Capital Hop Cream

Brewed by Capital Brewery
Style: Cream Ale
Middleton, Wisconsin USA

Serve in Footed Pilsner, Lager glass

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On draught during the Wisconsin Craft Beer Festival 2012 in Chilton, Wisconsin. Pours a clear golden amber colored brew with an excellent sized off-white head that some good retention and lacing. Aroma of both floral and tropical fruit-like hops, some bread dough and a touch of creamed corn. Taste is medium to full bodied, soft carbonation with flavors of tropical fruits, a hint of citrus zest and multi-grain malts. Finish is semi-dry with a lingering IPA-ish bitterness that slowly disappears.

12 oz. bottle. Bright orange pour with eggshell colored medium head. Aroma of fruity hops, juicy fruit gum, mild mint, some pin. Light bread dough and cookie dough. Flavor of strong citrus hops. Lots of lemon and orange, as well as a slight creaminess. The creaminess comes out more as you drink on. I assume this was the intent: to male a hoppy cream ale. It’s an interesting beer. I like it. It drinks easily. It’s medium bodied. Mild carbonation. Finishes on a bitter hop note.

Bottle from Kelly’s liquors. Aroma not great. Want it to be faintly piney but with smelly sock aspect added, it doesn’t work. Slightly hazy gold body. Lasting white head. Although one of Capital’s most interesting beers, it A) pales in quality compared to Eisphyre and B) is a below avg IPA. Needs a little more sweetness for balance. Love the name "hop cream" but it establishes an expectation that isn’t met. Improved as it warmed and initial impression was likely unfairly skewed by the Racer 5 IPA I had just prior. I’d give it another go, but still waiting for Capital to raise their game.

UPDATED: APR 16, 2012 Capital ale house. I’d love to give this a longer, proper review, but it doesn’t deserve it. So ummm, tastes and smells like drinking a swimsuit doused in lotion. Just no.

Heidel House Brewfest. Golden/light amber in color. Nose is an amazing burst of pine and citrus hops, fresh and earthy. Also a bit of sweet pale malt. Flavor is a light to moderate pine and citrus bitterness mixed with an odd fake malt sweetness and a hint of vanilla. Light hop residual and some malt sweetness. Just fell apart in the flavor department for me.

Draft at Capital Ale House. Filtered orange-tan. Mellow, creamy, light hop tones, not intense. Mellow, medium bodied. Pretty nice balance, straightforward. True to style, pretty good. Orange cream.

On tap at Sugar Maple. Pours a clear gold with an amber hue and a white head that dissipates slowly to the edges and laces slightly. Aroma has a nice combination of pine and citrus hops backed nicely by a sweet cream note. Flavor has more of a cream note with notes of citrus and pine hops.

On tap at Rumpus Room. Poured clear, brighter golden with a short-lived white head. The aroma picked up fresh, mostly citrusy hoppage over nondescript pale malts.. clean, and I think the extra hops really helped. The flavor found soft pale and lesser bready malts surrounded by fresh floral and citrus hops.. again very clean, with a nice hit of bitterness on the fairly quick, smooth finish. Lighter-bodied and buttery on the palate, with a very good feel and flow to it.. moderate bitterness.. very easy drinkin’, and better than expected.

Had to try a glass of this while at their tap house in Madison. Very nice beer with plenty of hop flavor/aroma. Not bitter in the slightest, just full of citrus, pine, and floral aroma. Yum!

On tap at Capital Tap House on GTMW eve 2011. Clear amber with a creamy brownish head. Aroma of malt, wheat, light citrus and noble hops. Taste of caramel, wheat, pale/bready malt, lemon and mild noble hops. Thin and refreshing but kind of bland, though the hop addition helps it somewhat.