Capital Brewery
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Brewing |
| Founded | March 14, 1984 in Madison, Wisconsin, United States |
| Founder | Ed Janus |
| Headquarters | Middleton , United States |
Area served | Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota |
Key people | Ed Janus (founder) |
| Products | Beer (24 varieties: 9 year-round, 5 seasonal, 10 limited editions) |
Capital Brewery is a brewery situated in Middleton, Wisconsin. Established on March 14, 1984, by Ed Janus in Madison, Wisconsin, it occupies a building that was formerly an egg processing facility. Brewing operations commenced in 1986, and the brewery currently produces in excess of 20,000 barrels each year. Its lineup features 24 distinct beers: nine brewed year-round, five seasonal varieties, and ten limited editions, with the majority adhering to the stringent Reinheitsgebot standards.
This brewery has received numerous accolades at events like the Great American Beer Festival and The Great Taste of the Midwest. From 1998 through 2004, it was voted Madison's Favorite Local/Regional Beer in the The Capital Times/Wisconsin State Journal Reader's Choice Awards. Accumulating over 240 significant honors across more than 15 categories, its flagship Wisconsin Amber has been available in cans since 1997.
In 1998, Capital Brewery earned the distinction of "America's #1 Rated Brewery" from the Beverage Testing Institute's World Beer Championships and achieved a global ranking of seventh place. The brewery claimed the Grand National Champion title at the U.S. Open Beer Championship in 2013, securing six medals during the competition.
Distribution extends across four Midwestern states: Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, and Minnesota. The facility includes an indoor Bierstube along with a spacious outdoor Bier garten named 'Middleton's Backyard,' which hosts events throughout the year. A highlight is Bockfest, held annually on the last Saturday of February to mark the release of Capital Blonde Doppelbock—an award-winning beer that has garnered six platinum medals at the World Beer Championships over the last ten years.
Since its inception in 2009, the Capital Brewery Bike Club has expanded to more than 400 members and organizes biweekly rides from April through October, departing from the Bier garten.
Annual
- Supper Club
- Special Pilsner
- Wisconsin Amber
- Capital Dark
- Mutiny IPA (the brewery’s inaugural India Pale Ale)
- Island Wheat
Seasonal
- Maibock (March–May)
- Lake House (June–July)
- Oktoberfest (August–October)
- Autumnal Fire (September–December)
- Winter Skal (November–February)
Limited release (including selections from the 'Capital Square Series')
- Blonde Dopplebock (Winter/Spring)
- Fishin' in the Dark (Summer)
- Dark Dopplebock (Fall/Winter)
- Jobu (Brown Ale aged in rum barrels, Winter)
- Capital Coffee Dark (Munich Dark infused with coffee and vanilla)
Beers currently on hiatus
- Bavarian Lager
- Brown Ale (hibernating since Spring 2009; occasionally reintroduced as Jobu)
- Capital 1900 (hibernating since 2006)
- Hop Cream
- Weizen
- U.S. Pale Ale
- Dark Voyage (dark IPA)
- Ghost Ship (white IPA)
- Grateful IPA (red IPA)
- Jacked Maibock (Spring)
- Capsized
- Appleanche (Fall)
- Pumpkinataur (Fall)
- Eternal Flame (Fall/Winter)
- Schwarz in a Box (Fall/Winter)