09 October 2010

Coopers Extra Strong Vintage Ale...

I actually drank this fine ale last night. I just did not get around to posting the review until now. Although, with a 7.2% alcohol volume this would certainly be one to warm you up on a slightly cooler cloudy day like today! This brew is, as the name suggests, from the Coopers range of beers. I will be undoubtedly, sooner or later, reviewing a few more of the Coopers range, as they are already in the fridge and awaiting my attention.

Surprisingly, this was a sweet tasting beer with a lot of caramel flavours with some honey aroma tossed in for good measure. There was also a bit of the espresso happening, not too strong but definitely noticeable. The extended top fermentation process serves to enhance the quality of the flavours. The beer is not really a sipper, it goes down too well to hang around, but for those of you out there that prefer to take their time, then as this beer warms up the flavours and aroma actually intensify. In fact, this is a beer that might be even better on tap and out of a glass rather than straight from the bottle.

On a less positive note. A lot of the reviews that I have read about this beer (after drinking it as I did not want to have any preconceived opinion to start) have been negative. Generally, people are less than happy with the traditional Coopers sediment that accompanies this brew. The unhappiness, is that the sediment is not the traditional Coopers perfection that makes most of their ales cloudy. Rather, the sediment in this one are clumpy chunks of spent yeast (not a pretty site in a glass to be sure), maybe if one drinks it straight from the bottle you can avoid seeing the clumpy chunks by pretending they are not really there.

But, when it is all said and done, I actually enjoyed this beer from start to finish.

No comments: