Beer of the Weekend #4: Coopers Best Extra Stout
After work I bought gas…for the first time in three weeks. Ha ha. At $3.79 a gallon for the cheap stuff (I even got the cash discount) my 40 dillies didn’t even fill her up. It was close, but not quite. We’ll see how long I can go on my next tank. Hooray for the bus.
The beer this weekend is from down under: Coopers Best Extra Stout, brewed by Coopers Brewery Limited of Regency Park, South Australia.
It’s another BevMo! on Beach beer. I saw it a couple weeks ago in the Asia/Australia section and was pleasantly surprised (excuse me for the cliché). Usually the Australian imports section of the beer aisle consists of Foster’s, sometimes Foster’s Special Bitter (oooh, good memories), and…Foster’s. There are no other Aussi options. So when I saw the varieties of Coopers I knew I had to sample some. The stout caught my eye. I’m a sucker for dark beer.
From now on, or at least until I settle on a better system, I’ll be describing each weekend beer using a template I’ve seen on Beer Advocate. Some members review beer using a six-point scale, evaluating beer on appearance, smell, taste, mouth feel (naughty, naughty), drinkability, and serving type. I like the format; it’s simple and covers all the bases. Here we go.
Serving type: Six-pack of 12.7 ounce bottles. The bottles are wider and curvier than normal beer bottles, and, not to mention, there is another .7 ounces inside. Usually beer cans and bottles only contain 12 ounces. I guess those Aussi’s need that extra kick. I did notice my pint glass was a little fuller than usual.
Appearance: Extra Special Stout poured an opaque black. I placed the poured glass against my lamp and no light came through the beer. That’s the sign of a good stout. My first beer had a light brown effervescent head that dissipated quickly, but a thin, cappuccino-like layer of foam lingered on the top. My second pint had a similar but thinner lacing.
Smell: Toasted coffee. Even thought I don’t like coffee, I like my stouts to taste and smell like coffee.
Taste: Part chocolately, part coffee. There is little hop taste left on the palette.
Mouth feel (should I be using this category?): Very smooth and refreshing. Creamy, too. (Goddamnit!)
Drinkability: It’s not a warm afternoon beer, like Pabst, but it is a tasty dessert for a hearty dinner. It’s very drinkable.
On to some fun facts:
-Coopers Best Extra Stout came in the weirdest six-pack case ever.
Maybe it’s the custom down under, but in the States it’s different. The cardboard was wrapped around the bottles. I didn’t know how to open it from the top, so I undid the hooks at the bottom and carefully slipped the bottles out. Maybe next time I’ll be messy about it.
-6.3% alcohol by volume.
-According to the website, Extra Stout is “brewed naturally using a top fermentation method” and “contains no addititives and no preservatives.” Good shit.
-Severing temperature is 50°-55°F.
-Food pairings (provided by Beer Advocate) are chocolate dessert and grilled or smoked meat.
This is one of the best stouts I’ve ever had. The Quite Man’s grade: A.
The beer this weekend is from down under: Coopers Best Extra Stout, brewed by Coopers Brewery Limited of Regency Park, South Australia.
It’s another BevMo! on Beach beer. I saw it a couple weeks ago in the Asia/Australia section and was pleasantly surprised (excuse me for the cliché). Usually the Australian imports section of the beer aisle consists of Foster’s, sometimes Foster’s Special Bitter (oooh, good memories), and…Foster’s. There are no other Aussi options. So when I saw the varieties of Coopers I knew I had to sample some. The stout caught my eye. I’m a sucker for dark beer.
From now on, or at least until I settle on a better system, I’ll be describing each weekend beer using a template I’ve seen on Beer Advocate. Some members review beer using a six-point scale, evaluating beer on appearance, smell, taste, mouth feel (naughty, naughty), drinkability, and serving type. I like the format; it’s simple and covers all the bases. Here we go.
Serving type: Six-pack of 12.7 ounce bottles. The bottles are wider and curvier than normal beer bottles, and, not to mention, there is another .7 ounces inside. Usually beer cans and bottles only contain 12 ounces. I guess those Aussi’s need that extra kick. I did notice my pint glass was a little fuller than usual.
Appearance: Extra Special Stout poured an opaque black. I placed the poured glass against my lamp and no light came through the beer. That’s the sign of a good stout. My first beer had a light brown effervescent head that dissipated quickly, but a thin, cappuccino-like layer of foam lingered on the top. My second pint had a similar but thinner lacing.
Smell: Toasted coffee. Even thought I don’t like coffee, I like my stouts to taste and smell like coffee.
Taste: Part chocolately, part coffee. There is little hop taste left on the palette.
Mouth feel (should I be using this category?): Very smooth and refreshing. Creamy, too. (Goddamnit!)
Drinkability: It’s not a warm afternoon beer, like Pabst, but it is a tasty dessert for a hearty dinner. It’s very drinkable.
On to some fun facts:
-Coopers Best Extra Stout came in the weirdest six-pack case ever.
Maybe it’s the custom down under, but in the States it’s different. The cardboard was wrapped around the bottles. I didn’t know how to open it from the top, so I undid the hooks at the bottom and carefully slipped the bottles out. Maybe next time I’ll be messy about it.
-6.3% alcohol by volume.
-According to the website, Extra Stout is “brewed naturally using a top fermentation method” and “contains no addititives and no preservatives.” Good shit.
-Severing temperature is 50°-55°F.
-Food pairings (provided by Beer Advocate) are chocolate dessert and grilled or smoked meat.
This is one of the best stouts I’ve ever had. The Quite Man’s grade: A.
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