Coopers Vintage Ale

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

Plums, oranges, tea-like tannins, dates, alcohol in the floral, soapy aroma. Opaque orange-amber body is topped by generous and lasting fizzy, off-white head. Tannin-full, orange, floral flavour is quite dry, very fruity and a little bit alcoholic. Moderate finishing bitterness. Medium body with assertively lively effervescence that is perhaps just a bit overly storng. Tulip glass, allowed to warm from fridge temp. Bottle (RBESG 2005 leftovers).

No batch markings on my bottle. Sweet malt and fruit aroma. Cloudy light brown with a thin almost barely wine like head. Somewhat thin in the fore and middle with little flavor until a bit of alcohol and fruit like sweetness in the finish. Has a kind of watery less flavorful Belgian strong ale feel to it.

Botte, batch #4 Oct 4 2002. Hazy to the point of opacity rusty body under a thin dense head. Lots of small bubbles maintain the head well. Smells like melted butter on fresh whole grain bread with figs on the side. Oddly light fluffy mouthfeel. There aren’t any heavy malts to form a solid foundation, the beer sort of floats across your tongue, cloud-like. Well, floats like a cloud that features raisin, dandelion flower and biscuit anyway. Bitter finish.

Bottled 375ml, vintage 2004 (best after 04/2008)
Nut brown, small tan head. Plums, licorice in the nose. Alcoholic, fruity with plums, dates. Foamy carbonation. Bitter alcoholic aftertaste with licorice notes. Nice Westvleteren 12 clone.

Bottle vintage 2004 - sampled at the RBESP 2005
Cloudy amber, tammed head. Buttery aroma. Mellow - slight fruit and nuts. Lightish body.

Vin(t)age. Note to self: get you ass in gear and learn what malt/hop combination produces flavours such as this since it reminds you of a number of British beers despite having a higher carbonation level. This bottle was a gift from a direct descendant of Cooper hisseff and immediately after fermentation was complete this was hand filtered through the very beard that is depicted on the label, having been preserved as a family heirloom to be used in such a ceremony for the likes of people like myself. This unique process yields flavors of long forgotten stew with bread crumbs and remnant of ancient porridge. Lest ye be averse to humor, I will say that I did indeed admire this beer even though I had expected it to surpass what it did present.

Bottle. Pours a cloudy nut brown with a little white head. Nutty, toasty, malty nose. Nutty, toasty, kind of wheaty malt flavor. Watery mouth feel; not very good.

Bottled. Wow, yeah! Great, complex flavours and aromas: orange, malt, prunes, hops, flowers, wood, alcohol, yeast, caramel... it’s all there. Good mouthfeel and a nice aged aftertaste, makes you think of oak barrels or something like that. Very highly reccomended.