Review  
 

Co-op Super

8.5%, 4 440ml Cans £4.50 From Your Local Co-op

The Can Says: "A very strong premium lager with a refreshing taste"

Rortise says: This lager is very strong compared to normal beers and premium lagers (such as Stella) however, 8.5% is nothing special for tramp juice, merely just average. My first impressions of this lager were a mixture of good and bad. On the plus side the can looks very professional, with a silver strip across the black and red lettering, well played to the cans designers-a top notch design. However, the co-op aren't exactly well known for their alcohol and with the can only being a 440ml I approached this review with trepadation but came out pleasently surprised.

wpe3B7.jpg (28436 bytes)

As you can see from the above image, the can design is top notch. When opening, the can responds with a meaty thunk and there was no deforming of the ring pull, showing a bit of quality construction. When poured into a 500ml glass the lager almost fills it and has a surprising amount of head, considering the average angle of the glass. When poured the lager has a slightly deep orange colour, very much like a darker version of Stella. The smell of the lager is neutral and it actually looked quite appealing. The first taste revealed this drink to be eminently drinkable. A neutral taste combined with not being able to taste the alcohol content has produced a very good piece of tramp juice. Most cans of tramp juice can be full of hard to drink thick beverages, but not these ones. Even the amount of fizz inside is just right. The only real bad point on the palatte is the after taste, which seemed to produce excessive phlegm. So how much of this stuff will see you drunk? Well each can contains 3.7 units, and the recommended daily average for men is 3-4 so on one can you've theoretically had enough. In all essence 4 cans will see you pissed and after 6 cans you won't remember much from the week before, let alone that night. That's probably the only major problem with the lager-the fact that you can't taste the alcohol. This means that you can drink more of it than, say, Tennents Super. As with all cans of tramp juice this will leave you with one big hangover.

wpe3BF.jpg (26971 bytes)

In Conclusion: This lager was actually surprisingly good, refreshing and with a good taste. The cost isn't cheap but it isn't prohibitive and it does get you drunk, albeit a little slower than other tramp juices. Not being a mainstream brand is it's downfall, however. The street cred that this lager will get is non-existent and people will quite simply laugh at you for drinking it. This is offset by the pleasing design of the can, however. If it wasn't for the make this lager would get a solid 8/10 but because it's branded as Co-op 2 marks have been deducted and the overall the score is 6/10.

 

 


 

 

 

Reviews
 

Other Stuff
 
TJ Awards 2004
 
 

 

Links