Redback Original
Listing Details
Website
Added
Brewer
Matilda Bay Brewing (SABMiller)
Alcohol/ volume
5 per cent
Bitterness
18 IBU
Notes
All Matilda Bay beers are now brewed in Port Melbourne, Victoria, on Australia's east coast, 2700km as the crow flies from Perth, Western Australia, where the brewery was founded. Since Red Back Original was added its parent company, Foster's Group, has been taken over by SABMiller.
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A shadow of its former self
“Available in both bottle-conditioned and filtered draught versions. It has a highly spicey and fruity aroma and palate.” This was Roger Protz's summary of this beer in his 1995 book Ultimate Encyclopedia of Beer, when the brew was 4.8% alcohol. And it seems that the alcohol content has been the most minor change. As Geoff said: “What Protz describes is what I remember about this beer when I first tasted it in the mid-80s. This is not the same beer. This is shit. Too much barley, not enought wheat.”
Plus, the brew is too golden, not straw-colored enough. Geoff and Oliver agreed that they'd have trouble picking this beer from a Foster's Lager in a blind tasting. Geoff: “If I had to drink six of them, I'd be sick.”
(Note: This wasn't just a bad couple of bottles. Oliver's had this on tap not long before this tasting and was thoroughly disappointed.)
FOOTNOTE: In the Melbourne Age of January 27, 2004, beer writer Willie Simpson vindicated our comments above: “Fact is, Redback got bumped to the naughty list years back when it started tasting more like VB than a Bavarian weizen beer.” But he went on: “Now it's back on track with fruity complexity and subtle banana and clove characters in a filtered version … Welcome back, Redback, all is forgiven.”