Capital Fest
This wonderful beer has a deep golden hue and a smooth malty flavor with a clean pleasant finish. Imported German malts are used to create the flavor of this festive beer. Available May through July.
3.4
160 reviews
Middleton, United States
Community reviews
12oz bottle at IHG during the move on free burger night! Fest beer, really? As I was drinking this I kept thinking this was just a pale lager. Not that it was bad or offensive, just very delicate and light on typical fest beer flavors.
This is over rated. Darker yellow pour is marred by the head that dies quickly. Sweet, corny aroma with metallic notes. Sweet, corny flavor with metallic notes. Goes down quick, cold, and smooth, but so does the average macro light beer. This is over rated. On tap at Jimmys Del Bar.
Bottle - Fest returns! A beautiful amber pour with a small white head. Aroma is lightly toasted malt, rich and bready, with herbal hops melding perfectly into a nice balance. Taste is a bit watered down, but very smooth and malty. Clean through the finish, where the herbal hops kick in and bitter it just a bit. Terribly simple, but terribly refreshing, I underestimated this one a bit. Capital has done a great job of bringing back their good beers. They can sell all the Rustic and Island Wheat and Supper Club they want--just sell the good stuff, too.
If memory serves me correctly, only 50 ratings ago I made note and I quote "I hope someday soon Capital beer comes back to Iowa. I miss it." How grateful I was to find three varieties of Capital beer in a local shop today. It seems as though luck has shined upon us here in downtown Des Moines. The beer pours just a shade darker than deep golden heading in the orange territory but not quite there yet. The head is big, full, tight, billowy, and leaves a nice enough although somewhat spotty lace. The aroma is classic Märzen in every respect. That dominant mildly roasty mildly caramelized, primarily grainy and fresh maltiness. Of course coupled with those perfect herbal and earthy hoppy notes. Something about this aroma seems rustic and rural. The sorts of aromas you catch on a breezy day on a country drive. The flavor is richly malty and well balanced with plenty of herbal hoppiness. Each sip begs you almost do the palate double take. It starts off with a fruity and bright malt character with some deep notes of roastiness and some mild caramel. About the time you are to declare this a rich malty beer the hops just kick right into gear with that nice unforgiving type of bitterness and the awesome herbal notes of bitter herbs and horehound. I will admit it took me a bottle and a half to feel as strongly as I do about this beauty, but it was well worth the effort.
12oz bottle. Pours a crystal clear, golden colored body with a thin, white head that dissipates quickly and leaves a moderate lacing. Aroma is some pale malt sweetness and a bit corny. A light floral and grassy hop with a touch of bread and fruity, apricot-citrus. Flavor is similar. Somewhat floral and fruity up front with some pale malt sweetness and a touch of caramel. I get just a pinch of toast with a somewhat bready malt in there too. Finishes crisp with some floral fruits and a light grass with a light bitterness that gives off just a hint of earth. Dry with a moderate aftertaste following a light to medium body and moderate carbonation. Overall, an easy drinking beer. Not quite what I look for in an Oktoberfest, but decent. This is definitely anything but special, but it was pleasant enough.
Welcome back - its been too long! From bottle as this year’s summer seasonal! Pours orange-amber with fluffy white head. Some serious carbonation flowing up. Aroma of fresh hops and sweet caramel malts. Clean bitter hops up front fading to a beautiful malt backbone of toasted and caramel undertones. Slightly dry finish, medium mouthfeel. A solid German-style lager. About as close to an Oktoberfest as you’ll get this time of year.
Amber with light, white head / Nose of toast and burnt sugar / Light to medium body, balanced with a touch of hop creaminess, and a decent finish / Light, muddy flavors of burnt sugar and toasted grain / A pleasant enough beer.
Pours a golden body with a pretty malted aroma. Also has an akwardly overly malted flavor which was at first a little unpleasesnt. Flavors of soft berries, oak and grain. I may have to try this again.
12oz, twist-off bottle, black with gold label. Light amber color. Sweet malt aroma. Spicy herbal grass hop aroma. Flavor is sherry, allspice, even some black pepper spiciness. Finishes with a clean hop bitterness to balance out the malt character. Very nice.
Date: 03/15/2008
Mode: bottle
Source: Tasting, Cellar Party
Appearance: hazy dark gold, fine beige head, streaks of drippy lace,
Aroma: earthy aroma with a caramel sweetness and a slight metalic edge,
Flavor: sweet caramel malt flavor, nice bready character, lots of earthyness for balance, light bitter finish,
Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 11/20
Rating: 3/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **/4
Pours a light copper color with a white head Aroma is tons of caramel and malt. Then finishes with some nice peppery hops. Flavor is big on the malt and caramel. With nice peppery hop finish to help balance it out.
Caramely roasted aroma and flavor. Light malt.Has good clean smooth finish.
Im fairly sure i had this and not the oktoberfest, as the bottle just said FEST on it. Pretty typical, clean o fest brew, not bad. Decent hop bite for marzen as well. not bad.
This is easily my favorite beer. The flavor gets better as you drink more. Very smooth, malt, caramel and not too thick. I love it and can’t wait for it to come back!
Not a huge fan of Oktoberfest style but it wasn’t bad. This beer was really hyped up to me and I am failing to see why. Pretty run of the mill and definately nothing special. Pretty good just didn’t live up to what I heard about it.
Tasted 10/10/07. 12oz bottle. Filtered with a golden hue. Noisy effervescence. Slight ring of white head. Acceptable bready caramel nose. Light to medium bodied with overt effervescence. Caramel malts and tingling acidic citrus hops. Off dry and mildly sticky. Slight fruity flavor. Slight bitterness. Too hoppy. Only a moderate attempt. Touch watery. Ever so slight apple note. Meh...
Bottle, courtesy Bockyhorsey. Poured an amber color, very generous initial head with solid retention, nice lacing. The aroma was grassy hops and some caramel. Flavor was grassy hops over top of caramel and pilsner-like qualities, bread and honey. An added spiciness, yet the grassy hops reappear in the aftertaste (Saaz?) and keep this from being anything vienna-like. Not my preferred take on a marzen, yet for what it was, quite nice. Mouthfeel was malty / carbonated. Thanks, Bill and Wendy!
pours yellow with a one finger fluffy white head. aroma is malt with some hops and a little corn. has a light body with good lacing and carbonation. flavor is the same as aroma but a bit stronger. has a dry hop aftertaste it is not bad but nothing special. has some sediment floating around, kind of a souped up pilsner/ pale ale/ marzen. now as it warms some caramel malt and orange peel show up in the flavor and aroma. so i am bumping up the scores a little and the hops show up a little more also.
Bottle. Dominated by malts, this Oktoberfest beer is smooth and enjoyable. Light amber color with a small, off-white head. Bready, grainy aroma with notes of sweet caramel. The flavor is moderately sweet and lightly bitter. Nicely carbonated. Smooth texture and medium bodied.
In a shaker from the tap. Pours a light amber / pale orange color. Thin head that disappears. Malty, slightly fruity taste. A clear finish, and bitterness that makes this a good Marzen, if a bit fizzy in mouthfeel.
12 ounce bottle. Shaker glass. Cloudy yellow with a medium head. Aroma - grain and citrus. Flavor was malty with some caramel and a sort of fruitiness I could not put my finger on. Maybe a hint of orangle peel. Some bitterness and a crisp tangy mouthfeel. This one kind of grows on you.
Grainy, corny aroma, and a grainy, corny flavor. Tasty, and uncomplicated. Mildly peppery finish. Thanks to Buckybeer for the trade!
sampled on tap during the tasting portion of their tour, i didn’t take much notes but almost all the beers tasted extremely similar. nose of biscuit and noble hops. flavor of biscuit, cookie, and hops. straight forward and drinkable.
Poured a nice amber with a medium sized head that left no lace. Aroma of grass and bittering hops. Taste was that of lightly rosted malts along with wome wheat and hop afterbite. A good drinking summer beer, more of a marzen rather than oktoberfest though.
7/27/2007: Capital Fest Beer is extremely pale amber (more like a golden/light orange) in color with a frothy off-white head. It is very clear with a moderate+ level of carbonation. When did Oktoberfest beers become so light and fizzy in appearance?! The aroma has a slightly European maltiness to it that is overshadowed by honey (actually, the honey seems to disappear as the beer warms up a little bit). Again, it just doesn’t seem quite right for an Oktoberfest beer... Well, the appeance and aroma might be slightly off to me, the the flavor is pretty close! Very malty and smooth with flavors of toasted malt, biscuit, and a hint of that smooth and tasty European lager characteristic. It finishes clean and slightly with a noticeable noble hop presence. Very nice. The body of this beer is medium-light to medium and appropriate for the style. The taste of this beer has rekindled memories of Oktoberfest in Muchich and restored my interest in what seems to be a style that has long since morphed from what it used to be...
12 oz bottle from buckybeer. Thanks Mark. I appreciate it! Rating #119 for this beer...
12 oz bottle. Poured a clear golden-light orange color. Head was bubbly, off white and reduced over a minute or two to a thin film. Not much lace was left behind. Aroma was of grassy hops and malty cereal grain. Spicy and dry with subdued noble hops, sweet corn, and ample carbonation. Not bad.
12 oz. bottle, labeled "Capital Fest Beer." Pleasant, malty aroma features honey, grape juice, and cookie elements, all of which are also present in the flavor. Pours a clear, sparkling gold with a moderate amount of off-white head. Paler in color than most Oktoberfest beers. Produces extensive lacing. Tastes like a cross between a traditional Oktoberfest and a German pilsner. Biscuity, lightly toasted malt flavor. Dry, hoppy finish. Moderate body. Oily, crisp, and lively in the palate. Easy to drink. Capital Fest Beer is a good, refreshing lager. I’m not a big fan of the Oktoberfest style, so I appreciate the pilsner-esque character of this example.
12 oz. bottle courtesy of Bockyhorsey - Pours a hazy golden color with a one finger thick off white head. Nice lacing. Aroma is toasty malt and esters. Flavor is toasted malt with a tad bit of friutiness. Palate is smooth. Medium body. A good beer. Thanks Bill and Wendy.
Pours medium gold with a whispy white head. Pretty big carbonation. Little bubbles sticking all around the side of the glass. Aroma is light raw malts, hints of citrus, hops, corn and wheat. Smells of a cold morning dew. Flavor is sweet malts, candied corn, light hops. This one was very nice.
Clear amber with large quickly diminishing head. Same old Capital aroma, slight malt. Flavor is red apple, a little citrus. Crisp med body with little carb. Same old, same old.