Vintage Ale
(has 1 batch)

2008 bottle consumed on 5/17/13 - Pours dark amber with dark, chunky suspended yeast. It smells of caramel and dark fruit. The flavor is sweet with obvious caramel and a slight hint of the dark fruit I was smelling. It’s medium to full bodied and lightly carbonated. I’d say it’s holding up pretty well after five years. While this is a good beer, it’s not great and it’s no Thomas Hardy. Personally I don’t find it worth aging for years.

Draught at New Sydney Hotel, Hobart. Sampled on August 9, 2013.As "Coopers Extra Strong Vintage Ale".Hazy brown color, off-white head. Sweet, malty, resin taste, some alcohol. Medium mouthfeel, medium bitterness. Sweet, malty scent.

355ml bottle. Clear orange-brown amber colour, foam white head and aroma of malt & light citrus hop. Taste is malt caramel with toffee, tangy citrus orange and a spicy hop bitterness, plus earthy warming alcohol notes. Smooth mouthfeel, medium bodied, soft carbonation, dry bitter finish. Quite drinkable.

2008 Vintage Aroma is full of malt with lots of caramel, biscuit and toasted bread. There is also a hint of toffee and dried fruit esters, mostly raisin and prune. The beer is showing oxidation though with notes of sherry and a bit of cardboard. As expected no hop aroma and alcohol isn't very noticeable. Pours a murky dark amber with some light brown highlights. A thin white head quickly recedes to the edges. No lacing and only small legs. Flavor is sweet upfront with quite a bit of caramel and toffee. There is also some burnt bread and biscuit mid palate. Mid palate there is also quite a bit of fruit eaters with raisin, prune and plum being most prevalent. A light, mellow bitterness in the finish with more sweet caramel and hints of alcohol. No hop flavor and only light oxidation in the finish. The finish has a lingering burnt toast characteristic. there is a bit of acidity to the flavor - low and clean but present. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with medium carbonation. Astringency is low and the alcohol warmth is moderate. This beer has held up surprisingly well, but really isn't great. I wonder how the beer is at about a year as my guess is the base beer isn't great. I think I would prefer to see this as a slightly bigger beer. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

27th May 2012
2007 Vintage! Clear deep amber beer. Short lived bubbly white head. Light palate, crispy and semi dry. Caramel malt, light oxidisation I think. Creamy and dry. Faint orange hops. Dry finish. A bit tired possibly. A 2009 bottle provided a bi more zing and less oxidisation.

Clear dark amber clour, off-white head. Aroma of caramel, red fruits, roasted malts, very fruity. Bitter hoppy flavour, light sweet, roasted malts, liquorice. Finish liquorice, roasted malts and hops.
Pretty nice!
(From 355mL bottle @ home)

Bottle says 2008. Pours dark brown with thick chunks of sediment, dead yeast floating around. Looks like Abbaye des Rocs. Tastes like honey, and oldness. There’s some nice softened barley taste. A little bit of bitterness at the end but follow through is light. Bottle from Lebanon Health Food Store, NH.

Smak och doft av karamell, godis, röda bär, toner av tobak, trä och laktris, fruktig.

From a BA review of Aug 2008: 2007 Vintage, 375 brown bottle. Poured into one of my Duvel glasses, just to watch how the beer copes. This may be a bit early for an 07 brew, but I was thirsty and wanted to try it out. Even though I poured slowly, a fair amount of sediment flew into the glass, I had intended to have a clear beer and then half way through add the ’bits and pieces’ that remained. Bugger! I now had a dark orange cloudy beer with black grimbly bits floating around looking for a fight. On top of the body sat an off white thin scum of foam. Luckily anything in a Duvel glass tends to look a Million Dollars to me, although a score of 3 is about fair for this beer. The aroma was of toffee and Dolly Mixtures (the little sweets). Not your normal Aussie beer smell that’s for sure. Thank goodness the sweetness fell away as the beer warmed and some beery aromas arrived later. My tastebuds picked up a sourness and bitterness that were completely hidden in the original smells. It tasted like a proper beer, even though it had an aroma from a sweet shop. Not bad, not bad at all. Not sure an English Strong Ale is what I tasted, but it was a fine beer whatever bracket you want to label it in. The alcohol obviously comes through in the mouthfeel, but it isn’t OTT and you can tell this is a well crafted beer. Complexed, interesting and contrasting flavours make this a beer to drink slowly and enjoy to the full. Most likely the best Aussie beer I’ve ever had (only been once). I wonder what flavours are around if you cellar one for a few years?