Capital Dark

Capital Brewery, Middleton, WI first produced its Capital Dark in 1986 and it took me this long (I think) to try it.  I’ve had plenty of their other offerings, from bottles, on tap, at their brewery tour, but this one caught my eye the other day as I looked for dark beer for my wife.  Yes, I’m a thoughtful husband.  There’s a good whiff of yeast off the 3/4″ beige head, an average amount of carbonation and a bit of lacing.  The deep ruby/brown hue is appealing, as is the roasted malt notes eminiating from the brew.  Capital Dark is medium-bodied, not really flavorful, but it is lightly smoky, maybe, slightly yeasty and there is some roasted caramel present.  The finish is a touch bitter and dry.  This reminds me of really good homebrew, but I don’t want homebrew at $7.99 a six pack.     66/100 Dark Lager

Great Lakes Sinker

That creative and obscure play on words was brought to you by the number XM57.  Great Lakes Sinker also describes Edmund Fitzgeral Porter from Great Lakes Brewing Company.  Not that it’s bad, it just tastes like everything else in it’s class.  It is a multiple award winning brew, just the same.  It has that homebrewy, yeasty smell, coffeeish, roasty, carmelly vibe going on, and it looks good in the glass.  I had it on tap at Ted’s Montana Grille.  The waiter was clueless as to what it was when I asked if they had anything new.  Kind of indicative of Ted’s these days.  Service and food quality has consistently gone down since they opened and were our favorite steakhouse ever.  I don’t know, maybe the whole experience dulled me to the joy of beer, what with the gristly undercooked steaks and sad asparagus.  Anyway, there’s so much more out there, I won’t go out of my way looking for Edmund Fitzgerald.  The beer was better than the song, though.