Coopers Vintage Ale 2023

[Classic Brewing Co]

1 minute ago, Instigator said:

$100 once a year for one of my hobbies probably isn't ridiculous in the big scheme of things. Still, I agree, it's a lot of money for 24 beers. That said, I'd rather collect a few Coopers ESVAs than Funkopops or Star Wars action figures or something. 

Yeah, I could get the ingredients for 2 x AG beers with that including good yeast & hops & that equates to 4 x cartons of beer.

[Instigator]

1 minute ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Yeah, I could get the ingredients for 2 x AG beers with that including good yeast & hops & that equates to 4 x cartons of beer.

Yep. I mostly brew the All In FWKs these days. So yeah, same - 2x FWKs for that money. YOLO and all that. 

[Kegory]

I think I'll probably get a six pack and put it away for a while. After the discussions about it over the last week I am curious to discover the impact aging will have on it. But I don't have any decent cellaring options. I've cleaned out some cupboard space and put in extra shelving for aging exbeeriments but that space doesn't have any climate control (nor does the rest of the house). I've been reading up on aging beer, I've got some of my Coopers Dark Ale I'm going to age and I'll be brewing an Irish Red Ale soon that the recipe suggests is good for aging, too, apparently the ideal temperature to store beer for aging is 14.5C. That's about the ambient temperature now. I don't want to have to throw too much beer away if they don't take kindly to the Summer temperatures.

[Instigator]

@Kegory I've found that my brews from cans don't age well - not for me at least. The hops disappears and basically they become a fizzy malt drink. I'm up here in Cairns where my cellaring takes place around 23-25C (basically in A/C). I'm in the process of poking through my ESVA stash and will do a thread on it in a couple of weeks. I have to go to Launceston next week, and I have a bunch of stuff to get done beforehand, so have to put the ESVA journey on hold for a bit.

But for now, my quick observation of the 2023 is:

• Still tastes like a Strong Ale, so true to the ESVA heritage.
• Not as much bitterness as previous years. Almost tastes like I could sit on a few of these for a session.
• The 7.5% ABV kicks in quick, so I can't!
• I can't really pick a distinct hop flavour. I get a little malt sweetness and some late bitterness, but really well balanced with the ABV, with the alcohol having its own barely noticeable bite. Whatever is going on, I really like it! Some past years have tasted a little green when fresh and have mellowed and blended down the track. These are spot on right now.
• I really like this year's trade dress. The bottles have a metallic bronze/gold trim on the label and cap rather than the milky caramel brown of recent years. I apologise that my phone camera doesn't pick it up well. The glossy black carton with the bronze/gold writing looks nice, too. I guess for $99/ctn it may need to look Premium to help regular punters get it into their trolleys.

Verdict: Great job, Coopers team!

[Kegory]

Thanks @Instigator, I'll look forward to reading that thread.

The beers I'm going to age aren't hoppy, a dark ale and an Irish red ale. If they spoil it doesn't really matter, I'm not trying to age them all, just a few. Seems like a worthwhile exbeeriment, though, more taste testing, more notes, more data. But your experience backs up what I've read, hence I'll only try aging a 6 pack of the Vintage Ale.

I'm surprised you're not picking up the hop flavour, it was very prominent to me. I could taste the malt, too, but the hops stood out. But it is Winter down here and I haven't been drinking many hoppy beers lately, mainly darker ales and stouts.