Perfect Pair: Coopers Best Extra Stout x ‘Hallelujah’ by Leonard Cohen
Tumblers and turntables at the ready…
TASTING NOTES
Coopers Brewery Best Extra Stout: When Autumn rolls around every year, the only thing I think to myself is “when is it cold enough to drink a stout by a fire?”. And every year, I test and try different beers. Southwark Stout is a delicious drop, but steps into that one notch above “hmm, I should be careful having a few of these” and into two pot screamer territory. There are many stouts in the craft beer world: chocolate, vanilla, coffee, raspberry, barrel-aged, freeze distilled, but Coopers Stout always hits the mark, and is still family-owned in SA since 1862. It’s one of the most awarded beers from Coopers’ range, and a constantly tinkered recipe that has been continuously brewed for over 150 years. All the bells and whistles of the craft beers are great, but sometimes you want ol’ faithful.
SLEEVE NOTES
Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’: Originally written in 1984, Leonard Cohen wrote an apparent 80 to 180 draft verses for ‘Hallelujah’ before he perfected it. As the legend goes, while trying to write the song, he was found in a New York Hotel dressed only in his underwear, banging his head against the door. Much like me after a few too many Coopers Stouts. While Jeff Buckley’s version of Hallelujah is the most well-known, Leonard Cohen does get more recognition in comparison to Nine Inch Nails for ‘Hurt’ or Lis Sørensen for ‘Torn’.
THEY’RE PERFECTLY PAIRED BECAUSE...
They’re both the original, no frills, and in my mind, the best. If I’m with a few mates down the gaff, I know I’m going to turn to the ol’ faithful – Coopers stout. It’s the stout for all occasions, to be enjoyed, not critiqued. And the same goes for Hallelujah. If I’m sitting down, staring into the fire, I’ll go for the original, with Leonard Cohen. If I was about to go for a swim fully clothed in the Mississippi River, then the soundtrack may be different. Like Coopers Stout, Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ is a benchmark – endlessly imitated but never surpassed.
