Capital City Pale Rider Ale
Capitol City Brewing

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From:
Capitol City Brewing
 
Maryland, United States
Style:
American Pale Ale
ABV:
5.5%
Score:
82
Avg:
3.45 | pDev: 13.91%
Reviews:
12
Ratings:
14
Status:
Retired
Rated:
May 21, 2012
Added:
Jan 26, 2004
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  1
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by hunteraw:
Photo of hunteraw
Reviewed by hunteraw from China

3.23/5  rDev -6.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
Appearance: Very clear, gold amber. Nice head, some lacing.

Smell: Pleasant hops aroma, but no one characteristic really stands out. A little "twang" in the background.

Taste: Lots of bitterness, which is pleasant enough, but there's something in the finish that I'm not particularly fond of. It reminds me of a characteristic of an APA that I'd brewed from extract. I've heard people talk about an extract "twang" and I'm curious if that's what I'm tasting here, too. Beermail me if you know that might or might not be the case with this beer, I don't want to judge unfairly. At least it finished dry.

Nothing particularly notable about mouthfeel or drinkability. Above average, not great.
Jul 03, 2006
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.5 by pebbs from Wisconsin

May 21, 2012
 
Rated: 3 by Jenray from Texas

Nov 23, 2011
Photo of Gavage
Reviewed by Gavage from Nevada

3.63/5  rDev +5.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Appearance: bright orange in color with a 1" head that last a while. Some spotty lacing develops during the session. Only a few slow rising carbination bubbles are visible.

Smell: orange and grapefruit citrus along with some caramel sweetness create a soft but pleasurable aroma.

Taste: caramel, orange slices, grapefruit peel, with hints of honey and green grapes. Bitterness is a bit piney and bold enough to balance this out nicely.

Mouthfeel: crisp at the start, a bit smoother at the finish. Aftertaste is brief as the citrus tones last the longest. Medium bodied beer.

Drinkability: easy to quaff this. Not an overwhelming APA, but enjoyable to accompany any meal at the brewpub.
Sep 20, 2007
Photo of BeerSox
Reviewed by BeerSox from Virginia

4.1/5  rDev +18.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
On-tap into pint glass.

A hazy light amber colored brew with a one finger head that held well. Stringy lace runs in rows down the glass.

The aroma is sharp northwest hops with a bit of honey, and an underlying biscuity malt flavor. Medium bodied with good carbonation, especially for a draught. The finish is mostly the hops showing through with a bit of the grain lingering.

I really enjoyed this beer, it was a solid brew found in a place where you wouldn't think you would be able to find a good freshly brewed beer. If you're in the harbor area of Baltimore, don't skip this one.
Jul 13, 2007
Photo of HopDerek
Reviewed by HopDerek from Pennsylvania

3.89/5  rDev +12.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Served in a pint glass on tap at the Baltimore Inner Harbor location.

Rich gold in color with very little room for head in the glass. Smells primarily of grapefruit, with some piney tones. Taste is very citrusy, but the taste ends abruptly. Very robust flavor at first, but ends quickly, somewhat watery. Good for an APA if there is nothing hoppier on tap.
Dec 17, 2006
Photo of alysmith4
Reviewed by alysmith4 from District of Columbia

2.45/5  rDev -29%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 2
I had read that this beer was "unbalanced" and "too hoppy" so I wasn't sure what to expect. The smell was sweet, and my first sip was very fruity and sugary. I agree that it's not balanced, but felt that it was lacking in hops - not overly hoppy. I was also surprised at how flat it was. I'm not sure if this is typical of this brew, but I think it needed more carbonation. If I were to dine there again, I would try the Amber Waves ale instead.
Oct 07, 2006
Photo of Phatz
Reviewed by Phatz from Pennsylvania

3.87/5  rDev +12.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4
Prior to this beer I had their Amber Waves Ale. It was surprising to me to see how similar these beers were. I had one in between so it wasn't exactly side-by-side, but I must say this is a hoppy APA. I like that.

Appearance: served clear gold with an off-white head.

Smell: It seemed hoppy for an APA. The nose is citrus and floral with a hint of sweet.

Taste: Plenty of bitterness in the taste. Not huge in any characteristics but lead by bitterness (more than hop flavor) and balanced with a touch of malt. (No diacetyl sometimes found in the style). The dry aftertaste linger with a vengeance.

Mouthfeel: This beer is medium / light in the mouth.

Drinkability: I see this as a beer to drink a pitcher of when eating wings and playing pool with the buddies.

Hope this is helpful.
Cheers!
Aug 28, 2006
Photo of Brent
Reviewed by Brent from Kentucky

4/5  rDev +15.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A nicely done pale ale, in what I'm coming to think of as an East Coast signature, sort of a Samuel Adams ripple effect. Solid malt with a slightly floral, slightly spicy hops bite. Finish was a touch acidic, but clean. Would hold its own at the table with any food.
Jun 29, 2006
Photo of TheSarge
Reviewed by TheSarge from Virginia

3.55/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
From the tap this brew looked pretty plain. It didn't have much head, and not much lacing.

This brew gives off hints of floral and orange characters, but nothing too dominating.

Surprisingly, this pale ale is loaded with hops. Not too bad because I like hops, but a little too much hops character for a pale ale. I taste characters of orange rind and spice.

I did like this brew enough to get a T-Shirt of it though, so I do recommend this brew.

TheSarge
Jun 24, 2006
Photo of sinistrsam
Reviewed by sinistrsam from Maryland

3.77/5  rDev +9.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Downtown location. Body was a golden copper color with a small white head. Light malt aroma, but plenty of bitter and flowery hops. Had a hoppy, bitter taste which finished rather dry. Nothing ot write home about. It was, however, refreshing and clean in the mouthfeel; I could definitely drink these all afternoon long.
Mar 27, 2006
Photo of Dogbrick
Reviewed by Dogbrick from Ohio

3.13/5  rDev -9.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Growler from the Baltimore location. Pours a light golden amber color with a medium eggshell white head. Really thin lacing. Light malt and hops aroma. Medium-bodied with a clean and bitter character almost like a Dortmunder. Floral hops and some malt but unfortunately kind of bland. The finish is lightly bitter, dry and lingering. Pretty plain in the grand scheme of things.
Sep 15, 2005
Photo of frank4sail
Reviewed by frank4sail from New Jersey

2.68/5  rDev -22.3%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Initial pour looked quite plain in the pint glass. Deep gold color highly filtered with a white sheen on top of the brew. Slightly sweet nose with a touch of malt. Not much hop detected. Unappealing metalic finish is left on the tongue aftertasting faint malt initially. Medium mouth. Just a regular pale ale.
Feb 04, 2004
Photo of GCBrewingCo
Reviewed by GCBrewingCo from North Carolina

3.48/5  rDev +0.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
The beer arrived at the table a crystal clear golden color. The head was white, lasting and laced the glass.

The aroma had only a slight hop aroma. Also present was a caramel malt aroma.

The flavor was crisp but very bitter. There really was no balance to the beer only bitterness.

The finish was dry and very bitter. The body was light and thin.

On tap.
Jan 26, 2004
Capital City Pale Rider Ale from Capitol City Brewing
Beer rating: 82 out of 100 with 14 ratings