To the dismay of many beer drinkers, Capital Brewery’s famous dopplebock, Autumnal fire, is sold out at the majority of our stores. A couple of us watched a customer happily snatch up the last two six packs at our Willowbrook store a few weeks ago. We thought we would have to wait until next fall to enjoy this beer again, or would we? It wasn’t long after Autumnal Fire sold out that we had a beer from Capital called EisPhyre roll through our doors.

EisPhyre is like Autumnal Fire’s big brother or Autumnal Fire on steroids. EisPhyre is an eisbock created from Autumnal Fire. Basically what this means is that Capital froze a batch of Autumnal Fire, and then removed some of the water that had been frozen. This left capital with EisPhyre, which is really a batch of Autumnal Fire higher in alcohol and intensity.

We took the opportunity of drinking an Autumnal Fire before we cracked open an EisPhyre. EisPhyre is a shade darker of an amber color than its counterpart. It is well spiced, with a blast of caramel malt mid palate. It has a light sweetness to it, but it isn’t as sweet as Autumnal Fire. EisPhyre harnesses some earthy and nutty flavors, and is also smooth and creamy. The most surprising aspect of EisPhyre when contrasted with Autumnal Fire is the way it hid its alcohol. While Autumnal Fire clocks in at 7.8% ABV and had a warming boozy characteristic, any trace of alcohol in EisPhyre was nonexistent, despite it being 9.8% ABV. This is a true testament to this world class eisbock.

If you are in the mood for something unique, look no further than EisPhyre. Eisbocks are few and far between, especially top-notch ones. If eisbocks are not your fancy, but German style beers are, chances are that Capital Brewery has something for you. Their current seasonal, Winter Skal, is a delicious, warming red lager. Have you experienced an Eisbock before?