Coopers Brewery Best Extra Stout

**Aroma:** “Sweet dark fruit character. Cherry, raisin, and roasty malt character with slight cocoa, chocolate, and coffee flavor. A little sourness and subtle vanilla bean notes.” **Flavor:** “Light bodied with some slight creaminess and sweetness giving way to fairly aggressive bittering hops. Roasty, sharp astringent character. Some estery fruit characteristics. Creaminess carries through in the finish. Finishes dry with slightly oxidized notes.” **Overall:** “The nose promised more than the beer provided. Somewhat light bodied with a roast character that dominates and a bit of creaminess to balance. Tannic harshness is too high—could use a bit less bittering or a touch more body to mellow it out. But the more you drink it, the more you enjoy it.”

“Pleasant chocolate-roast aroma; coffee, toast, hints of pine and earthy hop; just a touch of char/ash. Light body, but not light on flavor—well-integrated chocolate, roast, coffee; very low esters. Leans into roast bitterness, lacking the aroma’s nuance, yet easily drinkable.”

__Aroma:__ “The dark roasted coffee character dominates the nose. Hints of dark chocolate, burnt sugar, and sweet malt are present. Earthy, herbal-tea hops aromas. Fruity, with vinous raisin esters.” __Flavor:__ “Rich dark burnt malt flavor dominates the palate, with dark coffee and espresso that lend bitterness throughout the taste. Molasses adds sweetness in the middle. Notes of black licorice, raisin, plum, prune, raisin, dates, sherry, and dark cherry are present throughout. Some hardwood characters in the flavor—maple and hickory.” __Overall:__ “The burnt roast dominates, with evident tobacco and wood-like notes. Would have appreciated some additional fruit to cut through the roast astringency. However, some of the malt sweetness helped cut through the roastiness to add a bit of complexity.”