Cooperstown Old Slugger

Brewed by Cooperstown Brewing Co.
Style: American Pale Ale
Milford, New York USA

This is part of a beer club. Had only one bottle but was decent for the price. Poured great and had a nice finish. Would do again.

Date: 09/03/1998
Source: Ale Atlanta

slight sweet fruity aroma, light hop flavor,

Aroma: 5/10; Appearance: 2/10; Flavor: 2/10; Palate: 2/10; Overall: 5/20
Rating: 1.4/5.0
Score: 4
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Rated while drinking: Pale gold body with a very impressive and gigantic fluffy off-white head. Tons of bubbles blur the vision. Smells like its quite hopped, along with some sweet malts. Pretty pleasant aroma. Tastes almost like it could be a pilsner instead of a pale ale. The malts impart some bread and biscuit tastes, while the hops give you some grass and herbs. Oddly enough, I taste pepper after the swallow too. Something bottle-like on the first sip, but its gone away after subsequent sips. Actually I enjoy the flavor, it seems more complex than it leads on to be. As promised its quite crisp on the palate, with a touch of dryness at the end. Very easy to drink! I wasn’t expecting much with this beer, but it hit everything in the right spot for me. Pale ales are usually a dime a dozen, but Old Slugger sure shined for me. I’ll definitely have to try Cooperstown’s other baseball treats.

Draught and subsequent bottle samples in Cooperstown. Orange-toned golden body with a big, sudsy white head. First note in the aroma is pure popcorn butter diacetyl. Some toasted grain lies underneath. Flavor is of sweet caramel and fruity malt, butter, and medium bitterness. Has some balancing features to make it drinkable and I can almost pretend this is meant to be a rendition of a certain classic English bitter, but deep down I sense some lack of craft here. The Old Slugger needs to be more patient at the plate (and in the fermenter).

Bottle... Clear amber ale with a small, fizzy, white head. Good retention. Floral, fruity aroma with a pleasant afterthought of diacetyl. Balanced nicely, but thin. Reserved acidity sparks some interest and then disappears, leaving just a whimper of buttery diacetyl and my palate unfulfilled. Light-bodied with Champagne-like spritz. Short, tannic, bone-dry finish. A big THANKS to growler for splitting the bottle!

Draft. Motor oil orange-brown in color. 1/2" head blue-berry, floral, buttery. watery, thin body backed up by wooden grassy report on tongue. Brewery tour wort scent to this one.

Hearty pale ale is a little missleading. I wish it was crisper, I wish it had more of a hop aroma and backbone, and I wish that the malt was a little more balanced. It does finish dry, and it does have a nice colour, and I do appreciate the name and label of this beer, but that is all.

Bottle. Amber/orange with a minimal foamy head. Initial aroma was an off-putting diacetyl/movie popcorn butter. Some underlying fruity esters came through after a while. Flavor of off-sweet grainy malts with some grass hops and red apple peel esters, but with a creeping staleness/infectedness lurking underneath which is hard to ignore.