Dark Doppelbock
Capital Brewery

Sweet pleasant aroma. Flavors of chocolate, fig, and maybe light molasses. Medium carbonation that seems correct for the rich taste. A bit sweeter than a traditional dark, but no foul on that. It has a nice warm feel to it and the aftertaste lingers nicely as well. I find this brew to be very well done. A fine drink indeed.

Appearance: A cascading bubble show builds a three finger head atop the clear Mahogany colored liquid; strong retention with a few strands of lace above the head

Smell: Toasted brown bread, caramel, fig, banana and clove

Taste: Toasted brown bread and caramel forward with fig, banana and clove developing; the fruit is prominent in the sweetness, after the swallow

Mouthfeel: Medium body with moderate to high carbonation

Overall: I would rate this higher as a Weizenbock than a Doppelbock; never had the banana and clove flavors in this style before

DD is a good example of its style and why I should drink more from this Wisconsin lager specialist.
DD Looks only slightly above average, undistinguished. Aromas tell me sweet malt is coming. And it does, yet Tastes are well-balanced throughout. In my mouth, medium to rich. Refreshing also.

Capital creates an interesting dilemma among micros. Now 40 years old, Capital should be ranked in the Top 20 for production and classified as a regional brewer with distribution pushing out of the Midwest and reaching both coasts. Capital's "stunted growth", let's call it for lack of a better phrase, is only part of the dilemma. The other part -- and it may be related -- is that they specialize in lagers. Today's lager trend (albeit smaller than other trends) still should have given Capital an opportunity to expand nationwide as it matured. Looking at Capital's website, I see competence but not ambition to spread the craft-Gospel. I guess that is OK, but after 40 years I'd like to have better reason to give them more Overall Hugs.

Appearance: Pours a clear, but deep mahogany, brown color with a strong tan head. (3.75)

Aroma: Strong aromas of brown bread, smooth caramel, chocolate, toffee. Some coffee cake and maple syrup. Toasty. (4.00)

Flavor: Strong flavors of brown bread, caramel, maple syrup and toffee. Toasted off the end. Smooth and lightly sweet. (4.25)

Feel: Medium to lighter body than expected. Lower carbonation. A lightly sweet mouthfeel that is relatively light and clean.(3.75)

Compared to New Glarus Gyrator 2/25: Milder head. Stronger aromas. Less sweet caramel, bourbon, booze. More brown bread and toast. Winner: Capital

Overall: A nice doppelbock here. Nice appearance, aroma, flavors. Wish it had a bit more of a full body though. Sort of lacking on the body and so the flavors fade quickly. Not to say it's a bad doppelbock, but based on some of the previous reviews I'd like to see a little bit more. Overall, drinks nicely, but I probably won't hunt it down to find it.
Updated rating 2/25: Caramel, brown sugar, toasty, Complex. Very good. (Rating: 4.06)

 

This beer has a short shelve life.
Flavor: heavy toasted bread, almost roasty. hints of toffee/caramel, micro amount of dark fruit/plum and maybe chocolate. Very smooth and easy drinking consider the abv and rather strong flavor. Abv is very well hidden . It's sweet but not cloyingly sweet. rather straight line flavor wise. nice beer, rather old school maybe but that's ok 4.09/5

 

L - Dark amber. Appears clear. Medium tall, tan head with good persistence.

S - Rich sweet maltiness. Syrup, toffee, raisin.

T - Rich and malty. Quite sweet. Black licorice and a little toast,

F - Full.

O - Nice rich malty beer.

12oz bottle. Poured out an opaque, jet-black color with a nice sized, brown head of foam. It smelled of chocolate, caramel malt and toffee. Nice dried dark fruit flavor with toffee, caramel and chocolate.

 

 

Poured from 12oz bottle into a tulip.

Appearance: rich amber-brown hue with a clear body and a finger of compact, frothy tan foam. Very attractive indeed.

Smell: very malty with a bready sweetness and a date-like fruity character. I like it.

Taste: bready, biscuity, a little bit sweet; there's almost a cola/kvass feel to this guy, it's so bready. I don't dislike it at all; it's very dopplebock-ey, if a little bit sweet for my taste.

Mouthfeel: medium-rich body with a low level of carbonation and a decent creaminess.

Overall: this beer is darn good, and definitely a good example of the style, if not exactly to my palate. But nice indeed!

 

Dark, brownish-orange body; relatively thin yet lasting head. Deep dark, roasted grain aroma; toffee; nuts. Rich, heavy sweetness in the taste; many similarities with the smell; cocoa and bitter chocolate. Heavy, smooth body; luscious on the palate.

This is one fine doppelbock. The flavors and feel come across as bold and decadent and very satisfying.