I’ve been a fan of Cooper’s Sparkling Ale
for as long as I can remember. It’s a
beer of taste and depth, and a 6 pack was never that much more expensive than
the equivalent of Heineken or Steinlager.
It is so much better than either of those two beers, and comes with a
bonus 45mls per bottle. Aussies are good
for something.
We were given a brief introduction to
Cooper’s Brewery. They are based in Adelaide, and present
head brewer, Dr Tim Cooper is a fifth generation Cooper. Unfortunately the weather conspired against
Tim being at the dinner, and he was marooned in Queenstown. Cooper’s is still family owned, and shares in
the business are protected almost zealously.
Numerous hostile takeovers have occurred over time, each unsuccessful. Coopers is now the biggest wholly Australian
owned brewery, thanks to the Coopers’ foresight and protection of their assets.
The evening started with a glass of Coopers
Sparkling Pale Ale. It’s a lighter style
of pale ale, and lets the malt profile do the talking. It is a good aperitif style beer, the dryness
gets the palate working. Two canapés
were served – Salmon Gravad lax, and sugar cured duck breast blinis with a
pear, apple and ginger salsa. These were
very moreish, and I certainly gulped down my fair share.
Moving upstairs to the high rollers room we
sat, introduced ourselves to everyone else, and waited with anticipation. It should be noted that voices were fairly
subdued at this point – only a few beers had been downed.
I love whitebait, I don’t have the patience
to catch it, and I hate being held to ransom over the price so I was stoked to
see … flash fried white bait in a citrus beurre blanc. The beurre blanc matched the citrus and sweet
malt flavours in the Cooper’s Sparkling Ale.
The slight herbal character in the beer was pared with my first
asparagus of the season. Yay! Coopers Sparkling Ale is brewed to pretty
much the same recipe since the first batch brewed in 1862. The yeast strain is also held under lock and
key in England, in case a
calamity hits Adelaide.
Course 3 was the most interesting – Braised
and Potted Game bird with pumpernickel bread.
The chef at the GP is right into game, and this was awesome. The birds (pheasant, quail and duck) were
braised in Coopers Dark Ale, coffee and chocolate, then potted and sealed with
duck fat. This was decadent, rich and
filling, and was a perfect match for the beer.
Cooper’s Dark is brewed with roasted and chocolate malts, which
contributes a strong chocolate, mocha and burnt toast flavour. This was a wicked match.
Glazed pork belly, braised in Coopers 2011
Vintage Ale was next up. Pork belly is
something I would normally match with a Riesling or Alsatian white – you need
some grip to cut through the richness of the pork. This beer more than matched the food, indeed
it was one of those magical matches where each made the other better – the
whole is better than the sum of the parts.
Desert was a triple chocolate and praline
tart with liquorice anglaise, matched with the meaty Cooper’s Best Extra
Stout. The stout is pretty much a meal
in itself, and was first brewed as a restorative to keep Thomas Cooper’s wife
alive back in 1860. Looking round the
table, many enjoyed the tart, very few managed to finish it.
The General Practitioner’s was outstanding
– I look forward to having a few more adventurous game dishes over the next wee
while. Thanks to Cam
and Kirsten from The GP, and the generous folks from Cooper’s.