Capital Fest

Formerly brewed at Capital Brewery
Style: Oktoberfest/Märzen
Middleton, Wisconsin USA

Dark gold to pale amber in color. Head is slight but extremely rich, leaving plenty OK off-white lacing. Typical malt-hop imbalance aroma, slightly acrid, not a good balance overall. Flavor is buttery (more precisely "like margarine", but American Midwesterners will refer to margarine as butter so I suppose I may as well). The imbalance continues but the hops seem to win out, allowing compromised elements of honey and corn flakes to show. This brewery puts out much better -- maybe I got a bad bottle, I’m going to try again from another source and update this rating if necessary.

Copper. Nose caramel, bready. Big malts, sweet toffee, slightly smoky. Richer than expected for the style, but quite good.

I was not impressed with this beer. I like all the other beers from capital, but this is by far my least favorite. I don’t know if the beer was old or I just don’t like this style of beer, but that is yet to be proven.

Very little hop and malt aroma. NIce appearance, orange with a lace that lasts until the end of the beer. Flavors of malt, yeast, and bread. The malt is dominant and there is a lot of it. Dry aftertaste.

First I do not agree that this is an Oktoberfest, a Vienna yes, but not an Oktoberfest. Capital produces some of the finest Lagers in the world and this is a fine example. A bold golden brown color with a smallest white head. A strong caramel malt aroma with an almost meadow like grass background. A slightly sweet taste with a grassy hop flavor that finely balances this beer. Alot of body and taste in what many consider an inferior style. This brewery knows what they are doing.

(12 oz bottle: Obtained in trade with hopdog, thanks Steve!) This is a pretty nice little Oktoberfest. In both the flavor and the nose, it’s malty, bready, toasty and slightly caramely, but also a bit too sugary sweet as well, which is what I’m less enthused about. Medium bodied and nicely carbonated. Light golden amber in color and slightly hazy in appearance. The off-white head is pretty small initially, and fades to a small rim fairly quickly, leaving on a few dots of lace on the glass. Decent, but if I’m in the mood for an Oktoberfest, I’d probably not reach for this one because there are several I enjoy more.

A nice spicy, very quaffable brew. Best enjoyed outside at the bier garten. The beer is a little drier than the Octoberfest, but lacks a bit of the body. Color is richer than the beer, more of an amber. Very clean on the tongue, and with enough maltiness to please.

Pours is a murky brown. Aroma is spicey and peppery. Flavor is molasses and lots of malt. The after taste is hoppy and fruity with the right amount of spice. A very tasty brew.