# Coopers Vintage 2013 Extra Strong Ale



## soundawake (3/7/13)

Managed to snare myself a sneaky pre release carton of this year's Vintage Ale. 

Its definitely changed since last year's. And you would expect so. Last year they used Perle, Magnum, Nelson Sauvin, Centennial and Cascade. This year - its Styrian Goldings, Centennial, Chinook and Citra. 

Hops definitely feature a lot more up front. Citra is easily detected in the nose and in the taste as well. A more craft beer like vibe from it. 

I quite like it. Much prefer it to the 2012. And completely different from the equally awesome 2011.


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## citizensnips (3/7/13)

last years was great, gonna have to try this, sounds tasty as :icon_drool2:


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## .DJ. (4/7/13)

I won a sample pack from Coopers. 3 bottles in a wooden case and a vintage ale bottle shaped USB stick...

Pretty happy with that!!


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## slash22000 (4/7/13)

I tried the 2013 vintage ale at the Darwin Beer Festival last weekend.

Honestly the glass I tried tasted pretty much 100% like Coopers yeast to me. That's all I could get from it. No hops or malt, just yeast. Maybe I got a bad bottle or something.


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## soundawake (4/7/13)

.DJ. said:


> I won a sample pack from Coopers. 3 bottles in a wooden case and a vintage ale bottle shaped USB stick...
> 
> Pretty happy with that!!


Lucky bastard. I entered that comp. Last year I won, I won a set of the VIntage Ale glasses, one of which you can see in the photo.


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## Logman (4/7/13)

2012 is one of my favorite beers - I feel like a bit of a megaswiller as not many others liked it due to it's lack of craft beer type qualities :lol:


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## .DJ. (4/7/13)

soundawake said:


> Lucky bastard. I entered that comp. Last year I won, I won a set of the VIntage Ale glasses, one of which you can see in the photo.


its a nice set, however the rear label was stuck on upside down.... are yours from the case like that?


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## soundawake (4/7/13)

.DJ. said:


> its a nice set, however the rear label was stuck on upside down.... are yours from the case like that?


Rear label? On the glasses?


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## .DJ. (4/7/13)

soundawake said:


> Rear label? On the glasses?


the label on the back of the bottles..


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## soundawake (4/7/13)

.DJ. said:


> the label on the back of the bottles..


Oh right. Nope, look fine to me


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## .DJ. (4/7/13)




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## soundawake (4/7/13)

That's hilarious. I wonder if it was done on purpose as they were not meant to be sold, or if it was a mistake. Either way, I'd be hanging on to them


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## .DJ. (4/7/13)

I emailed them and they said these are the only ones they know of...

I was hoping it was something like Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket and id get the keys to the brewery... But no...


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## Liam_snorkel (4/7/13)

only one - my arse. the whole run would have gone out like that. haha.

maybe you're meant to read it while pouring?


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## .DJ. (4/7/13)

Liam_snorkel said:


> only one - my arse. the whole run would have gone out like that. haha.
> 
> maybe you're meant to read it while pouring?


my intial thought was they did the sample packs because a fair few bottles had labels up the wrong was so they could only give them away. However, the guy at coopers says he doent know of any other bottles like this....


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## yum beer (4/7/13)

I downed a 2012 on Saturday whilst cooking the barbie, certainly a different beast to 12 months ago, 2 bottles in storage for a drink each year before the new batch comes out.
Looking forward to this year, may have to get a six'er to last a few extra years.


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## Agent P (4/7/13)

I won a sample pack too and all the labels on the back of my bottles are upside down.

The competition is a good way to offload a dodgy batch. I'm not complaining though 

The 2013 vintage is a nice drop, even though it is really young. Not a patch on the 2011 vintage IMO.


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## Josho (4/7/13)

Yum i had a 2012 last week also - it has matured beautifully, they still have some at my local dans might get another carton me thinks..

i guess the test is to give the 2013 6 months and then a full year.


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## Logman (4/7/13)

Josho said:


> Yum i had a 2012 last week also - it has matured beautifully, they still have some at my local dans might get another carton me thinks..


Anyone know if they special them when the next year comes out at Dan's?


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## soundawake (4/7/13)

Logman said:


> Anyone know if they special them when the next year comes out at Dan's?


In Adelaide at least, I haven't seen any 2012 Vintage at all since Oct last year. However I was just in Mt Gambier last weekend, on the border of SA and Vic and they had STACKS of 2012 Vintage. $75 a carton.


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## Logman (5/7/13)

^^ My local Dan's still has them, I get a carton every so often - was just wondering whether to expect them to go to $50 or so when they bring out 2013, might grab 5 or something....


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## AlwayzLoozeCount (6/7/13)

If you're going to buy a case of this and let it age for a few years does it matter about fluctuations in temperature or should it be done in a cellar?


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## Logman (27/7/13)

Had one last night, not as good as the 2012 imo but it's very fresh tasting. Hard to feel the 7.5%, you could drink a fair few and wake up pretty hammered. 

What is the hop that is so detectable, is that Nelson?


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## soundawake (27/7/13)

Citra I reckon.


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## Logman (27/7/13)

Ah, never brewed with Citra before, but watching this bizarre ** you might be right. Might have to get some :icon_drool2:


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## Liam_snorkel (27/7/13)

Logman said:


> this bizarre **


 bizarre indeed!


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## lukiferj (27/7/13)

I don't get it.


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## Will88 (27/7/13)

Since when are Centennial, Chinook and Citra noble hops?


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## Liam_snorkel (27/7/13)

I believe the marketing department were given too much rope.


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## fnqbrew (3/8/13)

Grabbed a 2013 box today. I won't get around to drinking any until late September when I catch up with a mate who appreciates good beer, and we'll session a few. 2012 was underwhelming to start, but cracked a couple of bottles a few weeks ago and it's improved a great deal. Might hang on to the last dozen for another year. I missed out on 2011, but I reckon 2010 was a cracker. It's the beer that got me buying bloody $83 cartons!


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## Proffs (5/8/13)

What I don't get is I thought hop driven beers should be consumed fairly quickly before the hop presence fades out. I know with most of my beers they change dramatically in about that 2nd month after bottling; and not for the good.


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## joshuahardie (6/8/13)

Interesting reviews,
I thought the 2013 was a great drop, easily as good as my favourite which was 2010

I felt 2011, and 2012 were very poor in comparision

Horses for Courses.


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## Logman (22/8/13)

soundawake said:


> Citra I reckon.





Logman said:


> Might have to get some :icon_drool2:


Just put on my first Citra brew, was that I was smelling for sure.

The Citra has really died down in my Vintage Ale slab. I've been drinking plenty of Hop Hog so it could be that, but I'm sure it's died right off -_-


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## mwd (29/9/13)

Bought my first 6 pack of 2013 today. Very nice my kind of beer might even be tempted to try the recipe on Cooper's website.


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## fnqbrew (10/10/13)

Yeah, finally tried some while camping over the last few weeks. I don't mind it. Very fruity.


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## DJ_L3ThAL (11/10/13)

slash22000 said:


> I tried the 2013 vintage ale at the Darwin Beer Festival last weekend.
> 
> Honestly the glass I tried tasted pretty much 100% like Coopers yeast to me. That's all I could get from it. No hops or malt, just yeast. Maybe I got a bad bottle or something.


I absolutely agree with you slash, tasted like very alcoholic coopers pale ale yeast to me. I think my mates hyped it up to me too much before as well, I'm glad I got the 6-pack for free!

I've got it in the fridge at the moment, for the remaining 5, I can just remove from the fridge and put under the house to cellar with no adverse effects from initially being chilled right?


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## mwd (11/10/13)

The six pack I got was not yeasty at all in fact it poured very clear into the glass. Found the flavour to be vaguely similar to an English Barley Wine a sipper not a gulper.


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## elcarter (24/12/13)

Brought 2 cartons mid year and stored them.

1 Carton and 2 six packs made it this far, pretty good job I think.

Put two six pack in the fridge for Chrissy and I'll leave the carton for a while yet.

Bottle says;

Stored under cellar conditions the rich and full flavor of Coppers vintage will become more complex over an extended period.

Just cracked one. Description's Not wrong. 

Chocolate, malty, caramel sweetness a first but transitions smoothly and quickly to a very long bitterness that seems to last an eternity.

Feels the caramel has reduced quite a bit since I last had one.

I'm trying to decipher the other complex flavors but having trouble. Their there but the bitterness seems to almost cover them perfectly and they come and go quickly.

I think it's citrus, orange-ish and possibly a hint of cherry but seems odd. I guess complex is the correct word for it.

I'm rubbish at defining this pallet flavor adventure but thought I'd share my 6 month old 2013 Vintage with you all.


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## fnqbrew (26/12/13)

Yeah, I put a couple of my stash in the fridge a couple of weeks ago. I'm really enjoying this beer. There's still some around in Dans. I've been wondering if I should hit another carton while I still can.


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## soundawake (26/12/13)

In my opinion Vintage hits its peak around 18 months. See if you can hang on to it for at least a year. I've got 3 years worth stored in my cellar - the 2011, (5 bottles left) 2012 (half a carton) and 2013 (3 quarters of a carton). The 2011 was amazing, the 2012 so-so, too early to tell how well the 2013 will age yet. Definitely could taste the new addition of Citra they added this year though.

Once you've got a few years worth of cartons stacked up, doing a back to back comparison can be really fun (and inebriating!)


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## barls (26/12/13)

Merged with the other cooper vintage thread


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