Matilda Bay Redback Original - Matilda Bay Brewing Co.

ohitsbrad

Australia

3.48/5  rDev +4.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

13 January 2006, Best Before Jul 06

Clear pale gold colour with a large white bubbly head. Some retention. Aroma is appetizingly lemony and wheaty. Tastes of refreshing citrus fruit (lemon), malty wheat and barley, some banana and has a crisp finish. Light body. Moderate to high carbonation. Good West Australian beer and definitely best without the lemon that's usually squashed in the neck of the bottle over the bar.

Serving type: bottle

01-15-2006 17:03:55 | More by ohitsbrad

Kulrak

Australia

2.85/5  rDev -14.4%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Pours a nice golden color with absolutely no head. Smells slightly of yeast and esters and not much else. The taste is estery and a very sweet. Pretty much par for the wheat beer course. The mouthfeel is very creamy and heavy, very nice. It's fairly drinkable, it's sweet, with just enough bitterness to balance it out. I don't mind it, but I probably won't be buying it again anytime soon.

Serving type: bottle

12-26-2005 16:21:41 | More by Kulrak

sulldaddy

Connecticut

3.55/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

I had this beer on a trip to Australia at the Redback Hotel.
The beer is served in a wheat flute with a lemon wedge before I can ask for no lemon. The beer arrives a bright gold color with several streams of bubbles rising from the bottom. A thin bleached white head fades to an edge layer rather quickly. Aroma is lemony citrus, but could be due to now removed lemon. I also get grainy malt and some very mild biscuity yeast. First sip reveals a crisp lite body and average fizzy carbonation. The flavor is sweet and citrusy with some sugar as well. Very lite flavor makes the beer quickly drinkable and it is good on this warm spring day in Melbourne. The beer is not brewed on premise and is contracted out to Matilda Bay.
Not a bad beer for a warm day.

Serving type: on-tap

12-05-2005 05:56:23 | More by sulldaddy

Finite

Australia

3.58/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A golden colour, slightly pale. The head retention is poor but forgivable due to the crispy fresh malt and wheat taste. This is a very refreshing beer with unique characteristics. Little hops in this one. The flavor deviates from a crisp fresh wheat to a sweetness then finishes with a crisp wheat taste.

This is a unique taste however I have heard it used to be better. If it was better than this then it would have been a classic.

Still not a bad brew. I could see this going with seafood.

Serving type: bottle

11-25-2005 15:07:10 | More by Finite

ppoitras

Massachusetts

4.43/5  rDev +33%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

345ml bottle, silkscreen differs from the BA pic in that it has "Redback" on the top of the oval, and "Original" across the bottom. This bottle was hoofed back from AUS myself back on my first visit back in 1992. So this bottle is ancient, and has been fridged continuously since then. Probably wouldn't review it, due to the style most likely not aging well, but since this recipe predates the corporate changes that some mention in their reviews, I thought it would be a curiosity. So here goes...

Opens with a hearty pfft, as I would have expected fresh, so that's a start. Poured into an imperial pint glass, forms a 1" frothy bright white head over the clear golden brew. Active carbonation swirls bubbles about. Head hangs on while I was off rinsing the bottle and such, only losing half its height in 5 minutes or so.

Aroma is of spicy wheat, as expected. Taste is light wheat character, with sedate spices moted here and there. Mouthfeel and drinkability are superb. Small bubbles over the tongue enhance the smoothness, and knocking this back swallow by swallow is the epitome of ease.

This brew is all that I remember it to be, and I am shocked that a 13 year old kristalweizen could withstand the age. These facts only make the heart heavier with the apparent news that this brew is no longer what it used to be. I guess I'll just have to savor this last bottle, and at least we'll always <sniff> have the memories...

Serving type: bottle

08-16-2005 00:57:39 | More by ppoitras

diablo14

Australia

2.05/5  rDev -38.4%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

this was once a classic aussie micro beer that was one of the few wheat beers anywhere i actually enjoyed. now it is a mere shadow of its former self.

this beer used to be in the same vein as hoegaarden. sweet, spicy, fruity, and incredibly cloudy, with very dry hops, and was just a little bit more robust than the usually kristall style. now, a little like the naked ale, its just sweet and overall bland, with none of the complexity it once displayed.

it comes in the still classic looking bottle, but the beer within is nothing like the glory days. this brew has really taken a tumble down the rankings over the years. prefer others.

Serving type: bottle

05-24-2005 13:20:46 | More by diablo14

amicar

Missouri

3.38/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a light golden color with white head that stays for a medium amount of time. Huh.. no real cloudiness/ haze to this. Has a slight smell of wheat and very noticable bananna; a bit of a "wheat" ish taste to it. Another, smooth, slickly mouthfeel beer thats easy to suck down.

Overall, nice to drink, but so many more German examples exist that are far better...

Serving type: bottle

03-29-2005 02:26:48 | More by amicar

BeerNutta

Australia

3.23/5  rDev -3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

The redback spider in australia is known as the deadliest spider in australia. However, recently it has been found that no one has actually died from the redbacks bite since the late 70's.

Like the spider, i have heard great things about this beer but the truth is a little sad.

Appearance: Light pale colour. Foam lingers for a long while.

Smell: Sweet aroma, but very faint.

Taste: Citrisy in taste with a hint of clove. Clean finish.

Mouthfeel: Not exciting, not offensive.

Drinkability: Its an OK beer. Not the greatest, the the worst. Its average i guess. For an Australian Beer, i guess it would be categorised as good, but if you take it out of the Australian setting then its nothing special. I find Little Creatures Pale Ale, better.

Serving type: bottle

02-17-2005 06:06:31 | More by BeerNutta

Anonmatel

Australia

3.35/5  rDev +0.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

a nice Wheatbeer, although it's hard to figure out the taste, cause everytime i have had one on Tap, the barperson (ahh, SNAG i am) puts a slice of lemon in the bottom on the pint glass. still though. decent. nice session beer.

On second taste (from a bottle this time). it's better from the Tap, it would probably help this beer if it were a little sweeter, (hence the lemon), head dies too quickly, low carbonation in the glass, that somehow equates to too much gas in the stomach. I'm dropping drinkability from 4 to 3.

Serving type: on-tap

05-30-2002 02:27:48 | More by Anonmatel

rastaman

United Kingdom (England)

3/5  rDev -9.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Just and average German style kristal wheat, sadly i think it has lost a lot of character since carlton and United took over, still nice to down every now and then, hints of cloves and banana, but not overly so.

Serving type: bottle

05-28-2002 20:21:53 | More by rastaman