Rapscallion's Cousine
Yukon Brewing

What an incredibly interesting beer. Yukon always amazes me with the variety of styles they take on, and this particular brew is a perfect example of the magic they create. Rye malt, banana, clove, and dark bread dominate the flavour profile of this beer. I would not hesitate to try it again, but it definitely needs to maintain a "special occasion" billing.

 

 

Appearance - Pours a deep amber with two fingers of foamy cream coloured head.

Smell - rye malts, banana, clove, yeast, spicy hops.

Taste - Rye malts bringing flavours of pumpernickel bread, along with the fruity esters from the yeast (primarily a banana/clove mix) and a touch of spicy hops. Rye malts dominate throughout.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Finishes with a lingering spiciness from the yeast.

Overall - A well executed brew that showcases the dominance of rye malts and the yeast and fruity esters acting as a supporting cast. Worth a go if you come across it.

 

 

650ml bottle, apparently the bock-based 'cousine' to last year's Rapscallion roggenbier.

This beer pours a slightly hazy, medium copper amber hue, with three fingers of puffy, loosely foamy, and somewhat frothy off-white head, which leaves some thick cobwebbed lace around the glass as it gently subsides.

It smells of spicy rye bread, apple and pear skin, grainy caramel malt, a bit of earthy yeast, faint estery banana, and a touch of cold steely alcohol. The taste is gritty, grainy caramel malt, rye crackers, an increased banana pudding fruitiness, hovering yeast, and tame leafy, weedy hops.

The carbonation is quite light, tripping very fancifully across my palate with its tiny bubbles, the body a decent medium weight, and rather smooth, with a nascent creaminess building straight off. It finishes well off-dry, the sweetness of the caramel malt starting to strangle out the lingering grainy rye notes.

An aptly named brew - still big on the rye guest malt bill ingredient, but here, the underlying sweetness seems very much like a caramel-forward bock beer. So, as a cousin to the Rapscallion, they have much in common, with the generally undetectable and elevated booze quotient being an additional delta here.