LlewellynT Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Hi all, All the very best for 2012![biggrin] I am about to start an English Bitter (Coopers of course!) & am thinking of tweaking it a tad with:- 250gms Crystal malt 500gms dextrose 200gms Maltodextrin 20gms fuggles (20min) 20gms challenger (10min) 200gms Cane Sugar Was thinking of bunging in about 100gms black malt[unsure] Any comments would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
***** Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 If you add the black malt the brew will be too dark for this style of beer. I'd also be inclined to ditch the maltodextrin and replace with Carapils. Likewise replace the cane sugar with light dry malt, at least 300g. How many litres are you planning for your boil with a 5 litre boil in the spreadsheet it comes out at 38.5 IBU. Cheers in 2012 Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 What Scott said sounds ok except I wouldn't bother with either the crystal or the suggested Carapils. Either one or the other not both. What do you plan to do with the crystal and what sort of crystal are you going to use?... bare in mind Carapils are a crystal. I would ditch all the maltodextrin, only use 250g dextrose and add 500g LDM. Why bother with cane sugar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LlewellynT Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 If you add the black malt the brew will be too dark for this style of beer. I'd also be inclined to ditch the maltodextrin and replace with Carapils. Likewise replace the cane sugar with light dry malt, at least 300g. How many litres are you planning for your boil with a 5 litre boil in the spreadsheet it comes out at 38.5 IBU. Cheers in 2012 Scott Hi Eddie, I was looking at around the 4-5l mark for the boil. Would you suggest less? Unfortunately the Carapils is out - it would take too long to get here! [pouty] The reason for the cane sugar is, well, I've seen a number of others use it although I never have till now. Just thought I'd give it a whirl. I think I will go with the LDME tho'. Thanks for your reply. [wink] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LlewellynT Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 What Scott said sounds ok except I wouldn't bother with either the crystal or the suggested Carapils. Either one or the other not both. What do you plan to do with the crystal and what sort of crystal are you going to use?... bare in mind Carapils are a crystal. I would ditch all the maltodextrin, only use 250g dextrose and add 500g LDM. Why bother with cane sugar? Hi Billk, I use a local Crystal & was going to steep it @65'C for 10mins & then boil for the remaining 30 mins. The reason for addng the extra sugar was on account of a few posts saying that English Bitter kit was a bit weak &, well pathetic really![roll] As I said - never used the stuff before except in the early days for priming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 What Scott said sounds ok except I wouldn't bother with either the crystal or the suggested Carapils. Either one or the other not both. What do you plan to do with the crystal and what sort of crystal are you going to use?... bare in mind Carapils are a crystal. I would ditch all the maltodextrin, only use 250g dextrose and add 500g LDM. Why bother with cane sugar? Hi Billk, I use a local Crystal & was going to steep it @65'C for 10mins & then boil for the remaining 30 mins. The reason for addng the extra sugar was on account of a few posts saying that English Bitter kit was a bit weak &, well pathetic really![roll] As I said - never used the stuff before except in the early days for priming. You'll need to crack the grain. Steep all of it at 65-70C for 30 min. Do not boil it. Strain the grain and use the liquid and some malt for your hop boil. No need for the extra sugars, the Dextrose and if you use the LDM I suggested will be plenty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 The reason for addng the extra sugar was on account of a few posts saying that English Bitter kit was a bit weak &' date=' well pathetic really[/quote'] The English Bitter is a great kit; I don't think it is weak or pathetic. But it depends what you do with it. The 'standard recipe' calls for 500g LDM which will make a mid-strength styled English Bitter. If you want it stronger than increase the malt. I agree with Bill that you don't need both Crystal malt and carapils. My standard ESB recipe is the kit, 1kg LDM, 250g crystal malt and EKG hops. You can add some dex if you want to bump up the ABV% and dry it out a little. But I really recommend using 1kg LDM. To me it just gives it a fuller body. Whatever you do it should be good. Its a great kit [love] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewDK Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 The reason for addng the extra sugar was on account of a few posts saying that English Bitter kit was a bit weak &' date=' well pathetic really[/quote'] The English Bitter is a great kit; I don't think it is weak or pathetic. But it depends what you do with it. The 'standard recipe' calls for 500g LDM which will make a mid-strength styled English Bitter. If you want it stronger than increase the malt. I agree with Bill that you don't need both Crystal malt and carapils. My standard ESB recipe is the kit, 1kg LDM, 250g crystal malt and EKG hops. You can add some dex if you want to bump up the ABV% and dry it out a little. But I really recommend using 1kg LDM. To me it just gives it a fuller body. Whatever you do it should be good. Its a great kit [love] Hi All, hope you don't mind me jumping your thread Llewellyn but I had the same question as I'm planning on doing this kit soon. Hairy what's your boiling method with the hops and grains. I was thinking of using 1 BE2, 500g LDM, and have goldings hops on hands, will probably grab some crystal malt as that seems to be the consensus. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freestyler Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 I made the English Bitters recently to the Smooth English Bitters recipe on the Coopers site. Not exactly the same but I added an additional 300gms of LDM and around 150gms of molasses to the normal EB recipe. Its been 40 days now and I really, REALLY like this one! Being summer here, 35 degree days with 95% humidity I didnt think I would really drink any over the next few months but its now definitely the first one I reach for, and normally the last one! Cant wait to do it again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffH1 Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 I have a question for all of you who have made this brew. I made one batch of it right by the recipe on the can. I really like it, but want to kick her up a notch. I'm thinking of making another one using: 1 can Cooper's English Bitter 1 can Cooper's Light Malt Extract ....and nothing else, except priming sugar. Does that sound okay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddy Waters Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 Sounds good Cliff [biggrin] The EB kit is one of the few that doesn't need some tweaking with extra hops (Though I usually do anyway [innocent] ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 I have a question for all of you who have made this brew. I made one batch of it right by the recipe on the can. I really like it, but want to kick her up a notch. I'm thinking of making another one using: 1 can Cooper's English Bitter 1 can Cooper's Light Malt Extract ....and nothing else, except priming sugar. Does that sound okay? I have done the ESB exactly to the recipe here and actually didn't go much on it so left it. When I tried a bottle about 8 weeks later I really enjoyed it. I recommend throwing in 200g Molasses to the recipe you have and I guarantee it to be a good drop [love] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Eh!L Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 Hey Guys. This is my latest variation of the ESB. I've made this one a few times now and tweeking it each time. Parsontown Porter 1.7Kg E. Bitter 566g Amber Malt (liquid) 200g Molasses 159g Crystal 20L 150g Wheat malt (all grain steeped 30mins) 50g roasted malt 20g Cascade(15mins 13g EKG(10mins) 11g N. Brewer.s (10mins) 21L water US-05 138g Dex (Bulk prime) OG 1.040 FG 1.010 Feel free to omit/add any of the fancy malts/hops. The thing is that the EB kit is quite nice and easy to play with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 Chad - I thought a wheat malt needs to be mashed??? Albeit wheat caramel and wheat choc can be steeped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 Hairy what's your boiling method with the hops and grains Usually with the English Bitter kit I don't worry about increasing the bitterness so I just steep some hops in hot water for 20-30 minutes and also dry hop some. Not a huge amount of hops; as Muddy said it doesn't need much and hops aren't the focus of this type of beer. As for grains, I don't boil them [rightful] I steep them in water at around 65 degrees for 30 minutes. I use a grain bag so I then remove the bag and then bring the liquid to boil for a few minutes. This is one of the kits that everyone likes to play around with and all have their own variations. Just have fun with it; you can't go too wrong. I am planning on a partial mash next time I do the English Bitter kit (hopefully in the not too distant future). I'm not the biggest stout fan so I make the English Bitter as my go-to winter beer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Eh!L Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Chad - I thought a wheat malt needs to be mashed??? Albeit wheat caramel and wheat choc can be steeped. Hey Bill, You well know that I am no expert, but I am not shy to experiment.[innocent] I have been using the wheat malt steeped to add head retention/body. Steeping the wheat in the same manner as you would crystal malt seems to give the effect I am looking for. Give it a try. You'll see what i mean![wink] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Eh!L Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Hey Guys, I chilled a "Parsontown Porter" and had it with lunch today (1st tasting).[w00t] It has a fine body and head. The colour is a dark amber or brown. Aroma is strong minty[unsure]. The flavour has a roasted woody taste with no after taste.[love] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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