Capital Autumnal Fire

Brewed by Capital Brewery
Style: Doppelbock
Middleton, Wisconsin USA

Red orange foliage with no head. Sweet vinous aroma with light orange notes. Sweet malt and restrained hops with faint vanilla notes. Medium bodied. Jan. 2005.

Thanks to CaptainCougar for this bonus bottle! Deep amber orange red color, truly a bit fiery in appearance. Nose of deep caramel, mixed with the light floral notes you would expect in this style. Pleasant, and I’m not even a bit fan of bock beers in general. Floral hop palate fades into a sweet caramel and molasses tinged finish, with a touch of honey. Not totally my thing, but enjoyable. I would think most fans of bock beers would be drooling over this one.

Bottle. Thanks to joeybgood for another one! Pours a gorgeous copper with a small off white head. Light permeates this and it looks like an autumn sunset. Nose is very malty with light alcohol, ripe fruits, honey, and toffee. Smells very rich and very sweet. WOW! Taste is very fruity and sweet with toffee, brown sugar, light alcohol, honey, light spiciness, and syrup. Body is sticky and thick. Leaning towards being too syrupy but is still creamy and slick. Mild carbonation feel. Finish is more toffee, alcohol, honey and malts with light fruit. Indeed a snifter beer!

On tap at the brewery. They found a keg of this autumn release somewhere, and had it on tap. Dark amber, nearly brown in color. Very little head. Aromas of honey and caramel. It is very thick and syrupy, with coffee, caramel and toffee-style sweetness. There is some spicyness in the finish, although the syrupy sweetness overrides. A little over-sweet in my opinion, but very worth having a bottle or two.

Nil aroma for me. Amber with some head retention. Malty semi-sticky palate with some caramel and dried kiwi (note that this is not my first beer of the evening). Mouthfeel is somewhat thick, and finish is bland hops. Not as impressed as I should have been....wait a minute! This is 8.5 abv??? Wow! Well-masked--not a hint of alcohol throughout the swallow. I am now more impressed.

2004 bottle Huge thanks to Heemer77 for getting this one for me. Had been wanting to try it for a long time. Good auburn mixed with amber colored body on it, clear, with a small dark yellow/light tan head. Fruity notes are given off, as is a thick, robust caramel malt. Notes of alcohol are well intertwined with the sweetness, producing a fiery, rich smell. Flavor is much the same, though perhaps even more sweet than the aroma had set me up for. Sticky, coating caramel and toffee sweetness, with a light fruitiness in the background. Light creamy maple fudge notes add to the sweetness. Alcohol attempts to dry out the body, but dosent succeed in doing so. Spicy notes mix with the candied sweetness on the end and the finish is relatively quick. Medium body, with more flavor, sweetness, alcohol and hops than the body seems to support. Not overly complex, but pretty tastey. The Fish Tale Doppelbock later in the night would prove to be more complex.

Aged bottle from Styles drunk in early March ’07
Not exactly sure how old, but it definitely shows no negative signs of aging. Actually one of the best German beers I’ve had and much better than the more fresh bottle I had. I guess it couldnt be more than a 1.5 years old as it still poured a large head and was retained well.
The flavor and mouthfeel were about as perfect as I can imagine for a doppelbock. Delicious mix of light fruitiness, vanilla-cream maltiness, slight bits of toffee chewiness, moderate caramel and just a hint of spicy hops (earth, herbs, leafiness, clove) to give it a pinch of bitterness. Sweetness is perfect. Enough to give it a wonderful malty-creamy texture but not to the point of being cloying or inhibiting drinkability. Even a bit of red fruitiness (red apples, berries, cherries) to add complexity. Breadiness and acidity seem to have vanished (not that they are that persistent in this beer to begin with). I really like that, who needs all the sourness/breadiness/acidity? I don’t see what it adds, other than maybe a more authentic feel. Mouthfeel is perfect on this. I think I drank my glass in 4 sips and almost opened the second bottle that Chris sent me. Score is for this bottle.

Pours a ruby orange color...very strong sweet malt aroma. Sweet flavors of carmel and brown sugar. Nice and warm in the mouth with a hint of bitterness in the finish. Very nice blend of flavors...good for fall when the leaves begin to change color or as a winter warmer. Makes a good argument for best beer by Capital.

Minor rating update. 2005 bottle seemed more separated than the 2004 batch - alcohol was more discernable and the balance was a bit more off, thus the rerate where I’ve bumped the overall from 17 to 15. Nevertheless, the 2004 full review...

Pours an amber brown, reminiscent of an Oktoberfest. Smell and taste are rightly matched: rich and sweet. This beer matches its description well: a doppelbock with an Oktoberfest personality. Elements of caramel, malt, brown sugar and toasted cinnamon are predominant. This beer is very warming - even coming straight from the fridge, this beer doesn’t taste or feel cold - a testament to the subtlety high alcohol-by-volume content. Different, but good. Personally, I prefer Capital’s Dark Doppelbock.