Coopers Vintage Ale

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

Batch 4, 2002. Amber brown in color, very cloudy with lots of sediment, very long lasting white head. Malty aroma, mild alcohol, melon appears as well. Some yeastiness appears in the flavor as well. Alcohol is present, but seems to add character rather than detracting, finishes dry. Tasty.

Malty aroma with a light head. Body seemed a bit thin and the malt flavor seemed to weaken. Touch of oxidation detected.

My favourite beer (I grab a case whenever I can get it!). This one is to Australian beer as Durif is to red wine. Big, smooth and extremely satisfying. This is a beer to have with a Sunday roast, one which you savour each mouthful.

2004 bottle. Aroma of alcohol and blackcurrent wth some malt also. mid brown in colour, cloudy (as I added some of the yeast) with a small white head. Remarkably light and dry with a touch of alcohol in the finish.

2002 Bottle. Pours a tan peachy color with a very slight tan head. Aroma is sweet with alcohol, fruit and brown sugar. The taste is very malty with an alcohol edge, and dark fruits. Just a bit too thin tasting and on the palate. Finishes in a fairly bland manner. Not great, but not bad either. The guy at The World of Beer hyped this one a bit too much.

Bottled, 2002 vintage. Very fruity and good looking beer. Wouldn’t mind having a case in my cellar but Australia is too far for me to drive to.

Batch # 14 October 2002, Sampled January 2005
Pours a hazy amber orange color that is topped by a thin tan colored head, with a medium level of carbonation. The aroma is malty with some weird almost vegetal notes, as well as notes of alcohol, cleaning solution, caramel. The beer is sweet, quite well carbonated and has subtle oxidation notes of sherry. In some ways it is quite light on the palate. The taste is much more agreeable than the aroma hinted at. This is definitely slanted on toward the malty side of the spectrum, in some ways it even reminds me of diluted malt extract. Certainly interesting, and I am glad that I picked this up, but I think that it might be a bit more malty and fresh tasting if it was a bit younger.

The quality of this annual release varies considerably from year to year with the changing recipe. I loved the 2000 but was disappointed by the 2001.The 2000 vintage (7.1%) is rated here because my memory of the 2001 is muddied by the eight beers I had afterwards. It poured a teak colour with a fading head. Sherry notes in the sweet malty nose. Some fruit characters. The palate is surprisingly moderate and quenching. Big fruity character, like the same brewer’s sparkling ale on steroids. Carries its alcohol very easily. Very smooth drinking. (Bottle, 2000 batch)