Capital Fest

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

Serve in Dimpled mug, Lager glass, Stein

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(12oz bottle) Clear golden body with small off-white head. Aroma is medium sweet, bread, some caramel, light pepper. Taste is medium sweet, bread, caramel, light earthy/floral/herbal. Dash of alcohol in a light-medium body. I am not a fan of the style generally, but this one wins me over with its well-rounded and balanced flavor.

UPDATED: DEC 7, 2003 Very nice! Sweet, smooth malt with some sort of spice in the background. Nice mouthfeel. The touch of hops feels just right. Try this one out, I don't think you'll be disapointed!

First I do not agree that this is an Oktoberfest, a Vienna yes, but not an Oktoberfest. Capital produces some of the finest Lagers in the world and this is a fine example. A bold golden brown color with a smallest white head. A strong caramel malt aroma with an almost meadow like grass background. A slightly sweet taste with a grassy hop flavor that finely balances this beer. Alot of body and taste in what many consider an inferior style. This brewery knows what they are doing.

Bottle. Poured a golden yellow with an off white head. Aroma was grainy, Light hop and floral aroma. Taste was hoppy, grainy. Bitter Saaz like hops. Very hearty, substantial body creating a great mouthfeel. Germans have nothing up on this one. Good Maerzen.

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.

Lightly malty, perfumy aroma, like milky caramel and flowers, with a bit of herbal hop underneath. Light-medium orange-amber color, filtered, with a creamy head. Flavor is very well balanced, the caramel malt sweetness tempered by mildly earthy, herbal, fruity hop flavors. Bitterness remains low, however. Finish is lively and refreshing. Smooth palate, body is medium. Incredibly drinkable, overall a nice take on the style. Better than this brewery's Oktoberfest.

12 oz bottle. Clear orangish copper, just a bit of lasting head. Big malt nose, caramel and grapefruit and berries; malty, somewhat woody body, molasses and pungent herbs which show up late. Excellent, full-bodied, enormously flavorful.

Copper. Nose caramel, bready. Big malts, sweet toffee, slightly smoky. Richer than expected for the style, but quite good.

Tried this first out on the dock, with the brew warm out of the bottle and had an unpleasantly heavy, syrupy malt experience. Later, indoors playing sheepshead, I poured out a much more pleasant brew. The malts are strong and distinct, definitely leaning heavy, but they are generously accompanied by a bitter bite of hops. Good stuff.

UPDATED: MAR 2, 2003 A good brew. I have to say that I enjoyed this one. I was feeling festiv when I had this brew,and I had it in the middle of winter at that. Damn did it make it feel like summer though.