Banks Brewing is a small family run brewery in Seaford, in Melbourne's south east, started by Chris and Penny Farmer in 2016 and named after the family dog. Western Red takes a traditional red ale and gives it a thoroughly modern hop treatment.
It pours a deep amber crimson, with a robust backbone of toasted biscuit and caramel malt underneath. Against that, a wave of hop intensity unleashes layers of resinous pine, passionfruit and zesty citrus.
The two sides meet in a firm bitterness that reads as tropical and forest floor at once, and the finish lands clean and crisp rather than sticky. A good bridge for anyone who normally drinks West Coast IPA but wants more malt depth behind it.