Coopers Vintage 2004-2008 ( A Retrospective)

Recently Dan & I got together and tasted our way through four vintages of Coopers Vintage. Oh and what a night it was, discussions were had, points were made and whole lot of shit was spoken.

The following are tasting notes we made through the night and we take no responsibility for the mess our notes ended up in by the end of the night. Bearing in mind that the older the ale the stronger the alcohol.

The night was started with......

2008 Coopers Extra Strong Vintage Ale

Beautifully disguised alcohol, champagne, ruby, tobacco, light yeast and vegemite, great muddy colour, marmalade and cumquat

2007 Coopers Extra Strong Vintage Ale

Richer than the '08, slightly more fizz (ie the bubbles seemed bigger), caramel and licorice, not nearly as impressive as the rest of the beers

2006 Coopers Extra Strong Vintage Ale

Getting a lot of residue and shit in the bottom, it's now occurred to us that we have no idea how long yeast can live, more apricot and sweet fruit than the '07, Dan think's it's a link

between the older the beer the more it tends to taste like a really good Trappist beer.

2004 Coopers Extra Strong Vintage Ale

Dirty brown, caramel and burnt apricot, really flat, no carbonation left, which really detracts from the flavour

So summing up, I (graham) really liked the first 3 beers but my clear favourite was the 2006 for all of the balance and rich flavour it offered.

Dan - the thing I enjoyed the most from this experience was understanding the way flavours change in beer as it ages, I think beers made in this bottle conditioned style are exciting to experience through a tasting where you get to see young and old side by side, and the best thing for me was the ability to see the change from a light black ale into a rich stewed apricot festival of a beer.

Cheers