Craig’s tasting
Australian readers would know that this beer is named after a deadly Australian spider. The spider is in fact so common that most Aussies are less likely to have come across this beer than its namesake.
Having drawn your attention to this connection, I would like you to keep this in mind because I will come back to it soon.
It is safe to say that Redback is the most well known Australian wheat beer. My first experience with it was while I was having dinner watching the sunset over the ocean at the brilliant Indiana Tea House on Cottesloe Beach. My memories of this day are very fond.
Having since had the luxury of tasting some very good wheat beers I now realise that my fond memories relate mostly to the great location and the very hot West Australian ladies catching some sun on the beach below.
To be fair the beer is not terrible, it has what I would call a complex creaminess to its taste, a taste you would have to try to understand. There are definitely a number of people who would get enjoyment from this offering.
For me however, the next time I want a Redback I will just go out to my garage and stick my hand in my rarely used golf shoes. The subsequent spider bite will be much cheaper than the beer and who knows, the effects the next day might not be any worse.
