Euphoria - Ruckus Brewing

Drewcifer

Pennsylvania

2.48/5  rDev -33.2%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5

It seemed awfully flat pouring out of the tap - no head to speak of, a tiny atoll of froth in the middle of the glass though. Clear and gold, looks more like a pilsener than a Belgian Strong.

Aroma is apple and pear, very faint though. I had hoped not to have to nearly snort the beer to get an aroma.

It tastes like.... nothing much. Very bland. Hints of yeast, apple, pear, maybe some banana. But overall, it was a taste vacuum.

Mouthfeel was watery, no lingering around in the mouth.

Overall... yeah, I guess it's drinkable. It's not offensive, but it's also not good. It just... is. Frankly, I just don't know what to think about it.

Serving type: on-tap

12-12-2008 01:27:08 | More by Drewcifer

DmanGTR

New York

2.6/5  rDev -29.9%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Had this on tap at Mad for Mex in Philly near UPenn.

A - poured a perfectly clear golden amber with no head in a cognac snifter. Faint bubbles streamed up the side of the glass and no lacing occurred. Not looking good so far... highly resemblant of another cheap high alcohol "pilsener"...

Sm - bubblegum notes, light citrus, and a slight pilsener hoppiness hit me first, followed by a huge rush of fusel alcohol. Very little malts detected.

T - like how it smells, bubblegum, candy, slightly metallic. Very faint pilsener hops. Highly prominent alcohol with a yeasty push in the end.

M - light bodied, crisp carbonation holding it all together.

D - this was surprisingly thirst quenching but the alcohol definitely gets in the way... maybe I just needed something cold to cool down my taste buds after the spicy nachos...

Overall - I wasn't too impressed by this offering. For $5, I would not get it again. The sweetness and alcohol seems unbalanced with the hops (or lack thereof). This reminded me of a cheap tripel style I had, not a good thing.

**if you do get this at the Mad Mex, the menu might say it's 11% abv, which is incorrect.

Serving type: on-tap

11-09-2008 19:24:23 | More by DmanGTR

plaid75

New York

4/5  rDev +7.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On draft at Finley's, Huntington.

Poured a light copper hue with a one finger foamy white head. There was decent retention and lacing.

The smell featured an eatery yeast with elements of coriander and citrus.

The taste was upfront spicy with ane eatery yeast and earthy hop.

The mouthfeel was toward the lighter side of the style.

Overall a tasty and very user friendly beer considering the ABV.

Serving type: on-tap

11-08-2008 22:30:43 | More by plaid75

Hojaminbag

Colorado

3.73/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

A golden body with basically no head to speak of.

Smells of some fruitiness and some yeast character.

This beer tastes much better than it looks or smells, which is a pleasant surprise. A little bit of fruit flavors and lots of sweetness from what tastes like candied sugar. Some peppery and bready characteristics from the yeast. Somewhat similar to a triple from the sugariness.

Mouthfeel is somewhat lacking in carbonation in my opinion.

A pretty drinkable beer for a 9% ABV.

Serving type: on-tap

09-09-2008 20:52:19 | More by Hojaminbag

johnmichaelsen

Oregon

2.9/5  rDev -21.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

After sampling the Dear Abbey at Mahaffey's, I was really disappointed in this beer. The beer pours a bright light gold color with very little head retention or lacing. I get next to nothing on the nose, just a hint of malt. On the palate this beer is kind of surprising. It's very light tasting, moderately sweet and has almost a wheaty flavor to it. Frankly, I found it to be watery and not the least bit interesting to drink. Granted, the abv. is well disguised (is it really 9%?), but there's nothing particularly enjoyable about drinking this beer.

Maybe this keg did not travel well down from Reading, but I was just not very happy with this beer. Finally just gave up, pushed it aside, and ordered a glass of ruination. Oh well...

Serving type: on-tap

09-06-2008 14:04:09 | More by johnmichaelsen

Biggness

New York

4.13/5  rDev +11.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

I had this beer this evening on tap @ Cantebury Ales in Huntington, NY. The beer pours a beautiful cloudy amber with a white head. The smell is nice of a belgian ale and malts. The flavor is very smoothe, its not over powering to a degree where I felt it could use a little more flavor, but it certainly was nice. The mouthfeel was pleasant and its certainly a very drinkable beer for a belgian style, one of the most drinkable imo

Serving type: on-tap

07-27-2008 01:32:59 | More by Biggness

BBM

New York

3.15/5  rDev -15.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

This beer poured a clear golden color with not much head. No lacing around the glass, either. Aroma was cloves and bananas and perhaps a few spices.

Up front is the sweet honey and fruit flavor, but then the back end is highly alcoholic. Slight hop bitterness in the finish as well. Mouthfeel is crisp and light, which is nice. Overall though, I thought the brew was a bit bearish and a lot to take. I'd recommend finding other Belgians out there.

Serving type: on-tap

05-02-2008 22:44:58 | More by BBM

Brianmerrilyn

New York

4.03/5  rDev +8.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Poured into mini-heffe glass at 08 Long Island Beer festival. B.M Mark and Scott said that this batch was only 9.2% as compared to the above 11%. Poured a clear golden head with good head that retained well. Smell belied the ABV or the hops you would expect from a SPA. The taste, much to my delight was sweetness. Mouthfeel was a excellent finish with oveall good mix of components. Boys did a good job on this one and I would pull for it again with ease.

Serving type: on-tap

04-01-2008 01:00:30 | More by Brianmerrilyn

RblWthACoz

Pennsylvania

3.85/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Pours a clouded orange gold with a white head. Yeasty nose with citrus very evident as well. Flavor is smooth, albeit a bit thin on the feel. Decent balance of fruit and funk. Like I said, the feels is a bit thin, but overall this is nice to drink. There certainly are much worse versions of the style from American producers. This one is fairly good.

Serving type: on-tap

03-09-2008 23:54:06 | More by RblWthACoz

jbsteiny

Hawaii

4.1/5  rDev +10.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

I don't typically give solid 4s, but that's what I feel this beer deserves. Poured a beautiful hazy gold with a half-inch of white head, which disspated without much remains. Smells of Belgium: citrus and yeast. Mmm... The taste is very interesting, because it's strong and yeasty, but with almost no finish. It simply drops off after about two seconds. I was fascinated by that characteristic... I can't believe it was 11%. *That's* why I fell asleep on the subway!

Serving type: on-tap

04-12-2007 06:30:16 | More by jbsteiny

PittBeerGirl

Pennsylvania

4.88/5  rDev +31.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Appearance- very cloudy orangy golden yellow with white head.

Smell-a great balance of yeast, citrus, and spices.

Taste- the yeast, citrus, and spices blended very well together with a very sweet taste plus a nice bitter bite to it. The taste is balanced the whole time.

Mouthfeel-smooth and clean with medium carbonation and light body.

Drinkability- there is a subtle alcohol bite to it but its hard to tell it has such a high ABV.

Serving type: on-tap

04-08-2007 02:21:52 | More by PittBeerGirl

kernalklink

Arizona

2.78/5  rDev -25.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Poured a little darker than other belgian strongs, with a slightly sticky aroma- no real fresh flowery yeasts or spice as is usual. A little cloying with the underlying alcohol at first, but an almost artificial cherry-like sweetness drains out any other flavors attempting to come through. Hop presence is missed, especially with this odd berry aspartame. Somewhat flat in mouthfeel, the style which is usually nice and bubbly is hardly represented; not really sure about this one...

Serving type: on-tap

02-18-2007 13:38:34 | More by kernalklink

Gavage

New Jersey

3.83/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Appearance: clear orange in color with a thin 1" head that falls quickly. Nice amount of cabonation bubbles rising quickly to the surface. Some spotty lace develops.

Smell: a bit dull as only a hint of citrus and yeast are detectable.

Taste: belgian yeast, pepper, lemon citrus, bread, and a hint of alcohol. Overall there is a nice spiciness to this.

Mouthfeel: medium-heavy in body. Crisp from start to finish. Aftertaste is short on the yeast, malts, lemon, and spices.

Drinkability: enjoyable beer that is easy to quaff despite the noticeable alcohol level.

Serving type: on-tap

11-14-2006 17:04:23 | More by Gavage

WVbeergeek

Ohio

4.03/5  rDev +8.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On draft at Mad Mex Robinson, appears a slightly cloudy golden amber with a nice white head leaves behind fine even lacing with each sip, not bad at all. Aroma is heavily spiced with sweet lightly toasted fruity malt presence among the biscuit flavor, an overall tart apple and lively alcohol. Flavor has a spicy alcohol character with creamy malt sweetness it's hart to compare to other American brewed Belgian style ales...tart apples and ripe fruit soaked in alcohol. Mouthfeel is a bit syurpy with even carbonation and alot of texture medium bodied really sticks to the palate. Drinkability is very quaffable but beware the abv is weighing heavy at 11% alcohol by volume but it's spicy character and fruit components make it a very desireable experience even Euphoric.

Serving type: on-tap

09-29-2006 21:03:52 | More by WVbeergeek

Billolick

New York

4.43/5  rDev +19.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

On tap, at the Hop Devil Grill in NYC, this strong, yeasty and tasty brew poured cloudy dark peachy amber, with a dark tan head and leaving plentiful lacing. Nose is nicely of fruity bananas. Smooth nicely rounded notes of cloves, bananas. Smooth and creamy, a pleasure to enjoy on tap and a great starter at the Legacy event. A favorite style and this one did not disappoint.

Serving type: on-tap

09-20-2006 22:34:06 | More by Billolick

ggaughan

Pennsylvania

4.05/5  rDev +9.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

On tap at UJ's on the Manatawny during their Hoptimus Prime premiere. The beer poured a hazy golden color with a thin white head into a chalice. The nose of the beer was mainly of yeast, some lemon zest and other fruit tones. The taste is lemony, zesty and a bit spicey, maybe corriander. The taste overall is sweet and leaves a nice aftertaste and linger in my mouth. The body has some active carbonation and overall adding up to a nice refreshing beer and that is hard to say for a 8.7% abv strong ale. This reminds me alot of RR's Benediction in taste profile. Can't wait to try this in bottles when they are out.

Serving type: on-tap

07-28-2006 15:59:52 | More by ggaughan

Phatz

Pennsylvania

4.05/5  rDev +9.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

This is another example of why you shouldn't build a beer up with too much anticipation. I head a lot about this beer and was really looking forward to it. Don't get me wrong, this is a very good beer but it didn't quite do everything for me that I was hoping for. I should say in its defense I am a bigger fan of Strong dark than the Strong Pale (personal preference).

Appearance: Served a mostly golden yellow color, hazy but translucent.

Smell: Yeasty. With a spicy Belgian yeast attribute that made me think of pepper and coriander but then it had a lemon wheat flavor in the nose as well.

Taste: Zesty and spicy. Lemon peaches and bubblegum with cloves and all spice. What an odd combination of flavors but it works very well. The aftertaste is both sweet and astringent.

Mouthfeel: Active and fluffy in the mouth. Very nice.

Drinkability: I found this to be a refreshing beer. At 8.70% ABV it is not one to chug on a hot summer day but certainly a good one for sipping.

Hope this is helpful.
Cheers!

Serving type: on-tap

07-24-2006 20:19:01 | More by Phatz

ski271

Pennsylvania

4.43/5  rDev +19.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Cloudy light amberish gold with a very small white film of head. Smells of fruit w/ light alcohol and good strong Belgian yeast. Apricot and candi sugar. Very good complex flavor. Apricot, peach, banana, bready malt, allspice, and bubble on the finish. It has a medium body, juicy texture, low carbonation and a very lightly astringent finish. Wow this one was quite good. A lot of flavors clinging to the cheeks and tongue for quite some time. I always forget about this brewery. Nicely done.

Serving type: on-tap

05-26-2006 16:51:50 | More by ski271

weeare138

Pennsylvania

4.33/5  rDev +16.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On draft in the home kegerator...
Appears a hazy gold with a lush white head that retains nicely and fades into a small film and collar. Streaky and spotty lacing are left around the inside of the goblet. Unfiltered brew makes it hard to see carbonation activity other than a few small bubbles slowly rising on the outskirts of the glass.
Smell is of tropical fruit, peaches, bubblegum, cloves, spicey pepper, coriander, along with fresh bread. Lots of Belgian yeast in this one making it Tripel-esque in the aroma category.
Taste matches the aromas with some complex Belgian goodness going on, along with hints of German malt, which seem to be rounding this out nicely.
Smooth, sweet, sugary, malty, spiceyness are all rolling around and settling out with a semi-dry finish with a mild pepper punch that is satisfying.
Drinkability is pretty darn good. This is the upgraded version that Legacy seems to have tweaked. In my opinion, I really enjoyed this beer before but I enjoy it even moreso now. It has been upped to 11% abv and it seems to hide it nicely. Seems like a Lucifer clone, only better.

Serving type: on-tap

12-03-2005 19:33:00 | More by weeare138

IrishRedRock

Pennsylvania

2.75/5  rDev -25.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 2

Having sampled Legacy's Duke of Ale and Reading Pils, and being impressed with both, I was excited to try this and expected a top-notch brew, especially as this is the big gun in their lineup. Poured beautifully into a Duvel glass, its golden color and thick frothy white head looked quite appealing. Mildly spicy, clove with some herbal qualities in the nose and the alcohol is noticeable even at a cooler temp.

Unfortunately, the flavor, or lack thereof, left a lot to be desired. The herbal spicy characteristics come through, but I found it to be lacking a lot of balance. Some coriander and citrus notes are there, but are kind of all over the place as the alcohol and odd sticky bittersweet flavors take over. Carbonation is pinpoint for the style, but this is lacking much-needed balance. A lot of potential, and despite not being all that into it, coming from a solid, small local brewer, I'll certainly give it another go.

Serving type: on-tap

08-31-2005 15:46:43 | More by IrishRedRock

yen157

New Jersey

3.65/5  rDev -1.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured rich gold with creamy head with good lacing potential. Slightly spicy nose with a fruity notes. Some wheat beer esters. Spicy flavor (probably from alcohol, but could easily be from the hops, “secret spices” or yeast, too). Odd hint of charcoal in the aftertaste. Refreshing tartness which I can only assume is supposed to be there. Restrained carbonation. Too quaffable a beer for 8.7%.

Serving type: on-tap

12-27-2004 19:42:30 | More by yen157

pezoids

Pennsylvania

3.58/5  rDev -3.5%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

This poured a very pale and very murky yellow straw color. The head was just a thin slick of sticky foam that stuck to the top part of the glass. Pleasant aroma of sweet candy malts, bubblegum and fruits, especially strawberry. The nose gives you little perception of alcohol, but it surely makes it presence known after the first sip. Along with the spicy alcohol bite comes some sweet fruitiness and a strong and hot spicy bite in the finish. It almost leaves a permanent peppery scorch on the tongue. Interesting. The beer is light in malt body, but flavorful. Not a bad beer, but could use a tad more sweetness to balance itself out. Just my opinion.

Serving type: on-tap

04-08-2004 04:05:22 | More by pezoids

dmarch

Pennsylvania

4.47/5  rDev +20.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

How have I not noticed this brewery before? Hazy golden in color with a thin white lace. Spicy aroma, mostly coriander. Pineapple and bubble gum like taste with a hint of bananna and coriander. High in alcohol yet as drinkable as any belgian wit. My first time having something from this brewery and it was phenomenal. I'm hoping to see more from them in the future.

Serving type: on-tap

04-02-2004 14:18:41 | More by dmarch

sulldaddy

Connecticut

3.26/5  rDev -12.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25

12 oz bottle poured into a snifter at cellar temperature. The beer pours a clear gold hue with some slightly blush wine or maybe copper tints. Almost no head foams up with bleached fizzy bubbles fading rapidly to nothing after the pour.
Aroma is sweet malt, white grapes and pears, some general sugary sweetness and just a bit of boozy alcohol. label says brewed with spices, but I dont get anything indicating any particular spice here.
First sip reveals an average to lighter body with fine rolling carbonation and a little bit of sticky texture after each sip.
Flavor is sweet fruity malt through and through, white grapes and pears are dominant with maybe a little peach mixed in, but general sweetness is the main flavor. I get a little bit of spicy hops or maybe it is peppery alcohol, but either way that is mild.
The beer is easy to drink and fairly enjoyable, not what I anticipated but not a bad way to end an evening.
Glad I tried it but wouldnt chase down again.

Serving type: bottle

03-26-2013 02:34:40 | More by sulldaddy

KajII

North Carolina

3.33/5  rDev -10.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

[Suggested Glassware: Trappist Glass]

The pour was a hazy medium orange with a small (less than 1 finger) white fizzy head that diminished quickly, down to a few scattered puddles with a small collar and had fair streaky lacing.

The aroma was very mild of a light sweet grain malt and a doughy musty yeast with notes of citrus (orange), green apple, peach, banana, and a hint of clove.

The taste was moderately sweet and slightly grainy with a bold fruitiness from the start, progressing with lightly tart yeast presence, a touch of banana and a mildly spicy ending. The flavor lasted an average time after the swallow, with the slightly tart spicy yeast taste left to linger on the taste buds for a short while longer.

Mouthfeel was a step above light in body with a thin dry texture and a medium carbonation.

Overall this was a brew that was lightly sweet with a nice yeast presence along with a bit of spicy fruitiness, which did a fantastic job of hiding the high ABV and allowing for a good smooth drinkability...

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Serving type: bottle

02-23-2013 19:26:56 | More by KajII