Muskie Capital Double Honey Maibock

Brewed by Muskie Capital Brewery
Style: Heller Bock
Hayward, Wisconsin USA

[Growler, thanks Skyview!] Old rating. Pours reddish-amber with a good light tan head. Very yeasty aroma with light sweet notes and some nuttiness. Taste is sweet up front as well, then big malt, light hazel nut again, and some caramel. Medium mouthfeel with a long finish. A bittersweet entry as this is possibly my last backlogged Cellar’s Tasting Skyview growler entry. Thanks again for all of the beers, Bob!

[Growler] shared by skyview. Pours a nice looking copper color with a small soapy head. Aroma is sweet malts, some citrus, and loads of honey. Flavor is very sweet, fairly rich, a little metallic, and some caramel.

From a growler. Amber color and a thick head. Dominant character of this beer is grain. Sweet caramel and some hops. Simple but solid. Medium palate.

Sampled on draught: Pours a semi hazey amber colour with a medium sized frothy white head. Aroma is toasty, brown sugar, and caramel. Taste is very creamy on the palate, well carbonated, with semi sweet flavors throughout each sip. caramel, over ripe apples, and cranberries.

Small pour (approximately 3 oz.), on tap at Gitchee Gumee Brewfest in Superior, WI on 4-5-08. This was the eighth of 12 beers that I rated (out of about 20 total beers that I tried). Called "Muskie Capital Honey Double Maibock" at the festival. This should be listed as a doppelbock instead of a heller bock. Pours a hazy to cloudy dark gold to light amber color. Short-lasting beige head. Sweet, classic heller bock smell; tart, honeyish, almost sour aroma. Sweet, honey taste. Alcohol noticeable in the flavor. Too sweet for my taste. Medium body. Smooth in the palate.

Somehow this brewery’s location in Hayward put the words of "touristy" and "novelty" in my mind rather than "brewing credentials" before I sampled this particular beer. I was brought in by the name...seemed more interesting than their other beers. And I found it a bit novel, but not especially commendable...sadly validating my pre-judged notions a bit. This beer is sweet and boozy, like many maibocks or doppelbocks that do not contain honey, and the perception that the inclusion of honey makes beer "smooth" was not particularly valid with this beer. If anything this beer was sweeter than other maibocks, and had a graham cracker character that I didn’t particularly care for. In addition, I was genuinely bothered by high levels of diacetyl I noticed once the beer warmed up in my hand a bit, which I thought inconsistent with the style and difficult to drink. A novel name, and a bit of a unique approach, but I can’t recommend the final outcome.

Watery, not much going on the nose of this hazy amber beer. Sweet malt flavor with sour apple taste common to all the beers here.

Fourth stop during May ’07 brewpub tour, brought us to the Muskie Capital Brewpub in Hayward, WI. Fresh at the brewpub on tap, pours a semi-cloudy burnt coppery amber color brew with an average off-white head that dissolves very slowly to a fine film. Aroma of sweet buttery toast, bananas, a touch of apple juice, and sweet sugar. Taste is smooth, creamy, medium body and more sweetness on the tongue. Finish is sweet and little bitterness. The brewmaster at Muskie Capital is the same brewmaster at South Shore in Ashland. The beers are almost identical in taste except the Hayward location version has a smoother, creamy finish.