Rascalypso

Seems they're on bit of a fruity kick at Rascals: two cans of citrusy interest, released for the summer season.

I'll start on the lager: Yuzu Pilsner, a collaboration with Kaapse Brouwers and containing the titular Japanese citrus fruit. I confess that yuzu beers in the past haven't impressed me much. It doesn't seem to be a very bold flavour. The visuals here did suggest something other than a vapid lager, pouring a rich amber colour. The aroma is quite grainy, with only a vague lemon-ish tang perceptible. To taste it's clean and extremely crisp. 4.4% ABV makes it light, and it's almost oriental in its dryness. I had to check the ingredients to see if they used rice, but they haven't. The yuzu side is present but subtle. It's a complementary sort of flavour; a seasoning rather than a full-on ingredient. There's none of the foghorn syrupy fruit that plagues other novelty lagers. It's less intense than lemon or lime, but is very much in that corner of the flavour spectrum. I think this would make an excellent accompaniment to Japanese or Chinese food. It shares a lightness of touch that the familiar beers from those countries have, adding a fun but non-intrusive fruit side. Bring me sushi!

Lemon & Lime Sour is a special they've done for Aldi, following on from the Session IPA a couple of months ago. Like that one, it's 3.8% ABV, and it's a pale hazy yellow in the glass. Unsurprisingly it smells of lime, for the most part, in that slightly processed way, like shower gel or cordial. Both fruits are listed in the ingredients in both concentrate and zest forms. The sour side is not so prominent on tasting. It's no puckering enamel stripper, nor a riot of wild flavour-emitting bugs and yeast strains. It's plainly, simply soured, creating a clean cereal base with just a little soda-water acidity. That makes room for the citrus, but it's not overdone either, contributing in quite a natural and subtle way. It definitely doesn't taste like a big tub of sugary gloop was emptied into the kettle; it tastes real and, well, zesty. I mentioned that the Session IPA was the sort of budget supermarket beer you buy in bulk for summer entertaining, and this is exactly in that space too. Your non-geek party guests will get a beer that's really interesting while not out-there or scary. It's Aldi, so don't expect anything too advanced from this, but it's a quality offering, and well worth a look.

I enjoyed both of these. It's interesting how recipes which might once have been considered daring in their use of unconventional ingredients can now be fitted in as part of the normal beer landscape, of the sort you find in supermarkets. That's a sign of a healthy beer scene, I think.