The name says it all, doesn't it? Toffee nut brown ale. Doesn't the mere
sound of it make your mouth water? Well it sure makes
my mouth water. Given that I do a large portion of my beer shopping in Maryland, I often get the chance to sample the wares of DuClaw. I haven't really loved any of their beers - until now. Euforia is a beer that was made for maltheads like me. It uses five varieties of malts (pale, crystal, carawheat, chocolate and rye) to achieve that perfect flavor combination of sweet and roasty. It's a simple beer, really, but boy does it go down smooth! At only 22 IBUs, it's not in any way aggressively hopped. It is exactly what its name suggests. You taste the toffee, you taste the nuttiness. After a couple of months of drinking mainly summer seasonals, I was looking for something a little different. I was perusing my beer stockpile and noticed I still had a six-pack of Euforia from a late spring shopping trip. As soon as I drank one, I kind of wished I had discovered the glories of Euforia sooner! But on the positive side, it was nice knowing that I had five more bottles of the stuff to drink! The cliche about this kind of beer is that it's "drinkable". But sometimes cliches are unavoidable. Drinkable is the word! I just love that mix of caramel sweetness and toasted grain. This is the kind of beer I could drink any day of the year. It goes well with food, and I can enjoy it equally without food. In general, I think brown ales are underrated amongst beer snobs. Unless you're talking about something like an Abita Turbodog, nobody seems to be waving the banner for brown ales. Perhaps I could take up the fight? We shall see! Euforia is one of the best browns out there!
www.duclaw.com
