Coopers Vintage Ale

Brewed by Coopers Brewery
Style: English Strong Ale
Regency Park, South Australia, Australia

Hazy dark amber color. no head. Aroma of rich malt, honey and tea, maybe darjeeling. tastes like mead with roasted honey. odd...

Yep, its vintage. Well it tastes old anyway, a bit too skunky aroma for my liking with too many hops. Still it has got a lot going for it, the strong flavour and smoothness on the palate mean that its a fair bit better than the run of the mill oz beers.

one of the better brews from coopers. the appearance though, is weak. but the aroma and taste makes up for it to an extent.

The 12.7 ounce bottle poured a murky brownish amber colored beverage with a modest sized off-white frothy head that did not last long and left almost no lacing on the glass. The aroma was dominated by malt with notes of sweet, dark, dried fruits such as plum and raisin. There were also notes of aged leather with an earthy undertone. The body was medium-full with a normal carbonation and a slightly sharp acrid mouthfeel. The flavor starts off moderately sweet and then teaks on an alcohol warmth and sharpness with a bit of a bite on the tip of the tongue toward the end of the medium-long finish. This one could have benefited from another year or two of aging ... my bad.

Bottle 2004 vintage purchased from Tuckers Maltings online. Poured a hazy amber color with a small off white head, some exotic fruits detected in the aroma, taste very soft but quite rich with vanilla and caramel coming to the fore very nice beer.

Bottle 2004 vintage. Hazy brown colour with a slim off-white head. Sweet malty aroma, some banana, touch of butterscotch. Nice complex taste, sweet and malty, dark fruits, raisins, some hops and a peaty flavour with some alcohol in the finish. Medium bodied, pleasant spritzy mouthfeel. Nice.

In the bottle (2006 vintage). Pours a hazy light amberwith an effervescent head. Flocculent particles abound in this beer. Big excessive carbonation. Butterscotch aroma. Big malt nose. Thick malt flavor, but somehow it just is not in balance with the alcohol level. Much more of a hop bill than most Oz beers. Apple flavoring and brown sugars, but just a bit too green right now. I regret that I had this now because it could use cellaring for a year or so. A review that I read in the Sydney Morning Herald suggested that the 2004 vintage is really quite good right now.

love the label...medium muddy tan colour...smell head...low lacing...drink this slow...has alot to it..has some yeasters...whats 2 be an abbey!....back bitters....alittle disappointing...but ok...its progress. bought at the bierkonig in amsterdam..when i could have gotten maybe 300 better beers...oh well, its a learning process.