Cooperstown Pride of Milford Special Ale

Brewed by Cooperstown Brewing Co.
Style: English Strong Ale
Milford, New York USA

Took the tour of the brewery last year and brought a case from them. I have been searching NJ for it ever since.Very good tasting beer with a nice red color. It looks like I will have to visit again this summer to get some more. A few cases this time.

Very enjoyable ale! Rich flavor with a nice bitterness. Great Upstate NY beer.

Pours a tranparent amber with a 1.5 cm off-white head with good staying-power. Very pleasant aroma--malts, sweet cherries, honey are noticeable from quite a distance. Lots going on flavorwise. Tastes almost belgian at first with some banana flavor, malty throughout. Smokiness to finish. Roasted malts, cherry hints, banana hints. Hides 7.7% remarkably well. This is a remarkable value at $1.39 a bottle. Did I mention beautiful lacing? If there was a complaint, it would be that it wasn't totally to style. The next time I am strapped for cash and need a quality 6 pack, I will definitely pick this up. Re-rate--this beer just grows on me. It gets better each time. Increased overall from 17 to 18.

Had this one bottled at the brewery in Milford, New York. Bright, medium yellow pour with an unusual banana and strawberry nose, citrusy, with pineapple, cherry, citrusy hops, spectacularly complex, excellent.

I am a fan of Cooperstown brewery. This one is a strong kick ass beer. Great flavor, fruity at some level yet I know there is no added flavors to the beer. Nice red color, excellent head and lacing. Very hard for me to not rate this as one of my favorite ales. The only down side is it is not readily available in my area, I get it at local stores by my son’s college. He graduates this month, but I am told it is available via the web site to NY residents. My good fortune!

Clear copper. Fluffy white foam. Nutty with mashed dates and earthy Ringwood notes. Light waft of rounded fruitiness. Delicate carbonation with a creamy softness. Opens with a gritty stamp of dryness from the Ringwood, coupled with an earthy hop understatement. Well-attenuated, and gritty as a result of the yeast, but equally slippery and juicy to augment its remarkable depth. Complex, but so clean and devoid of flaw. Nutty malt flavor rises to the surface and continually softens the body, gaining a depth-lending touch of toffee glaze and toasted walnut harshness. Retrained, but noticeable, oily hop bitterness in the finish accompanies the lengthy Ringwood-accented toasty, nutty malt (Crystal?) depth that lingers on. Not sure what else you want from the style. This is absolutely superlative and must be to die for, cask-conditioned. Thanks, IPFreely.

Clear light copper color with some golden glowing around the edges. Small to medium sized ivory cap. Leaves some light topping once its faded and the lacing is splattered with spots. Aroma is quite nice, seemingly light but delicately enhanced with a certain subtle complexity that fits a strong ale. Warmingly toasted and bready with a pleasing little dollop of white grape and apricot jam. Oooo...as in moo, a very nice taster. Toasty and warm, lightly fruity and hoppy. Buttered toast, slippery caramel, dried apricot, and a mellowing warm tone is located all throughout as it begins to finish with some yeasty dryness and hop oil warmth adding some lovely little additions of herbal spice, then back again with some caramel returns and more subtle warming. The malt backing is quite adequate and largely placed as to make a subtle balance and play between the warmth, hops, spice, and yeast. A pleasure to sip. Subtlity is the name of the game in this one. Great finish. The hoppy spices are perfectly intertwined into the finish. Feel is clean, smooth, and warming with a certain medium tilted body that leans to the malted side of things. A good thing here. Very balanced and well rounded. The texture is so easy to take in. A very drinkable ale, sipable in large doses.

The lads at Cooperstown Brewing have done a nice job with this one. The 7.7% abv is well-concealed, like a surprise bunt down the third base line. Maltier and less-hopped than most, this is a sweet, tasty brew.