Coopers, English Bitter

[Smileyr8]

Just bought 2 of these from Wilko's Paid £10.50 each (25% off all home brew), I am thinking of buying a 1kg of Medium DME and banging it in the FV along with the 1kg of brewing sugar (Dextrose) for something special around xmas time if I can wait that long.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this as reading through this thread I have noticed quite a few people have complained about it having a unpleasant hop flavour.

Thanks in advance.

Smileyr8

 

[Slid]

Just bought 2 of these from Wilko's Paid £10.50 each (25% off all home brew), I am thinking of buying a 1kg of Medium DME and banging it in the FV along with the 1kg of brewing sugar (Dextrose) for something special around xmas time if I can wait that long.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this as reading through this thread I have noticed quite a few people have complained about it having a unpleasant hop flavour.

Thanks in advance.

Smileyr8

I thought the (Ringwood) hops were a bit rough on first taste, but after two months, they certainly don't have this odd taste anymore.

Are you suggesting brewing both kits together, plus 1KG DME and 1KG Dextrose? Or just one?

 

[Smileyr8]

Are you suggesting brewing both kits together, plus 1KG DME and 1KG Dextrose? Or just one?

I had originally thought of brewing both kits together (with just the 1kg of dextrose) but after a little research & a little more thought I am thinking it will be too bitter.

So I intend to get some DME 1kg & brewing it with the 1kg of Dextrose.

 

[Slid]

I had originally thought of brewing both kits together (with just the 1kg of dextrose) but after a little research & a little more thought I am thinking it will be too bitter.

So I intend to get some DME 1kg & brewing it with the 1kg of Dextrose.

I think that's a good call. 2 batches of Kit plus 500g DME and 500g Dextrose to 20 litres will give a good result, I'm sure. There are other routes, though.

 

[Smileysmiles]

Smells like dirty nappies in the fv but is real tasty after a few weeks.

 

[Smileyr8]

OK after much deliberation it was off the the LHBS to get some extra supplies. This is the plan

1 Can Coopers English Bitter 1.7kg
500g Medium DME
500g Wheat DME (Head Improvement and Retention)
900g Dextrose,
100g Dextrose (Batch Priming)
4 Teaspoons Yeast Nutrient
Coopers Yeast from kit

Going to brew the above short 18 Litres
OG 1064

 

[Slid]

OK after much deliberation it was off the the LHBS to get some extra supplies. This is the plan

1 Can Coopers English Bitter 1.7kg
500g Medium DME
500g Wheat DME (Head Improvement and Retention)
900g Dextrose,
100g Dextrose (Batch Priming)
4 Teaspoons Yeast Nutrient
Coopers Yeast from kit

Going to brew the above short 18 Litres

Sorry, mate, but that is the thick end of 8% ABV - brew it long to 25-27L and it will be fine. You are looking at 5.6% ABV brewing to 25L and beyond that, an ordinary ale yeast is possibly struggling.

My suggestion, for what its worth:

Cut the dextrose to 500g for the pitching at 25L and once the initial ferment has died down, think about feeding in more sugar dissolved in water. If the FV is big enough (e.g. the Coopers FV with the krausen collar) you could go to 6 galls or 27L.

8% ABV is Barley Wine territory and if you really want to go there, I genuinely suggest you seek advice from the more experienced guys who recently left the site. They know a lot more than me.

 

[Smileyr8]

It is already done & was wanting a stronger beer to put away for Xmas, I am just waiting for it all to cool enough before pitching the yeast.
Lengthened slightly to 20 litres, OG 1058, I don't expect this will get below 1010 if we do make that we should have 6.4%.

Why are the more experienced guys leaving the site?

 

[Slid]

Excellent, Smiley, sounds a good plan.
I've never really liked heavy beers, but yours should turn out OK.
Good luck with it. :drink:

There was a recent change in ownership of the site and this resulted in some changes to its appearance. Some disliked these changes and left.

 

[Smileyr8]

Changes of appearance seems like a poor reason to leave surely its all about content & knowledge?

I prefer the heavier beers (mostly), & prefer to have 1 good strength pint to 2 medium or low strength ones, however once I have a good few stronger ones maturing in the bottles, I plan some steadier easy going quick quaffing summer beers.

 

[chinacat]

Whew...
i made this at the end of april beginning may just with brewing sugar see forum
i tasted it two weeks ago beggining of june and it was horrible had to throw botlle away i thought oh dear first bad brew you do get them but ive brewed 10 kits so far and all have been ok several coopers included in that list
however two weeks later ie today 17 june 2014 and opened another bottle just for punisment and its ok drinkable so looking onwards to improve
head retention is rubbish but as only brewed with brewing sugar as a cheap brew ( bought in wilko sale ) it will do
however i brewed woodfordes wherry week previous to that and although 1 week ahead of coopers its vastly superior
i think unless you add malt extract to the one can kits you get better quality from the two can kits ( i know they are more expensive ) and you get what you pay for but woodfordes wherry at wilko is a good price cant go wrong
( although st peters ruby is my fav)

 

[Slid]

Whew...
i made this at the end of april beginning may just with brewing sugar see forum
i tasted it two weeks ago beggining of june and it was horrible had to throw botlle away i thought oh dear first bad brew you do get them but ive brewed 10 kits so far and all have been ok several coopers included in that list
however two weeks later ie today 17 june 2014 and opened another bottle just for punisment and its ok drinkable so looking onwards to improve
head retention is rubbish but as only brewed with brewing sugar as a cheap brew ( bought in wilko sale ) it will do
however i brewed woodfordes wherry week previous to that and although 1 week ahead of coopers its vastly superior
i think unless you add malt extract to the one can kits you get better quality from the two can kits ( i know they are more expensive ) and you get what you pay for but woodfordes wherry at wilko is a good price cant go wrong
( although st peters ruby is my fav)

This kit is quite heavily bittered and brewing it with just sugar will not bring out its potential for kit brewers. It is a good base for adding flavour and aroma hops and probably needs more malt extract (up to 1kg) to balance the bitterness.

As chinacat says, a one can kit just won't have enough malt for a nice drink (IMO) but 500g DME makes a difference and is enough for the light ale / lager style kits.

 

[Smileyr8]

1 Can Coopers English Bitter 1.7kg
500g Medium DME
500g Wheat DME (Head Improvement and Retention)
900g Dextrose,
100g Dextrose (Batch Priming)
4 Teaspoons Yeast Nutrient
Coopers Yeast from kit

Brewed short 20 Litres
OG 1058

This is hovering at 1012, think I am going to leave for another 3 or 4 days and bottle.

 

[Frogbrew]

I made this kit up with 750g brewing sugar and 250g mdme. sg1044. fg1006. was happy with these figures after 2 weeks in fv.
Been bottled around three weeks now and nice and clear with good carbonation, good lasting head, but the taste is to say the least very bitter. No homebrew twang and very little sediment.
I would like to think the bitterness may not be so bad over time but I ain't holding my breath.
Not a kit I would do again.

 

[Slid]

I made this kit up with 750g brewing sugar and 250g mdme. sg1044. fg1006. was happy with these figures after 2 weeks in fv.
Been bottled around three weeks now and nice and clear with good carbonation, good lasting head, but the taste is to say the least very bitter. No homebrew twang and very little sediment.
I would like to think the bitterness may not be so bad over time but I ain't holding my breath.
Not a kit I would do again.

As per above, this heavily bittered kit is very good for adding hop experiments and additional malt. It's a good base - the Coopers Real Ale and Lager kits are fine without anything other than 500g DME and the rest in T &L.

Have had very good results by adding some hops and a one can Wilko lager kit, but would not advise a first time brewer to do this as his (her?) first effort with just sugar. Just too bitter.

 

[Smileyr8]

I would like to think the bitterness may not be so bad over time but I ain't holding my breath.
Not a kit I would do again.

The bitterness and taste do improve over time be patient, although if its anything like mine you will be thinking this is the best one I have had as you sink the last bottle.

 

[Frogbrew]

The bitterness and taste do improve over time be patient, although if its anything like mine you will be thinking this is the best one I have had as you sink the last bottle.

:, I guess i'll have to learn to be patient eh....
Must say it looks the perfect pint and there's no way I would ditch the other 36 bottles.:)

 

[Lesinge]

54th brew Coopers English Bitter with 1kg of muntons brew enhancer 28th Sept 14. OG 1042/44, temp at pitch 23 degrees. Taste at brew rich smooth malty with a little bitterness. Smell during brewing was really nice but different from other beers - it must be those pride of ringwood hops?

 

[Lesinge]

I wonder what hops are in it?.....Turns out Pride if a Ringwood which is an Australian hop varity. Bottled at 1010 on 09/10/14 taste ok but still sour 4.2% to 4.4%. To the garage 16/10/14. Tasted this at the move..nice biscuity and rich tasting. So much better after only an extra week..looking forward to these further down the line.

 

[Lesinge]

So now after a while in the garage what's it like? At first I was not sure about this beer as it had a strange "coldness" to it, the hop taste was unfamiliar and the whole drinking experience was one of "alright but don't fancy another pint of it right now". Can't really explain it but it wasn't like any English bitter that I had drunk before- looked like bitter, had great head but the taste?...not convinced.

So a few more weeks later and...it really nice, turned malty and sweeter..not amazing but a beer like you would get in a standard pub that sold real ale...very moreish!

This one is definitely a leave for awhile, definitely one that you could experiment with hops etc on and yes I would gladly do this one again.