Beer Redoak Malt Teaser

There’s a decent case to claim Redoak brewer David Hollyoak is the Willy Wonka of the Australian beer scene. Not only does he produce a massive number of beers in a dazzling array of styles, but he seems to possess – at least judging by the number of awards lining the Sydney beer cafe’s walls – something of a genius streak when it comes to brewing. Throw in the mysterious quirk whereby no one has seen the inside of his brewery in years and the similarities with Dahl’s character start to become rather striking. And that’s all quite convenient when it comes to his latest beer as it’s one with a distinct confectioner’s connection: the Malt Teaser.

It’s a dark lager that – feel free to adopt your Augustus Gloop voice here – really does taste like the famous chocolate when you take your first sip. Of course, with the millions that’s presumably pumped through the Mars machine to get that presumably patented taste, it’s never going to be a dead ringer, but it’s certainly in the ballpark (much in the same vein as Big Shed’s two major acts of mimicry, the Beery Ripe Porter and Golden Stout Time). Indeed, were there no such thing as a Malteaser for reference you'd probably just describe it as a beer where the caramel malt sweetness is the most notable character. it’s not ridiculously sweet – as in, it won't leave you with that sickly feeling you get when you down a movie-sized box of chocolate honeycomb orbs in a half hour binge – but it’s a sweeter lager than your average person might expect. On expectations, for a dark lager it’s actually not particularly dark either; definitely darker than golden but nowhere near black.

We may never see the inner workings of Wonka’s factory, but perhaps that’s for the best because, deep down, things tend to be better when they’re wrapped in a little mystery.