Coopers Brewery is celebrating the 60th birthday of its Managing Director and Chief Brewer, Dr Tim Cooper, by releasing limited edition 440ml cans of his eponymous beer, Dr Tim’s Traditional Ale.
Dr Cooper turned 60 in June and to help celebrate the milestone, the company is producing 20,000 cases of Dr Tim’s Traditional Ale in the 440ml can format. It is the first time that Coopers has released a 440ml can.
It is envisaged they will be available at the same price as the standard 375ml cans and are expected to be in stock in major retailers across Australia later this month (August).
National Sales and Marketing Director, Mr Cam Pearce, said Coopers had been keen to celebrate Dr Cooper’s birthday with customers.
“Members of Dr Cooper’s brewing team suggested that a special edition can of Dr Tim’s would be a suitable recognition,” he said.
“The decision was made for this to be a 440ml can, to be sold at the same price as the 375ml can.”
Dr Tim’s Traditional Ale was first produced in 2004 as an experiment to see whether Coopers ales, which undergo secondary fermentation, could be successfully packaged in cans.
Coopers’ packaging company, Amcor (now Orora), provided cans for this experiment with Dr Tim’s Traditional Ale already printed on them.
This resulted in what the brewery calls an “accidental product” which has since developed its own dedicated following. For many years, sales of Dr Tim’s were restricted to South Australia, but it is now available nationally.
The technical success of Dr Tim’s resulted in Coopers releasing Coopers Mild Ale 3.5% later in 2004 in both cans and bottles. It is thought that these two products are the only ones in the world to undergo secondary fermentation in the can.