Red
Tooheys Brewing

RedRed
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From:
Tooheys Brewing
 
Australia
Style:
American Amber / Red Lager
ABV:
4.5%
Score:
59
Avg:
1.98 | pDev: 39.39%
Reviews:
15
Ratings:
28
Status:
Active
Rated:
Aug 24, 2021
Added:
Jun 04, 2002
Wants:
  2
Gots:
  2
No description / notes.
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Ratings by SpruceMoose:
Photo of SpruceMoose
Reviewed by SpruceMoose from Australia

1.08/5  rDev -45.5%
look: 1.5 | smell: 1 | taste: 1 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 1
Back in my youthful days, I was often eager to grab a 30 can block of this with my mates before heading to a party for a long evening of sessional drinking. It was cheap ($31 AUD for 30 cans) and served its purpose as a cheap alcohol delivery system. Reminiscing over my childhood days, I decided to try a can of this to experience a blast from the past and bring back those blissful memories of drinking as a teenager. However, I didn't expect to disgrace my tastebuds and wretch my stomach in the process.

A: An aggressive pour leaves the beer with a head of approximately one finger, which doesn't want to stick around for very long - after 20 seconds it's gone, and you wouldn't even know it existed, as lacing seems to be nonexistent in this brew. the actual beer itself looks almost completely translucent when held up to the light, giving it a typical appearance of several Aussie macro lagers.

S: Smell? You'd think it'd have one. I literally had to sniff until my nostrils caved in to get even the tiniest whiff of aroma from this beer, which eventually turns out to contain an offensive smell of stale hops and metallic odours - possibly a byproduct of the can sitting on the bottle shop's shelf for a few dozen light years.

T: Dearest Mary Mother of God, this tastes atrocious. A fierce taste of long-stale hops grinds the tastebuds and is further insulted by a watery aftertaste. A peculiar thing about this beer is that the hops and the barley can be tasted almost seperately. It is as if the brewery hastily tossed all of the ingredients together and quickly sealed it in a can. A complete lack of anything that could resemble a body leaves an inconsistent taste which, coupled with the painful bitterness of stale hops, gives this beer a truly appalling taste.

M: Nothing much to say here - the watery aftertaste leaves the mouth pondering over whether it just had beer or soda water in it.

O: After tasting this macro again, I look back on my younger days in disgust and scorn. There's a very good reason why cases of this gather dust in bottle shop shelves and are sold at ridiculously low prices, and that is because nobody has the temerity or the low standards to dare drink it. Avoid this beer at all costs!
Dec 07, 2011
More User Ratings:
Photo of Nath91
Reviewed by Nath91 from Australia

1.87/5  rDev -5.6%
look: 2.5 | smell: 1.75 | taste: 1.75 | feel: 2 | overall: 2
Yesterday I reviewd Gold Bitter - Tooheys Gold, and commented how the Toohey's Bitter series whose zenith came about in the 80s and early 90s, has seemingly died out. Red Bitter, is seemingly still around, and able to be purchased in 30 can blocks. However, my local has them in singles cans too. As mentioned in my Gold Bitter review, despite the fact these beers are rare as hens teeth, they must still being drunk by people in quantities worth brewing for. So it's good to see these old school classics around, even if they're not what they were in there hey dey.

It appears that they've reduced the ABV on these again to 4% - still classifying it as a full-strength beer. Let's see if it holds up to it's label as 'full flavour'. As with the Gold Bitter, the design of the can is still classic old-school, with the Tooheys Stag being replaced by the weathered looking man holding a schooner glass. Clearly this must be a drink for the hardy and tough. Let's find out!

Look: As with Every Australian lager, it's a classic golden straw colour. Poured into my Arundel Brewing Co. Pint, it's heavily carbonated, lots of bubbles racing to the top. Head is a light frothy 1 finger, but look like it'll stick around too long. As with all Australian lagers, filtered, and you can see right through the glass. Looking like any Australian lager.

Smell: It's got all the classics of an Australian lager. Although I would have to say this one smells particularly 'dusty'. That's right, dusty. Almost like you have gotten a whiff of the inside of your vacuum after you've hoovered the floor. There's Pride of Ringwood hop notes, again classic Australian lager smell, and that vegetable smell which is all too common with Aussie adjunct beers. It's not horrid, just not overly exciting.

Taste: Sweet character. Not overly bitter. Quite bland. Aftertaste gets that slight vegetable taste, almost like you've walked into a fruit & veg shop. Dry finish, that lingers with that vegetable taste. Some unpleasant notes that could be chemical residue. It's not great. Reminds me of that stale cigarette mouthfeel, and hour after you've had one.

Feel: Highly carbonated, so it's drinkable if you go quickly. Fairly thin. Not a great deal of body to it.

Overall: 30 years ago in its heyday, this might have been a once quaffable lager. However, despite the fact it's somewhat readily available in Sydney, it's market of drinkers have clearly moved on, or passed on. With it's reduction in ABV to 4% - I don't think it's as full flavoured as it once was, and the overall flavour leaves a bit to be desired. I do have a soft spot for these old-school beers, but I feel like this one may not be the beer it once was, and as such is . I want to like it, I really do - if anything for the old-school packaging, but unfortunately the aftertaste is the killer, and it just leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

#️⃣0️⃣8️⃣
Aug 24, 2021
 
Rated: 1.51 by Shanty76 from Georgia

Dec 15, 2015
Photo of Andrewharemza
Reviewed by Andrewharemza from Australia

2.9/5  rDev +46.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Light amber gold under a smallish medium lasting head. Very faint stale hops and hint of something floral as it warms. Light body. Very faint and short lasting burst of watery bitter followed quickly by a weak floral hop and corn nectar sweet middle finish. Bland stale aftertaste.
Jul 23, 2015
Photo of Andrewziggy
Rated by Andrewziggy from Australia

2.93/5  rDev +48%
look: 2.75 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Grainy not much to it easy to drink
Jan 01, 2015
Photo of SmashPants
Reviewed by SmashPants from Australia

2.08/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 1.75 | feel: 2 | overall: 2
Format: returning to this beer for the first time in years, as I have decided to try every beer I can find (whether I want to or not). A tacky macro 375mL can with that "look how great my dodgy 70's label that I never bothered to update" label.

Appearance: looks better than I remember - light yellow with chunky macro carbonation sprinting up the glass. A thin head with good retention.

Aroma: the main issue here is that there is virtually no aroma at all. The slightest cheap grain and off metal from the can / carbonation.

Taste: ah. It's all coming back to me now. Very light cheap grain, that off metallic fug and a really unfortunate chemical taste of some kind. That's the disaster I remember. Fortunately it is actually quite a soft flavour.

Aftertaste: what little there is drops away virtually instantly. You can tell what this was originally designed for - to be thrown back en masse without being too concerned with trifling aspects such as taste or quality.

Mouth feel: quite thin and a bit watery, with enough carbonation to make this somewhat refreshing in the same way that throwing back a can of water might be.

Overall: this is a very old-fashioned beer designed to quench the thirst of people that didn't really care what a beer tastes like. Or perhaps didn't want a beer to have taste, so they can drink it like water while working the farm on an incredibly hot Aussie summer day. Not sure, but it's pretty ordinary.
Dec 16, 2014
 
Rated: 2.36 by Stuckey_Stuckey from Australia

Sep 23, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by probert from New York

Sep 06, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by schoon from Iowa

Jan 16, 2014
 
Rated: 1.75 by djbx from Australia

Oct 20, 2013
 
Rated: 3 by Arsenal0328 from Missouri

Apr 11, 2013
 
Rated: 3 by magpieken from Australia

Apr 08, 2013
 
Rated: 1.5 by BILF from Israel

Mar 01, 2013
 
Rated: 2.25 by magnusdave from New York

Feb 26, 2013
 
Rated: 2 by avschmitt from Michigan

Nov 14, 2012
Photo of mynicknamerocks
Reviewed by mynicknamerocks from Australia

2.28/5  rDev +15.2%
look: 2 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 3
This beer sure does cop some flak...

It's a beer that's more than the sum of its parts:

There is basically no odor, nothing exciting to look at, it's cheap, it's low ABV.... however...

On a hot day, this goes down a treat - it's easy to drink, the flavour is weak and the mouthfeel is watery - just what's needed sometimes. A completely inoffensive beer.

The flavour profile is a slightly sweet grain up front and a mild hop bitterness on the finish - all in all, a well balanced brew. Very little aftertaste.

As I crack another can on this warm Melbourne I feel pleased, pleased to enjoy something that is a very honest, no bullshit, macro lager - but it is, by all means, a macro lager.

Walk in to your local bottle shop and pick up a cube of this for next to nothing - it's great on a stinking hot day when you need something refreshing, light and don't need to think about too much. Goes well with cheap snags in white bread and mowing the lawn.
Nov 04, 2012
 
Rated: 1.5 by Julian4077 from Australia

May 11, 2012
 
Rated: 1.5 by ygtbsm94 from Utah

Feb 16, 2012
Photo of heygeebee
Reviewed by heygeebee from Australia

1.18/5  rDev -40.4%
look: 2 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1 | feel: 1 | overall: 1
This is

The Worst Beer I Ever Had.

Many years ago, as in BC - Before Craft, I had two weeks in England, sampling the finer ales on offer, and enjoying.

I returned to Aus, and had some of these left in the fridge, part of a case I had, bought as I had no money at the time and this was always the cheapest beer on the shelf. I had one and vowed never to drink it again.

Until one of my son's friends had one. I tried a little. The industrial cleaning chemicals added after the brewing have not changed over the years.

Once again....

I vow never to drink again.
Sep 05, 2011
Photo of laituegonflable
Reviewed by laituegonflable from Australia

1.35/5  rDev -31.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 1 | taste: 1 | feel: 1 | overall: 2
Beer from a can - how bogan of me.

Pours a standard, slightly pale golden with nice dense white head, medium thickness, disperses a bit leaving a thin cushion. Fed by steady carbonation coming from about six isolated sources at the base of the stenge. Not bad, seems an appropriate appearance.

Smell? Apparently there is one. Well, there should be, it's beer. Hmmmm...

A lot of effort and I daresay some imagination gets me a pilsener-esque malt kind of smell and maybe some hint of Pride of Ringworm. But this is the imagination of some weird offspring of Lewis Carroll and Hayao Miyazaki talking. There is absolutely nothing there, really. Just a void where aroma should be.

Very uneventful, short and simple palate. If my life were as interesting as this I'd look forward to the exciting pain and torture of hell. Starts off bland, finishes bready and bland. Seriously, I would love to give an in-depth analysis of the malt profile, the intricacies of the bitterness and the beer's complex vicissitudes, but it would be comparable to going deep sea diving in a bathtub. With no water in it.

There is the slightest, slightest whisper of some caramel malt on the front and mid palate (and that is ALL there is), and then once it reaches the back of my mouth for swallowing it gives me that bread yeast character from a blend, maybe of POW and some cheap adjunct. But even the nastiness of this beer is weak and practically unnoticeable. That's not to say it's not nasty, it's just too piss-weak to make me retch.

Mouthfeel is as thin as a single cotton fibre, has absolutely no body. I guess all I can say about this is that it's drinkable, because even air has more toxins and more body than this. "Full Flavour" the logo says. My ass.
May 06, 2009
Red from Tooheys Brewing
Beer rating: 59 out of 100 with 28 ratings