Together alone

I'm all in favour of small breweries diverging from the ubiquitous craft styles, but a Rotbier, Rascals? I'm not, generally, a fan of Nuremberg's totemic red lager. This example at the Rascals taproom, Pilot #155, is 5.2% ABV and immediately departs from the Franconian standard by being a gorgeous clear shade of copper. Clean look, clean taste: primarily crisp with a hint of near-Schwarzbier toasted grain. Only then does the caramel and red liquorice creep in, and while that taste profile does not make me jump for joy, it's subtle enough here to be non-problematic. Hooray for non-problematic. This has just the right balance of unusual features versus standard well-made lager. I had a couple of pints on the terrace on a sunny Friday afternoon and I can tell you it is exceptionally well suited to that use case. Down at the Altstadt they could pick up a few tips from this.York brewery Brew York had not crossed my path before, though they've been in business for ten years. As part of the…