Capital Vintage Ale

Brewed by Capital Brewery
Style: American Strong Ale
Middleton, Wisconsin USA

A bit fizzy on the opening and a quickly dissipating head. Weak lacing which makes me aware that this might not be as thick as I would hope. Fizzy CO2 level which really took away from the body and mouthfeel. A bit thin for this style and the flavours just aren’t where they should be for a vintage ale. Sticky sweet malt presence and a weak hop profile helped to confuse the issue here. Again with the CO2 levels as well which took away from the experience. The one positive to this is that the alcohol levels were hidden fairly well with a bit of a fusel character coming on late in the finish. Disappointed.

slightly cloudy orangish color w/ a nice small bubbled off white head w/ some good lacing. Aroma is first a strong carmel and vanilla with hints of toffee candies and hints of alcohol and candied sugars. A very sweet smell. Palate is well coated lightly creamy and leaves a lingering taste in your mouth. The falvor is true to the aroma in that it’s quite sweet... plums and nectorines come out as well as the vanilla, carmel, and toffee. There is a good carbonation that seems to leave a sweet taste on my tongue when held that I can’t quite place. Overall a bit different but I like it.

Totally transparent and pristine pale brass in color with an oily dust layer residing on top. Luckily the head retains well. Aroma is compacted with rich caramel corn, vanilla and peanut brittle outtakes. Crispy prairie fields and stale toffee box contents. Musty mothballs catch onto caramel-lacquered brittle board hanging on the nose hairs. Flavor packs a bigger punch. Vanilla and honey butter smear an oil on the palate while caramel cubes perpetually saturate graham cracker bases. A touchy tongue chafing is wrapped under buttery brandy in a syrupy, sugary leche flan ordeal. Toffee – melted – clings to a boozy lacquered box while nectar sweetness has a touch of floral rose to it, sweetened by natural vanilla blossoms. Stinging bee takes the honey sweetness into a punctuating alcohol presence. Fuller-bodied and quite a deal more bitter than Kirby tends to lean toward. English toffee lozenges and crispy honey comb cling to the finish.

Aroma: Caramel malt, some hop bitterness, perhaps raisin, definite strong alcohol presence. Appearance: Average size, white, frothy head. Head is fully lasting. The body is clear with a reddish amber hue. Flavor: Initial flavor is sweet and finishes with a light to moderate bitterness. The duration of the finish is average to long. Palate: The body is full, the texture is creamy and the carbonation is lively. Finishes with a significant alcoholic presence. Nice, strong, full bodied ale that goes down good all night long.

Bottle from ughsmash. Thanks again Jason. Poured this and started to drink it before I looked it up. Wow. really surprised by the ABV. couldn’t tell. Flavor was pretty complex with some pear syrupiness and some underlying bitterness from the hops.Very interesting but somewhat muddled.

(Bottle via trade with <A HREF=http://www.ratebeer.com/View-User-38026.htm target=blank>buckybeer, thanks Mark!) Decent beer but kind of weak flavor-wise...Pours hazy goldish amber with a finger or so of off-white head. Aroma kind of difficult to pinpoint (not the usual suspects), but I’ll go with corn syrupy sweetness. Mouthfeel a bit prickly, medium-full, sticky, head is rather fizzy. Overall could be smoother. Nice lacing. Flavor is kind of mildly candy-like, a little sugary/syrupy, and some hot alcohol oozes out. Kind of feels like a barleywine that might do well with some aging, although not sure how much flavor profile would improve. Some biting bitterness, esp. in finish.

Poured a hazy golden with a fizzy white head. Aroma of grapefruit and orange citrus hops with a touch of honey wheat bread. Flavor is strong and complex but a tad generic, with sweet honey, alcohol, and soem grapefruit and grass hops. Really tastes like a hoppier, stronger version of their doppelbocks, which isn’t a bad idea but didn’t produce something as good or distinctive as their other products.

Poured a lightly hazed golden orange color with a small white head. The aroma is fruity with notes of apples, golden raisins, brown sugar and light earthy hop. Sweet malty aroma with mostly fruity notes. Some apple flesh, toffee, and earthy hop. Semi-sweet finish. Nice warming sensation. Medium to full body.