How rude!

Another event? Already? This one actually took place a few days before the Athlone trip I wrote about on Monday, marking the beginning of the new era of Going To Places Where There's A Beer Thing On. The occasion was the launch of two new beers from Rascals at their brewery taproom. The ska theme meant the mods and mopeds were out in force, which added a lovely bit of colour to the evening.

The headlining double act began, for me, with Rude Boy, a white stout. I'll say in advance that I don't think I've ever encountered one of these that works. The attempt to recreate the sensory impressions of a stout in a pale beer is something I went in believing couldn't be done. This one looked the part: a thick and even creamy head sits atop a pale golden body. The brewery says they used an immense amount of coffee in it, but I didn't get so much of that, finding it mostly relegated to the finish. The centre is dominated by chocolate, but while proper stout tends to give the classic sort of dark chocolate, often with a decent seam of bitterness, this tasted like pale and cheap milk chocolate, and not really like a stout. It is enjoyable: a sweet bit of fun at a modest 4.5% ABV, so perhaps I can say that it's as good as white stout gets, but it's an unconvincing attempt at reconstructing the dark stuff.

In a pleasing symmetry, the companion piece is in another paradoxical style, though a much safer one. Of course it's called Rude Girl, and is a black IPA. I love these when they're done well, and this one is done brilliantly. Again, the strength is modest, at 5% ABV, but there's no lack of character here. That begins at the aroma which offers a basket of berries, with redcurrant and raspberry most prominent. They're still present to an extent in the flavour, but here things are very dry and bitter, with the classic spiced red cabbage and pink peppercorn notes which are unique to good black IPA, as well as a more serious hot-tar quality. It's full-bodied too, with a lip-smacking stickiness. I can't fault it. I'd love to see something like this in more regular circulation.

In keeping with the ska theme, I also tried the specials: three of them from the Rascals pilot kit.

Pilot #48 is a table beer; pale and hazy and 3.5% ABV, so much as you might expect. You might expect it to be thin, watery even, but they've managed to give this one a fabulous creamy texture that completely belies the strength. It's used to carry a fresh lemon flavour, sharp at first, then turning to a smoother balm. Without knowing the style I would be guessing it's some sort of hybrid of session IPA and witbier. I tend to assume table beer will have a predominant saison/farmhouse quality, but this isn't that. Instead, it's all about the hops, which is fine too. Something this light and characterful is a must for every taproom.

A sour cherry beer is next, Pilot #46. It's a murky pink, because I suppose it has to be, and is quite artificial tasting, much more lurid cherry candy than actual fruit. The sourness is dialled down, only really making an appearance in the finish. Usually, beers like this are quite low-strength but this one is a full 5.2% ABV, which seems a little excessive. I do like cherry flavours and sweet beers, but this one didn't really work for me. While worthy of the pilot kit, it's not one I'll be demanding gets scaled up for wider release.

My nightcap was an aged barley wine of 10% ABV and judging from the name -- Pilot #25 -- it's been sitting in the brewery for a while. That hasn't done it any harm and it presents a big toffee flavour first, lit up by sparks of citric bitterness. It fades out to smooth caramel and pinches of aniseed. The overall picture gives me serious vintage Bigfoot vibes: exactly the same clean classiness, that manages to go all-in on both sweetness and bitterness without the two sides clashing. Perfection, and exactly what I was looking for from it.

The party was only just kicking into gear when it was time for me to leave. I look forward to more beer launches at Rascals, and some more quality time among the ever-changing pilot line-up.