Sparkling Ale, a wonderful English pale ale from Coopers Brewery Limited. This Australian brewery was founded in 1862 by Thomas Cooper in Adelaide. He was an Englishman who emigrated to Australia with his pregnant wife, and worked as a shoemaker, mason, and diaryman. He eventually began to brew beer and founded a small brewery, eventually leaving the business to the the eldest four surviving sons upon his death. Of note is that between two wives he had a total of nineteen children. The brewery began to expand, and eventually the family incorporated, creating a strata of ownership shares that to this day are very carefully controlled in regards to who is allowed ownership. Coopers Brewery produces a large range of beers, including a pale ale and a stout. Coopers bottled beers use a secondary fermentation technique that leaves some yeast remaining in the bottle that can either be mixed into the beer as its poured, or carefully left in the bottle with gentle pouring, depending on one’s preference. Coopers is still a family owned brewery despite several takeover attempts, and is the only wholly Australian owned major brewery. They also are a very large producer of home brewing supplies worldwide.
Sparkling Ale is a favorite of mine, and apparently is more or less Thomas Cooper’s original ale produced in 1862. It pours an orange cloudy color (I always let the yeast mix in) with a creamy white head, and feels nicely carbonated and crisp. While there is some spiciness to it, overall this is a very refreshing ale to drink. With an ABV of 5.8%, it certainly lighter than many of the Belgian ales I gravitate towards, and works well served cold in warmer weather. I’m not sure if glass selection is of any importance with this one as it is not terribly complex. I usually drink it from an English pint glass, although for this picture I choose a narrower semi-cylindrical collins glass to see if the carbonation note would improve- it did not unfortunately.
Coopers Sparkling Ale is sold in 6-packs of 12 ox bottles locally, and seems to be sold alongside the Coopers Stout locally.
Scott R. Kilberg DPM 