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I find myself feeling guilty when I don't sufficiently avail of the good beery resources we have in this town. Post-pandemic there aren't as many as there used to be but that's no excuse not to get out and about. So, when a free Thursday evening popped up on my calendar I took myself to Rascals HQ.

They've been busy with their pilot series of brewery-only beers, having reached the lofty heights of Pilot #61, a Basil & Raspberry Saison. I'm sure I've had both in a saison before but not together. There's no reason it won't work. The result is a coppery pink colour and quite strong at 5.8% ABV. Served deliciously cold, that makes it dangerously refreshing and I had to restrain myself on the first few mouthfuls. Interestingly, neither of the added ingredients comes through in an especially novelty way: the base is a real saison; peaches and straw, white pepper and melon. There's a slight fruit-smoothie sweetness in both the aroma and the finish to represent the raspberry, but I think the basil has been subsumed into its general saisonosity. As such, I'm not sure the flavourings added much -- it's a perfectly good dry saison and still would be without them.

Left: v.2, Right: v.3

Some Teutonic hop-tinkering next. Pilots #58 and #59 are respectively tagged as versions 2 and 3 of the "house IPA", which I assumed means Wunderbar, hopped with Mandarina Bavaria and Hallertau Blanc. A barman telling tales out of school says that Wunderbar is due a recipe change and it may be one of these.  First surprise from the new kids is that they're different colours: v.2 a paler shade of amber than v.3.

v.2 is fairly quiet on the aroma but gives out a fabulously fresh and pure mandarin pithiness in the foretaste. It rounds out after a moment into oily orange peel and a hint of cedarwood spicing, before a quick and super-clean finish that's almost lagerlike. And all done with Hüll Melon, we're told.

After that, I found v.3 rather plainer. They've let the Americans into the brewhouse and added Amarillo and Ekuanot to the Mandarina. I think that's a regressive step. There's still a pleasing pith but it's a pinch not a punch. There's something else too, a herbal, medicinal quality that might be eucalyptus on a good day but TCP on a bad one. It didn't sit well with me, and the idea that perfectly-decent Wunderbar may soon be this fills me with dread. It's not a bad beer by any means, but  switching back to v.2 was like switching to a high definition picture.

I loved that I, along with every other punter, was able to participate unofficially in this bit of backroom recipe twiddling. This. Is. What. Taprooms. Are. For.

Seemingly a core part of the Rascals taproom line-up, but shamefully new to me, is Nitro Stout. The name needs work. It's an orthodox 4.4% ABV, properly black with a cream off-white head, albeit one which didn't dome over the top of the rim. But while the macro nitro stouts are all about that presentation, this one is flavour forward. There's a downright bold kick of high-end milk chocolate in the foretaste, all silky Galaxy bars and Flakes in a canoe under a waterfall (ask your parents). After a second, a balancing dry grass and spinach brings a bit of the old school to it, but the finish and aftertaste is back to chocolate again. Although it's not complex or fancy, I loved the boldness of it, and was reminded a lot of Leann Folláin, if it came in a more sessionable package. This isn't the sort of hopped-up hazed-out yoof-oriented beer that Rascals is built around, and perhaps that's why they haven't dignified it with a name yet, but it's jolly decent and is well able to go toe-to-toe with the Porterhouse/O'Hara's/BRÚ establishment of actually-good Irish stout.

A postscript at home. Low Rider is a micro-IPA, a recent style whose merit I've yet to be fully convinced of. A graduate of the Rascals pilot programme, it's 2.8% ABV yet cost a substantial four euro twenty-five for a can. Yeah, yeah: inflation and that, but still. It had better be good. It's very pale in the glass though smells fresh and full-on, bursting with lime and assorted stonefruit. Clever use of oats boosts the mouthfeel so it doesn't feel any way watery, often a fatal flaw in beers like this. That said, the low strength does mean the flavour is a little muted and lacks a proper big finish. It's good while it lasts, however: west-coast grapefruit bitterness matched against juicier tropical notes. This is micro IPA done very well, though I'm still unconvinced about the price tag. It would be a short session on such spendy fare.

Rascals was stop one on a revisit of Dublin's prolific drink-in breweries. The series will continue shortly.

Busy Rascal's

A couple of new ones from the brewery on the edge of Dublin today. Rascal's has been striking a balance between maintaining a presence for its three core beers, all of which have changed for the better in the year or so that they've been available, and turning out specials, under its own marque and under the Brewtonic badge in Dublin's Bodytonic bars.

The latter has included Same Sex, which I caught up with in The Back Page. It's a saison brewed to commemorate today's equal marriage referendum. Doesn't the presidential minimum age referendum deserve a beer too? Anyway, Same Sex is 6% ABV and a clear pale lemon-yellow, arriving without much by way of head. It smells (forgive me) quite fruity, and there's a light crispness at the front of the flavour but the main feature is a nectarine tartness mixed with some sweeter mango and pineapple. The alcohol is quite apparent too, but just as it was getting too much there's a gunpowder spice note which offsets the worst of the boozy esters. On balance, I like my saisons to be lighter and drier than this one, and while I enjoyed the complexity, it left me wishing for something cleaner to follow. The bar is promising a free glass of this to everyone when the result is declared tomorrow.

The other newcomer is an IPA and part of a sequence of nationally-hopped beers. Following last February's Kiwi Pale Ale comes Wunderbar employing Mandarina Bavaria and Hallertau Blanc from Germany. I got my first taste, followed by several pints, at the launch event in 57 The Headline.

6% ABV once again, it's a surprisingly pale gold colour with a light, crisp texture. If you like your hoppy beers to be roaring with tropical fruit you can jog on, but if you're looking for something more unusual this is unmissable. The flavour mixes a kind of burnt orange bitterness with a sticky honeydew melon sweetness. There's a generous dose of tannins for added drinkability and a yeast bite which provides a spicy edge without getting in the way of the hops. This beer pulls in several directions at once but it all serves an overall blend of flavours that I really enjoyed. On this evidence, more new wave German hops would be very welcome in Irish beer.

More from the Rascal's to come next week. But in the meantime, don't forget to vote.