Adelaide, Day 4 - Coopers Alehouse

Tuesday, 12 March... Continued.

As mentioned in the previous Adelaide post, I stopped in at the Coopers Alehouse on my way back to the hostel.

Up here in Queensland, I've been to pubs that have Coopers Pale Ale on tap, but for anything else you have to go to a bottle shop - and even then, not all shops have all varieties. So to be in South Australia and have a whole range on tap, how could I not? I was also lucky to have friendly bar staff who were more than happy to pour me small free samples of different varieties, in between my full glasses.

Sparkling Ale.

The Sparkling Ale was nice, with a relatively high alcohol content, but not as bitter as an IPA.

While I'm on the topic of beer, here's another difference between states.

Beer measurement.

In a Queensland pub, you can get your drink in a "pot" (285 mL), or a "schooner" (425 mL). If you're lucky, and/or if you're in an Irish pub, they may also have "pints" (570 mL - these are imperial pints, not US).

In South Australia, they speak their own beer language.

On my first day, I discovered this new lingo. In South Australia, beer comes in a "schooner" (285 mL) or a "pint" (425 mL). They have the 570 mL size, but call this an "imperial pint".

Condensation on the pipes. Always a good sign.

So as you can guess, this confused me on my first pub visit, being asked "pint?", saying "sure", and being handed a smaller glass than I was expecting. But these are the joys of cross-cultural experiences.

Celebration Ale, Aged Extra Stout, water.

The Celebration Ale, a nice amber ale, was my favourite of the ones I tasted. I went back the next day and had a couple more at happy hour, when they were only $5 a "pint". The Aged version of the Extra Stout, kept at room temperature in a barrel for over 12 months (and an average of about 18 months), was also very smooth.

Left: Coopers Premium Lager. Right: Coopers Clear.

I'd never seen their lager before. It's quite drinkable. As one of the bar staff said, "It's not our best, but it's not our worst." Their "Clear", a low-carb beer, wasn't anywhere near as good. I'd put it at the bottom of my list of Coopers choices.


Wednesday, 13 March

As I mentioned before, I went back the next day for Happy Hour, which is from 5 to 7 pm on weeknights. Wednesday night's special is Pizza and a Pint - a 12-inch woodfired pizza (Usually $15-$22) and a pint of Coopers Pale Ale (Usually $7) for $15. It was a great bargain, and the pizza was delicious. Highly recommended. I had the Supreme.

Picture taken with my phone, to show size of pizza.