Coopers Vintage Ale

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

Drank a 2004 vintage on Christmas day 2005.Unfortunately I wasn’t feeling very well due to the flu but I was quite impresed although not so much as i thought I would be. It was dark amber and slightly cloudy,with some sweetness and traces of chocolate. -Next time I will save it untill I am feeling fitter, although it did cheer me up a bit.

I had an impromptu beer tasting with my neighbour the other day. We consumed 12 bottles of beer, mainly top Belgian beers and a couple of Australian brews. The Coopers Vintage Ale (batch Oct 2002) remarkably hasd our unanimous vote as the clear second after the Belgian Bush Noel. The batch date is critical. The case of "best after August 2004" I recently bought will need to be cellared for at least another year before it starts hitting its straps.

Pours a deep golden amber color. Aromas of caramel, fruit, and a touch of yeast. Flavors of light fruit, malts, and a nice touch of hops.

2004 "best after 20-08-04" wow!!! perfect balance of taste and aroma. some citrus and cherry. bougt it at the "bierkoning"in downtown amsterdam.

Pours with an amber body topped by a medium thick head with some lacing. It’s sweet and full of caramel, toffe and malt with a touch of fruit. Medium to full bodied, warming and smooth.

cloudy sun tea appearance with a dark cream head. bubble gum nose, double bubble to be exact. some cotton candy and candy orange slices in the aroma too. strong floral bitter taste with some nutty presence. a slight straberry jam flavor.

Clouded amber appearance, good head formation. Rich malty fruit aroma, sherry-ish, mild earthiness. Sweet rich malt palate, apricot jam and cherries, noticeable alcohol warmth, mildly bitter in the finish. Is great for a split second but disappears a little.

Bottle Batch Date 3-Oct-2000:

Pours a nice deep coppery hue with a small fizzy head and little lace. The aroma has notes of ripened currants, raisin, tangerine, caramelized malting, mild vinous esters and surprisingly only very lightly oxidized. The taste is very much like an olde ale, rich caramel and prune with a woody undertone and a lovely peppery finish. My big knock however is that this isn’t big enough to support all those interesting nuances. Just falls short of what I want in my aged English Strong Ales. For a beer of 5 years, it is still nicely carbonated and actually pretty refreshing for the genre. I almost feel sad for this beer, it could have been a contender, but alas is just another forgettable brew.