English Bitter

[Mike - Hoosier Daddy]

I've always been a huge fan of Boddingtons Pub Ale, which from my understanding is the export version of their bitter. Im curious if Coopers English Bitter is a close relative to that, or if not what it might take to mix a batch of closely related Boddingtons bitter?

Thanks, Mike!

[Canadian Eh!L]

Mike,

 

The Cooper's E. Bitter is a fair bit darker and hoppier than a Boddingtons pub ale. I really like the BPA as well so I'm interested the hear what the others have to say on this one.

 

Chad

[Mike - Hoosier Daddy]

Everything I read says its and english pale ale. Im curious how they get it so creamy.

[Biermoasta]

The creaminess comes from the use of nitrogen, just like with Guinness. You can achieve the same creaminess if you keg, although not if you bottle.

[LeonardC2]

Creaminess is a function of mouth feel,or body. You can steep 227g (about .5lb) of Carapils malt for 20 mins to aid mouth feel,& head retention. They have other things to aid this as well on supply sites. Some,like Carapils,are specialty grains that can be steeped instead of mashed. Others are adjuncts. These are brewed into the wort,& can be bottled,or kegged. You'd have to read up on these,as I forget some of them off the top of my head.

[Mike - Hoosier Daddy]

Thanks guys! Im going to dig into this and try to replicate BPA. We'll see how it goes.

[Trusty1]

I put an EB down yesterday. I just used the kit, a box of BEII and half a cup of sugar. I used a recultured Coopers Pale Ale yeast. I made it to the recipe in the how to section last year, and thought it was great.

 

A pommy mate of mine gave me a few tins of BPA. I understand the style of the 'Ale', but for me, I found it a bit too flat. If you want to replicate the BPA, I'd suggest you half the primming sugar and maybe use some maltodextrin!

[Mike - Hoosier Daddy]

Thanks Trusty, sound advice!

[Muddy Waters]

Just out of curiosity, has anybody tried american hops (such as the 'c' family) with an EB? I'm thinking of trying something different with my next can.

[PB2]

Best to stick to simple sugars when priming. Complex sugar like maltodextrin is likely to give variability of fizz from bottle to bottle.

 

I find that Boddi's is lighter in colour than our EB and has a subtle honey character. Don't know if they add honey or it's a fermentation bi-product?? Of course, you can get a honey character in the beer by adding honey to the mix. Maybe add honey to the Irish Ale recipe. If it's already fermenting and you bulk prime, you could prime with about 220g of honey dissolved in a cup of hot water.

 

I've dry hopped the EB with Cascade pellets at 1/2g per litre - it melded nicely with the styrian goldings [tongue]

[Trusty1]

Best to stick to simple sugars when priming. Complex sugar like maltodextrin is likely to give variability of fizz from bottle to bottle.

 

I find that Boddi's is lighter in colour than our EB and has a subtle honey character. Don't know if they add honey or it's a fermentation bi-product?? Of course, you can get a honey character in the beer by adding honey to the mix. Maybe add honey to the Irish Ale recipe. If it's already fermenting and you bulk prime, you could prime with about 220g of honey dissolved in a cup of hot water.

 

I've dry hopped the EB with Cascade pellets at 1/2g per litre - it melded nicely with the styrian goldings [tongue]

Sorry for any confusion, I was talking about using Maltodextrin in the brew to create a bigger, smoother moutfeel, not as a primer.

[Beer Loving Trent]

Ok this maybe a stupid question but is English Bitter a flat beer? As I am thinking of pitching a batch to see if it tastes similar to Kent Old (always been a fan since I was a teenager) but I had a bad experience with and Indian Pale Ale years ago in the ACT, and I'm not to keen on flattish english style beer

[Hairy]

I have just starting drinking my English Bitter and, even though it's only been bottled for 2 months, I think it's the best beer I have brewed.

 

I highly recommend it.

 

I primed it with one carb drop per bottle (740ml PET) and it is far from flat, just not as fizzy. I take it out of the fridge and leave it for a bit to take the chill off.

 

Now it is getting cold of a night I can just grab one from the garage and drink it without chilling it. It's great for those emergencies when you open the fridge and realise you forgot to stock it.

[Guest]

I have just starting drinking my English Bitter and, even though it's only been bottled for 2 months, I think it's the best beer I have brewed.

 

I highly recommend it.

 

I primed it with one carb drop per bottle (740ml PET) and it is far from flat, just not as fizzy. I take it out of the fridge and leave it for a bit to take the chill off.

 

Now it is getting cold of a night I can just grab one from the garage and drink it without chilling it. It's great for those emergencies when you open the fridge and realise you forgot to stock it.

The Extra Smooth Bitter is a nice drop too. At first I really didn't like it but it was too young. I was drinking it at just under 2 days old. It certainly made up for it the longer it was left though. Even so that I will more than likely do another.

[Hairy]

In case you are interested, my recipe was as follows:

 

1 x Coopers English Bitter

1kg Coopers Light Dry Malt

200g Medium Crystal Malt

40g East Kent Golding Hops (Steeped)

20g East Kent Golding Hops (Dry Hopped)

Yeast - S-04

Fermented at 18 degrees

 

I'm not sure if the crystal malt was necessary but i haven't made it without it to compare.

[Beer Loving Trent]

Thanks I will be buying an English Bitter tin next week and pitch it the week after next

[NewtownClown]

In case you are interested, my recipe was as follows:

 

1 x Coopers English Bitter

1kg Coopers Light Dry Malt

200g Medium Crystal Malt

40g East Kent Golding Hops (Steeped)

20g East Kent Golding Hops (Dry Hopped)

Yeast - S-04

Fermented at 18 degrees

 

I'm not sure if the crystal malt was necessary but i haven't made it without it to compare.

 

Thanks for this one, Terry.

This time of year has me reminiscing the Real Ales and Best Bitters I discovered and enjoyed during my two years in Oxford.

I have a old Ale and ESB in the bottle, my Best Bitter in the keg and an IPA in one FV. Your recipe will go in the other.. I even have imported Thomas Fawcett crystal, 400+ grams of EKG and a Wyeast London Ale II!