Wish you were there

Sure we would all love to be in New Zealand about now. Rascals has done their bit to bring The Land of the Long White Cloud to us instead, with this themed pair. Both are named after hop blends available from New Zealand growers.

Betty's is described as a "dry-hopped New Zealand lager". I had never encountered this blend before, but the can promises gooseberry and lime, so it sounds authentic. The visuals are fairly spot on: a polished golden colour and perfectly clear, though the head faded out a little too quickly for it to pass as something central European. The aroma is pure summer sunshine: roses and apricots and distant cut grass. When the hops are the headline it must be tempting to pile them in wholesale, but that's not the case here. Clean pilsner crispness is the opening feature, and the finishing flourish. In the middle you get nothing as intense as lime, but I'll grant them the gooseberries. The floral and stonefruit aspects from the aroma hang around too, with a meadowy perfume effect, and a pinch of ripe and juicy peach. Only after that crisp finish is there a ghost of citric bitterness in its aftertaste. It's a very well-made lager and enjoyable, even if it's quieter than the busy multicoloured can art implies.

The companion piece is an IPA called Bruce's, and this blend I have met before, though couldn't describe it beyond "broadly New Zealandy". The brewery says it's hazy, though it's only just, definitely translucent rather than opaque. There's a lot of herbal oily funk in the aroma: eucalyptus, sage and rosemary. I thought it would taste bitter but it's a mix of fruity candy in the flavour, with lemon chews, zingy sherbet and orange icepops. A real fast-track to childhood. The texture is quite big and a little fuzzy, which accentuates the sweetness. The downside there is that it lacks bittering balance. It's not overdone, however, so that's not a problem. The end result is a decent, middle-of-the-road IPA, though one which doesn't hit hard enough for being 6.2% ABV. I'm still not sure I get what Bruce's characteristics are. While pleasant, this doesn't taste especially New Zealand-style to me.

Off the back of these, Betty's is the hop combination I'm interested in learning more about. It strikes me that there's a lot of potential there. And more lagers from Rascals as well, of course. Rain Czech must be due a comeback some time soon...