Capital Oktoberfest

Brewed by Capital Brewery
Style: Oktoberfest/Märzen
Middleton, Wisconsin USA

(12oz bottle) Crystal clear amber with small off-white head. Aroma is moderately sweet, evokes hefeweizen -- banana and wheat, with light spice, caramel. Taste is medium sweet, banana, some caramel, light spice, earthy. Light-medium body. Not bad, but not what I would call a traditional oktoberfest beer.

Pours to a dark amber body with a huge foamy white head. Excellent lacing. I should take a photo... The aroma is floral hops, caramel malts, spicy hops. The flavor seems fake. Sweet and malty, banana, light floral hops. Seems like malt extracts and canned esters. 6, 5, 5, 3, 11 = 3.0

Pours to a filtered glowing deep rusty orange body with a thin wispy white head. The aroma is wet leaves, maple, light cherry juice, frosting. The flavor is maple, sweet bready malts, hazelnuts, and fruitcake. Didn’t at all make me think Oktoberfest. Sweet palate lingers.

Nothing about this really excited me. Poured a clear dark amber/orange with a light off-white head. Some floral hops, roasty caramel malt, and spices hit the nose. Malt-dominated palate with a respectable spice factor on the finish. Flavor picked up primarily caramel and Munich malts. Decently-crafted, but not as rich as I had hoped.

Decent Oktoberfest. Caramel nose similar to an ESB. Long lasting sweet bitter finish. Not enough malt to be a true Oktoberfest, but definitely can pass as a really good amber lager.

Pours a clear deep copper with a thin, fizzy white head. Aroma boasts lots of thick sweet caramel malt and a touch of noble hops and German lager yeastiness. Body starts very malty, sweet, and full with a good bittering hop balance toward a crisp, yet creamy, malty finish. A very enjoyable Oktoberfest.

Much like the Summer Fest but not quite as robust. Found myself wanting a little more sweetness and body.

Bronze in color with a small, off-white, bubbly yet creamy head, which maintains creaminess throughout the sampling, leaving formidable lacing on the glass. Aroma is sweet and spiced; malty, with characteristics of cedar and musk. When the beer hits the palate, it tastes slick and stretched out. Malts are discernable - a mild sweetness from caramel and Munich malts, but less aggressively so because of lighter pilsener malts that have been incorporated. A mild spiciness hits the back of the tongue, coupled with a grainy tactile presence. Malt sweetness is doubling back again as it warms, taking on a taste reminiscent of a caramel apple. Some light tobacco esters and a small trace of alcohol comes through in the last 2 ounces of the remaining brew. This Oktoberfest is well-balanced in taste, but is not very rich. Malts and hops are proportional, but I like more of a malt backbone in my Oktoberfests. I’m hoping Capital’s Fest can deliver in the areas where this Oktoberfest was less aggressive.

Another fine example of the Marzen style Oktoberfest beers. Quite similar to Summit’s version. Has that wonderful sweet malt flavor that you just want to leave on your tongue. Solid all around--nothing offensive. Very pleased to have found this one by accident. Will look for it again next fall!