Serviceable golden ale salutes dubious baseball founder, Abner Doubleday, underscoring roasted barleymalts and toasted hops with muted orange rind, sour apple and spiced peach illusions. Dry phenol finish flattens caramel-toffee tinge as floral bitterness fades.
All posts by John Fortunato
COOPERSTOWN BENCHWARMER PORTER
Deep tan-headed dark brown porter with heady mocha latte palate, pleasant hop bitterness, and rich coffee finish offers stiff bite. Mellow chocolate undercurrent complements obtrusive heaviness.
COOPERSTOWN BACKYARD INDIA PALE ALE
Pour slowly or billowing rocky head will usurp glass. Tangy citric setting turns pleasantly hop embittered as mild herbal-peat restraint increases depth of hazy brown moderate body. At finish, ripe tangerine, grapefruit, and orange rind notes caress wispy toffee caress.
COOPERS SPARKLING ALE
Aromatic sugar malt whisk, gentle grain texture, and flat watery flow mired by ineffective citric hop thrust plus minor acidity. Creamy sweetness too unassuming to secure silky tenderness.
COOPERS PREMIUM LAGER
Simple, easygoing straw-cleared lager maintains stalwart gluten wheat stickiness, fresh-cut barley earthiness, and bread-y yeast continuation. Corn syrupy finish picks up dry rye enhancement.
COOPERS ORIGINAL PALE ALE
Peculiar sourdough palate, dry orange tartness, honeyed yeast sweetness, and funky white wine assertion too unbalanced for cloudy-hued dry Aussie. Invasive carbonation and mucky bread crusting erase any worthwhile hidden charm by tinny fruited finish, leaving errant spritzy lemon souring.
COOPERS EXTRA STRONG VINTAGE ALE
Despite Extra Strong claim, routine vintage is merely moderate strength. Light amber turbidity, aromatic floral-fruit sweetness, and fleshy yeast sediment capture the senses for a promising start, but buttery hop-fizzed moderation and mild barleywine influence fade by lackluster finish.
COOPERS EXTRA STOUT
Yummy moderate-bodied dry stout advances thick chocolate timbre above sweet caramel malting and firm grain roast. Oncoming barleywine essence retains richness usually associated with double bocks though creamy mocha finish recedes quickly instead of leaving lasting impression.
COOPERS DARK ALE
Tepid brown-bodied middleweight suffers from lackluster up-front toasted hop thrust, fleeting dry prune souring, and astringent roasted chocolate malting to earthen nutty bottom. Meek cola sweetness hardly felt.
COOPERS BLACK CROW FILTERED ALE
Satiable clear auburn ale with pleasant malt-roasted brown chocolate overtones and brittle banana wisp goes down smooth. Though fizzy carbonation nearly overwhelms, polite caramel notes fill out earthen grain backdrop, retaining only some up-front thickness. Down Under brew will ease amateurs and captivate veteran drinkers.
CONISTON BLUEBIRD BITTER
Traditional cask-conditioned bitter places floral hop bittering above buttered caramelized wheat setting. Earthen geranium rusticity softens tertiary lemony berry hints, but soapy finish lowers its appeal, nipping redeeming citric spiciness.
(CONCORD) RAPSCALLION PREMIER
Complex golden blonde ale comes across like a light barleywine as sweet candi-sugared Belgian-like yeast provides buttery honeyed creaminess, glazed medicinal warmth, and lilting cognac whim. Bruised orange, dried apricot, and pineapple embellish herbaceous floral hops and peat malt backdrop. Bubbly champagne-like fizz absorbs latent coriander-clove trace. Brewery defunct: 2008.