Capital Bavarian Lager

Brewed by Capital Brewery
Style: Dortmunder/Helles
Middleton, Wisconsin USA

Bottle. Pours a clear golden with a small white head. Aroma of corn, hay, sweet malts, and bananas. Tastes of sweet malts, grain and corn. Medium carbonation, light bodied. Good beer, for what it is.

Dark yellow almost copper body with a bit of a white head. Nice aroma of honey, hay, and rosewater. Spicy earthy flavor with a nice sweet backbone with a tongue tickling carbonation and bitterness that is a bit floral and grass like. Dry finish with a bit of lingering toffee and honey with some more hay like flavor. If more lagers like this were around I would drink more lagers. Lucky Wisconsin bastards. Ap-4 ar-8 tas-9 pal-4 ov-18

Actually a fairly nice beer. If one wants a mild beer that has a nice German flavor this is good. Similer to Weihensthpaner or Hacker Pshore Munich if not as distinct. A good beer to break in new comers who previously drank Budweizer swill.

12 oz bottle

Golden transparent body with a rich, thick two finger head that took a long time to fade. Scents of bananas, wheat, smoke and cherries wafted up from the glass as I admired it. A first sip revealed banana, grapefruit and caramel within a nice full textured impression. Afterwards, there was a creamy aftertaste with hints of vanilla, wheat and maltiness. A subtle smokiness underlies the entire experience, becoming more obvious as you get to the end of the bottle. Overall, this was a great beer for either early spring or late fall when the weather is cool.

2006 bottle from the ever-generous StewardofGondor, consumed on 4/6/06
Wow! A big head pours on this one. That’s something I dont usually see on Capital brews. Some light, spotty lacing as it recedes, which it does fairly rapidly, remaining at partial cover. Head is light straw in color, with the body being a lightly hazed golden-brass.
Straw and zesty grass, rather herbal in nature, rise up, invigorating the senses and clearing the way for soft honey and almond paste-like malts. Actually quite light on the yeast, at this point, and no munich malt that I can discern. This makes for a softer, more easygoing, American-like pils. But oh those hops! Grassy, herbal and dry. Well apparent, providing much interest, and importantly, a wonderfully balanced nose.
Flavor shows light yeast up front, adding a light lager yeast bite that combines with the hops, to balance the doughy (warm, freshly made honey-dough) malts. Breadiness evolves, rather aggressively (relatively speaking) on the end and a fair amount of yeastiness builds as well. Hops become more muted and heavily dry out, giving just a hay and sweat-like note, that sort of melds in to the doughy malts, losing some of its balancing appeal. Bit of cidery notes, as is bound to happen when bottling a low gravity helles, and, unfortunately, a touch of alcohol noted in the aroma. But as it warms fully and breathes (and the head completely disappears), it remains smooth, mostly clean and with a remnant of snappy grassy-like hops (however dull) on the end, easygoing maltiness, with correct attenuation and little wateriness. Low carbonation could, perhaps, use a boost, but its a minor complaint. Not going to confuse this for, say, Wolnzacher Helles or Cisco Summer of Lager, but that’s ok, this one hits many of the marks.

12oz bottle via trade with DavidP - Thanks David! - Pours golden with a short creamy white head that faded pretty quick but laced a little the rest of the way. Aroma is of dough, bread, yeast and some sweet malts. Flavor is very sweet as well. Bread, dough, honey, some light grains. Light bavarian hops on the finish. Palate is light and airy. Would make a very nice summer session brew.

Light gold. Smells quite sweet, bit bready. Flavor is VERY sweet, not cloying or painfully sugary but very much on the sweet side. Malts are somewhat grainy and hops are pretty minimal. An excellent example of a lawnmower beer, but nothing much beyond that.

12oz bottle from brewery’s shop. Golden color, bread aroma. Bread like taste and sweet finish. Pleasant and easy drinking lager.