Capital Eisphyre

Brewed by Capital Brewery
Style: Eisbock
Middleton, Wisconsin USA

Serve in Dimpled mug, Snifter, Stein

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!!

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!

I would score this beer very high just for the idea alone, I mean, eisbock Autumnal Fire? C’mon now, that’s frikkin’ genius! Fortunately the beer is everything I was hoping for, a rich, viscous looking amber to orange brew with massive rich grainy Munich and Vienna malt flavors backed up with more hop prescence than you detect in regular AF to excellent effect. A lip smacking satisfier but still nicely drying and boozy in the finish, a total killer and maybe Capital’s best beer yet.

On tap at Capital. Transparent copper-bronze in color with rising carbonation and a persistently creamy-off-white head that’s 1/3" thick and complimented by blanketing marshmallow lacing. Buttery caramel, brown sugar glazed nut shavings and sweet maple fudge wafts grace the nose. Further aromatic sentiments reveal whole wheat brown bread, cinnamon sprinkled grahams, butterscotch and toffee soaked barley bags. Take a sip, wait two seconds, and now meet glory. Sweet spiced pecans and black peppercorns bring a nutty semblance with a prominent noble hop performance for a bitter accentuation. Liquefied brown sugar smoothes out with a whole wheat brown bread mentality and totality. Spicy, titillating pecans think to impose syrupy characteristics, but spawn a balanced them in summation. Caramelized prunes and baked golden raisins. Full-flavored and balanced beyond expectations. Bitter hop bite strikes center tongue but transpires to traits of cackled white pepper while alcohol tickles the tonsil’s hanging. Cocoa-laced apple butter helps to segway unto the finish, annotated by cinnamon, nutmeg and pepper. Complexity is the key here - and Capital is to be commended.

Botte. Holy Eisbock! Dark and brooding with a muddy top, this delivers on-style from the get-go. Thick with brown sugar in the aroma and flavor, this drinks like a winter warmer in the German highlands -- what a fantastic tribute to the traditional style. Wisconsin -- of course! (#3981, 9/12/2010)

UPDATED: SEP 15, 2007 Bottled. This was just a beautiful pour... clear fiery autumn orange with an inch of creamy beige head. Aren’t bocks supposed to be ugly? (update 9/15/07 - the back-end of the pour had some definitely darker, murkier characteristics to it) Creamy lightly-toasted caramel, rich darker fruits, dried leafy hops, and apricots in the decadent nose. Flavor followed suit with rich caramel and dark fruits, autumny hops and spices, and alcohol warmth. Stunningly creamy on the palate with delicately placed leafy bitterness and warm spices all around. Warming and satisfying dark fruity finish. Wow!

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.

Beer pours lightly cloudy amber color with a massive, Belgianesque off-white colored head that is retained. Aroma is malty and delicously so, light notes of caramel, also the aroma that I can still only identify as lagered, some light spiciness, also honey. This is a gem of a beer in the flavor department, rich and thick malts, caramel, dark fruit flavors, but not at all overdone, also a bit of earthy yeastiness, and some mild spicing. No sign of the 10% in the nose or in the flavor. Easily the best lager beer to pass my lips. This is a real gem, get it if you can!!!