Tonight, I offered my wife Sarah a taste of the beer that I was reviewing for this post - Coopers Original Pale Ale. I described it to her as a cross between Heineken and Rolling Rock. She was not interested. Honestly, I can't say that I was thrilled either.
My quest for Coopers began about six months ago, when I learned that Coopers was certified Kosher under Kosher Australia (f/k/a Melbourne Kosher). I started combing my usual haunts looking for Coopers, but was unsuccessful. I then emailed their US distributor on two occasions, but never received a response.
Then, a short time ago, I needed to go out to Islip-McArthur Airport to pick up my father-in-law, who was flying in from Chicago. Since I knew that I had a little extra time, I decided to stop in at Big Z in Huntington. Big Z has great reviews on Beer Advocate http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2812 , but I never have an excuse to be out in that neck of woods. I wandered in and lo and behold, there were two varieties of Coopers - the Original Pale Ale and the Sparkling Ale. They even had a promotion to get a free Coopers glass with each six pack. (I am a sucker for beer glassware - when we were in Barbados with 1050 ESPN Radio last month, I HAD to get a Banks Mug, even though I did not really need it). So I plunked down the $13.50 plus tax and deposit for a six pack, although that was more than I am comfortable with paying for 12 packs.
Was it worth the more than $2 a bottle? Hardly. The beer has very little flavor, no body and does not even leave lacing on the glass. The label indicates that you can pour it straight or shake it slightly to get the sediment out from the bottom of the bottle. The first time I had some on Purim eve I poured straight. Tonight I shook the bottle a little to get the sediment out but did not notice the difference.
If you like beer with very little flavor - Coopers is your kind of brew. When I first started experimenting with Ice Beer in the late 90's (think Ice House and Bud Ice) I enjoyed beers like this. Now, its almost not worth the calories. Why they call this a Pale Ale I do not know, since it does not taste like any IPA or American Pale Ale that I have ever tried. Still, if you want a beer that goes down smooth without much flavor, I guess that you can try this over Bud.
Coopers Original Pale Ale is under the Kosher Supervision of Kosher Australia. Their digital Kosher ID can be found at this link https://digitalkosher.com/oskm/kc_pdf?kid=SNGHMPC . To see the experts' take on Coopers Original Pale Ale, please follow this link http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/491/2129 .
As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver.
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