Capital Fest

Brewed by Capital Brewery
Style: Oktoberfest/Märzen
Middleton, Wisconsin USA

Serve in Dimpled mug, Lager glass, Stein

This is over rated. Darker yellow pour is marred by the head that dies quickly. Sweet, corny aroma with metallic notes. Sweet, corny flavor with metallic notes. Goes down quick, cold, and smooth, but so does the average macro light beer. This is over rated. On tap at Jimmys Del Bar.

Bottle - Fest returns! A beautiful amber pour with a small white head. Aroma is lightly toasted malt, rich and bready, with herbal hops melding perfectly into a nice balance. Taste is a bit watered down, but very smooth and malty. Clean through the finish, where the herbal hops kick in and bitter it just a bit. Terribly simple, but terribly refreshing, I underestimated this one a bit. Capital has done a great job of bringing back their good beers. They can sell all the Rustic and Island Wheat and Supper Club they want--just sell the good stuff, too.

If memory serves me correctly, only 50 ratings ago I made note and I quote "I hope someday soon Capital beer comes back to Iowa. I miss it." How grateful I was to find three varieties of Capital beer in a local shop today. It seems as though luck has shined upon us here in downtown Des Moines. The beer pours just a shade darker than deep golden heading in the orange territory but not quite there yet. The head is big, full, tight, billowy, and leaves a nice enough although somewhat spotty lace. The aroma is classic Märzen in every respect. That dominant mildly roasty mildly caramelized, primarily grainy and fresh maltiness. Of course coupled with those perfect herbal and earthy hoppy notes. Something about this aroma seems rustic and rural. The sorts of aromas you catch on a breezy day on a country drive. The flavor is richly malty and well balanced with plenty of herbal hoppiness. Each sip begs you almost do the palate double take. It starts off with a fruity and bright malt character with some deep notes of roastiness and some mild caramel. About the time you are to declare this a rich malty beer the hops just kick right into gear with that nice unforgiving type of bitterness and the awesome herbal notes of bitter herbs and horehound. I will admit it took me a bottle and a half to feel as strongly as I do about this beauty, but it was well worth the effort.

12oz bottle. Pours a crystal clear, golden colored body with a thin, white head that dissipates quickly and leaves a moderate lacing. Aroma is some pale malt sweetness and a bit corny. A light floral and grassy hop with a touch of bread and fruity, apricot-citrus. Flavor is similar. Somewhat floral and fruity up front with some pale malt sweetness and a touch of caramel. I get just a pinch of toast with a somewhat bready malt in there too. Finishes crisp with some floral fruits and a light grass with a light bitterness that gives off just a hint of earth. Dry with a moderate aftertaste following a light to medium body and moderate carbonation. Overall, an easy drinking beer. Not quite what I look for in an Oktoberfest, but decent. This is definitely anything but special, but it was pleasant enough.

Welcome back - its been too long! From bottle as this year’s summer seasonal! Pours orange-amber with fluffy white head. Some serious carbonation flowing up. Aroma of fresh hops and sweet caramel malts. Clean bitter hops up front fading to a beautiful malt backbone of toasted and caramel undertones. Slightly dry finish, medium mouthfeel. A solid German-style lager. About as close to an Oktoberfest as you’ll get this time of year.

Amber with light, white head / Nose of toast and burnt sugar / Light to medium body, balanced with a touch of hop creaminess, and a decent finish / Light, muddy flavors of burnt sugar and toasted grain / A pleasant enough beer.

Pours a golden body with a pretty malted aroma. Also has an akwardly overly malted flavor which was at first a little unpleasesnt. Flavors of soft berries, oak and grain. I may have to try this again.

12oz, twist-off bottle, black with gold label. Light amber color. Sweet malt aroma. Spicy herbal grass hop aroma. Flavor is sherry, allspice, even some black pepper spiciness. Finishes with a clean hop bitterness to balance out the malt character. Very nice.