texture that is just lightly offset by a medium-full carbonation. The alcohol is noticeable at times in the finish, yet it is pretty darn smooth for such a big beer. The rich, clean malt character is big enough that it evokes thoughts of fruit, despite this being a clean lager, hints of cherries, green raisins and maybe something like dried figs. There is a noticeable hop character here as well with a soft herbal note that runs through the middle and lingers on in the finish for quite some time with a soft hop-bitterness. The hop character is actually pretty pronounced for a Bock / Eisbock, but adds a nice dimension and balance to the dominant malt character. As the beer warms up it picks up suggestions of vanilla, flavors of toffee and a bit more of a vinous quality.

Quite a tasty brew and most definitely a fitting way to close out the night. Not one of those beers that wows me with its greatness, but this is a very good beer; a mellow beer that is just about perfect for those cold, slow nights spent in front of the fire with a good book.

Holy balls is this good!!! But not for the faint-of-heart. This packs a punch. On tap in the Horse & Plow in Kohler, WI. Poured into a snifter a dark copper body with a great tan head that quickly disappears leaving a good lacing. Sweet malty nose. Great alcohol aromas loft with malty sweetness of dark fruits and spices. Almost smells like a Barley wine. Taste is phenomenal. Maltiness and alcohol is very present at the first sip. Not overpoweringly sweet like I was afraid it might have been. The true character of the Autumnal Fire is not lost in this offspring. Thick and chewy mouth feel. It coats your mouth like a cough medicine would- but in a good way. Slight alcohol burn down the throat, but mild for an 11% beer. One serving of this is plenty. Great beer to finish the night on. Very impressed, especially since I was afraid it would be too sweet. Highly recommended!!