Ska Brewing Company- Dementia (Aged And Confused): Merry X-Mas To Me!!
Monday, December 27, 2010 at 6:31PM | by Jason 
Damn, I have been waiting to try and review this brew since September. This was a brew that Master Steve picked up while we were in Colorado for The Great American Beer Festival. This one was picked up right after our tour of Left Hand Brewing Company before heading back to Denver. It was the same liquor store that I picked up the Hoperation Ivy from Ska Brewing Company that was reviewed a while back. I begged Steve to hold on to this brew so that we could split it with him and he kindly agreed. Fast forward to today, Christmas, we invited Steve to come over to the hacienda and spend X-Mas with the clan. Shortly after arriving, he suggested that we bust out the Dementia. I thought to myself, “F’ yeah!” Dementia is a bourbon barrel aged Euphoria pale ale brewed by Ska Brewing Company for their 15th Anniversary brew. I love Euphoria, and now a Bourbon barrel aged version, I am in heaven. This bomber is split and ready to consume and review.
Ska Brewing Company classifies this brew as a Pale Ale and Dave from Ska informed me that, “Dementia was last year’s Euphoria Pale Ale (our Winter seasonal) aged in our distillery’s (Peach Street Distillers) Colorado Straight Bourbon barrels and Heaven Hill Bourbon barrels. It aged for about a year and we released it for our 15th Anniversary at the end of September. Some of the barrels had had beer aged in them before and I think the characteristics of each barrel worked really well together when we came around to the final blending. The name Dementia, Aged and Confused, was a little nod to our Colorado brothers in brewing at Boulder Beer—Hazed and Infused.”
Dementia pours a beautiful copper color with a 1 ½” off white head. The aroma is a perfect blend of Bourbon, citrus hops, and malt sweetness.
Dementia comes delivered via a 650 ml bottle that is double wax dipped with a red wax on top of a blue wax. The label is a modified Euphoria label with a demented twist. Dementia is flat out sick!! I absolutely love Euphoria and Dementia takes it to a whole nother’ level. Dementia is so perfectly balanced that you only get a slight hint of the Bourbon barrel aging flavor while keeping the delicious Euphoria taste. What a perfect combination of flavor and balance. Instead of taking away from the base flavor of Euphoria by Bourbon barrel blasting it, Dementia has more of a subtle Bourbon flavor that compliments the awesomeness that is Euphoria Pale Ale. Dementia is yet another euphoric craft beer drinking experience from the boys at Ska Brewing Company; you will be hard pressed to find a more consistently kick-ass brewery as Ska. I can tell you now that I will have no problem with the on-set of dementia when I get older if it is anything like Dementia from Ska Brewing Company. A perfect complement to a great X-Mas day!
ABV: 6.4%
Consumed: New Belgium Globe Glass
Verdict: Buy A Case
