Capitol City Fuel

Brewed by Capitol City Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Arlington, Virginia USA

Serve in Snifter

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Draught chalice at the Downtown location on 1/20/07
A lighter-than-usual appearance for an Imperial stout, with the light mahogany body giving way to large amounts of crimson and lighter tan-auburn hues. Moderate carbonation in the liquid, and though its still quite a dark beer, a medium clarity still reveals very good conditioning and borderline transparent/transluscency. Small, foamy, dark beige head shows moderate retention, leaving behind little specks of lace.
Highly aromatic coffee immediately fills the nose. Not aggressively bitter/black but still has a slight edge to it that matches the character of an imperial stout quite nicely. I believe they used Sumatran coffee. Despite the slight burnt edge, light caramel-chocolate notes from the malt are fully supportive behind it. Very soft, and they nearly take all of the edge off, allowing just a slightly sweet, chocolate-latte-like aroma, with a smooth chalkiness, to really wrap about the senses. The Imperial stout character is very reserved, and you get no heavy roastiness, and almost no fruitiness. But the coffee works well in place of roasted or black malt, giving it a more dry aroma, but yet not harsh or "heavy". Vanilla and marshmallow definitely sit on the finish, with a bit of alcohol warmth that seems well-placed. Definitely more of a Strong coffee stout, than an Imperial stout with coffee, but whatever, who cares. Reminds me of Peche Mortel without any of the coffee grind or beany aroma that has been seen in some batches.
Surprisingly light in body and in overall texture. The liquid seems very smooth, almost fluffy and goes down extremely easily. Coffee gives way to lightly sweet chocolate notes, some bitterness and then transitions in to a very chewy, fudge and raisin/prune-like finish, alive with coffee, but not nearly as dominated by it as the aroma would lead me to expect. The chewiness only hangs on briefly, and then some alcohol dryness thins it back out and the final impression is a bit thin overall with not quite enough masking of the alcohol. Very soft, moderately engaging carbonation seems perfectly appropriate. Any less and it would be undercarbonated and probably too coffee-dominated. Any more and the body/texture would be too light, if it isn’t already. Not a traditional imperial stout, for sure; lots of chocolate, fudge, marshmallow and vanilla, and certainly coffee, but no thick caramel or roasted malts. Mild on the bitterness and only a light pinch of hop greenness. I’d imagine the lack of roast is intentional, to allow the coffee to shine, which it does. I see some other raters complain of its lightness, and there’s no denying it’s one of the lighter imperials I’ve come across. But it’s hardly much of a problem. It’s still full of flavor, flawless and drinkable. Coffee didnt seem stale at all.

I really enjoyed this stout. A black pour with a brown head. Strong aroma of chocolate, coffee and caramel. Medium-heavy body with lots of dark fruit and chocolate upfront then coffee and alcohol. Really good.

Draft @ the Capital Hill location. Pours a black color with a small off-white head. Has a roasted malty chocolate and coffee aroma. Roasted malty chocoalte and coffee flavor with weak hints of licorice. Has a roasted malty chocolate coffee finish.

Tap at the DC location - served in an overflowing goblet, khaki head and very dark. Assaults you with the coffee, but has a nice creamy mouth feel. Very drinkable.

On tap at downtown location: Pours a dark opaque with a thin spotty-lacing beige head. Has a rich sweet dark caramel and chocolate nose with a healthy dose of espresso. Body starts with a chewy dark malty sweetness and good roasty coffee complexity with a touch of dark chocolate and bittering hops in the finish. A fairly smooth and dangerously drinkable coffee imperial stout.

On tap the brewpub poured into an awesome goblet, another bar tender recommendation. The description lists this a russian imperial stout finished with 101 pounds of locally roasted coffee...The beer pours dark brown with a light tan head, not much to look at...The aroma is pretty nice roasted coffee dominates as you can imagine but this is fairly bounced some bitter chocolate and a little coffee...The taste doesn’t translate the balance as it is totally dominated by the roasted coffee. That is sometimes ok, but the coffee comes across as day old so it isn’t appealing. Too one noted as well, making this a touch boring and a difficult sipper. The feel is really light and doesn’t help add any depth to this. Not a ris worth trying unless you love day old black coffee.

This was a draft pour at the downtown location on New York Ave. It came a jet black with a medium sized tan hear with good lacing. Nose of roasted malts with . Flavor is heavy malts with lost of chocolate and coffee flavor with some ripe fruit and it has a dry bitter finish. Quite decent.

Draft. Pours near black with a tan head. Espresso aroma with molasses and roasted malts. The flavor has coffee, roasted malts, milk chocolate, and molasses. Solid.

2/20/11. On tap. Opaque black pour with a small brown head that sticks. Nice chocolate aroma laced with coffee. Big chocolate flavor subtley spiked with luscious coffee flavor. Their best beer by far.

Served on draft at the Shirlington location. Apparently this is some kind of regular beer, but this is the first time I’ve had it. And I like it. Pours a dark brown color with a large creamy tan head. Good head retention and lacing. Aroma of rich coffee, caramel and milk chocolate. The taste is coffee, roasted malts, milk chocolate, leafy hops. Medium bodied. Nice beer.

Tap at Shirlington. No visible head when it arrived, but very nice black that’s dense. Fresh espresso and dark coffee aromas are the prevailing force here, but there is a slight roasted quality as well. It’s almost like drinking straight coffee, and there aren’t really too many underlying layers...not bad but not really all that interesting. Body was too thin.