Matilda Bay Rooftop Red Lager

Formerly brewed at Matilda Bay Brewing Co. (CUB)
Style: Amber Lager/Vienna
Port Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Serve in Dimpled mug, Lager glass, Shaker

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I thought a middie would be enough to satiate my curiousity and I was right. It only cost me $3.60 to dicover another beer that is just a beer. The color is fine, more ruby than the orangey/red that I have seen wih this style. At first I was worried about the glass due to the presence of lemonade bubbles but this soon settlesd into a reasonable head aided by a few swirls of the glass. The nose is not all that great is it? Scant nut and caramel but not enough to excite. The flavour has a degree of hop spiciness but not enough to make me order another. Quite dry and astringent on the back palate and this, like most Ausse beers, is cursed with a thin and uninsiring body.

Tap@The Australian Hotel, The Rocks, Sydney. Looks pretty red, kinda red/brown. I thought this was OK, quite nutty and sweet, with some sweet caramel. Finishes off dry. To be honest it was pretty pleasant, and a lot better than i was expecting. Still, there isn’t really anything that stands out, simple, but OK.

well it looks red. and the main thing about beers that are called "red" is that their main attraction is that they are red. after looking at em things go rapidly downhill. and this one’s no exception - a beautiful deep red colour with a gorgeous creamy head that settles into icefloes. the smell was all wrong - weird balsamic vinegar smell that made me suspect the lines weren’t too clean (old fitzroy in woolloomooloo). sweaty smelling too. flavourwise it’s got some creamy, nutty biscuitty malt that seems quite well done, with a fugglesy fennel like hop flavour, joined in the finish by the artificial watermelon ester that mullet put his finger on, or rotten pawpaw, and quite a bit of vinegary sourness. i think there’s a good vienna lurking in there. maybe it was having an off day.

A mass produced dark lager is an interesting addition to Australias beer market and may well become popular. It has an interesting sweet nutty aroma and a sweet caramel malt flavour that will go down well with the average punter as it’s far easier to drink than many mainstream premium beers. But for mine, it’s lacking in character; too reliant on malt flavour, not enough hop or yeast influence.

on tap at the australian. purpley-red colour, thin white head. nutty aroma with a suggestion of plum. tasted to me mainly of raisins and caramel, drinkable enough but could do with a little more body. finished a bit sweeter than i would have liked with a weird hint of pineapple

On tap @ the Australian. Red in colour, with a very thin head (don’t think they cared much when it was poured). It was a bit thin in the palate, with some nutty characteristics, as well as a bit of malt. The hops also came through, in a fruity sort of way that I didn’t really like at first, but then got used to it. Overall, it’s ok, and would make an ok session beer.

Cola-like colour on the body with an ok head. And that is about as far as it goes cos there wasn’t much else going for this beer, some hints of malt at the start and then nothing.

Red as advertised. OK head. Loads of molasses and toffee aromas, not much else, kinda like Old Peculier. Thin, nutty and chemical flavour with a distinct taste of artificial watermelon. To top it off I paid $6.50 for a schooner of this at Transport, the shittest bar to hit Melbourne in a long, long time. (I had NFI what style to add this in - I think American Dark Lager is probably more appropriate, but that’s probably selling the brewery a bit short)