Ska Brewing Company- Euphoria Pale Ale: Revelations at 3:15.

Lately I’ve been having discussions about the fickle nature of many craft beer drinkers. We seem to have become numb from over-stimulation and beers that would once have blown our minds are now just par for the course. I think it is also part of American culture that we seek out all that it bigger, better, tastier, and all-together more extreme.  One such conversation took place while I was thumbing through the beer menu at Finnegan’s Irish Pub. I regularly run a detailed scan of the menu looking for the newest arrivals hoping that among them will be amazing beers that I have yet to try. The bartender and I talked about few and far between were the experiences where we drank a beer that made you say “Wow, this is really great”. Then at a quarter past three o’ clock a can of Euphoria from Ska Brewing Company is poured in front of me…

It had a ¼ inch of creamy tan head on top of a brown colored ale with golden highlights.  I noticed a light carbonation that brought out an earthy hop aroma which contrasted its strong citrus hop flavor.  It had a nice medium mouthfeel that carried the flavors across the tongue.

As the first sip tickled my taste buds I had a revelation of sorts. My senses seemed heightened. I took notice of everything going on around me and yet I was extremely focused on the beer in front of me. I had at this time discovered the greatest pale ale that I have ever had.  It definitely takes a lot for me to make a statement so bold but I give credit where credit is deserved.  Euphoria as a name only lightly describes the experience of drinking this fantastic beer. It is too bad that Euphoria is only a winter seasonal, but with that in mind I’m going to get all I can while there is still time.

ABV: 6.1% 

Consumed: Pilsner Glass

Verdict: Buy a Keg

Ska Brewing Company- Euphoria Pale Ale: Now I’m Free

This is a very rare, once in a blue moon occurrence…I have the house entirely to myself.  No wife, no kids and it just so happens that there is hockey, NASCAR & baseball on.  The surround sound is getting cranked and I’m going to be channel flipping like a mofo, now all I need is a beverage to complete this euphoric state in which I exist.  Even luckier for me I have just the brew to compliment this occasion.  I didn’t think that I’d get a chance to get my hands on this brew as it is just outside the season; thankfully I landed a sixer of Ska Brewing Company’s Euphoria Pale Ale (which is their winter seasonal).

Ska Brewing Company classifies this brew as a Pale Ale (as is clearly marked on the can) and their website describes Euphoria as, “This seasonal beer is brewed in the Do It Yourself (DIY) spirit along with our friends from Bayfield at the Venture Snowboard Factory. An India Pale Ale, the Euphoria is crafted with piles and piles of Golding hops to provide a unique spicy finish. Great for after hitting the slopes. Anarchic enlightenment: (1) Brewed in strict accordance to D.I.Y. methodology, the beer of choice for epic powder days. (2) brewed and bottled by Ska Brewing Company, Durango Colorado using the finest hops, yeast, malted barley and San Juan waters.”  Ok wait, I’m confused.  The can states Pale Ale and the website states India Pale Ale, which one is it??  I highly enjoy the can design & logos that Ska creates, the ring around the top of the can reads, Daffy-Hibernate-Curl-Recycle-Skin Up Fatty-Lutz-Skeleton-Recycle-Ice Fish-Check-Recycle.

Euphoria pours a hazy burnt amber color with a ½” khaki head and has a combined malt/pale malt aroma with a faint grapefruit background.  There was no ABV info found for Euphoria.

Euphoria tastes way more like a pale ale than it does an IPA in my opinion so I will refer to it as a Pale Ale unless otherwise corrected.  That being said, this is a great pale ale.  I actually had this a few weeks back at the recommendation of my favorite bartender “Mel”-issa.  Euphoria is malty smooth with only a touch of sweetness and magically transitions to a minimal grapefruit bite.  This is such an easy drinking Craft Beer that I think the Ska folks should make a summer counterpart (called Dysphoria) with the same taste and drinkability.  This is easily a daily drinker and if it was more widely available, I’d sure keep a sixer of Euphoria in my starting beer rotation in the fridge.  To the crew at Ska Brewing Co, thanks for contributing to my State Of Euphoria!!  Over, Finished, Gone, Done, Out!

ABV: N/A%

Consumed: New Belgium Globe Glass

Verdict: Buy A Case