DouglasM1 Posted July 5, 2013 Share Posted July 5, 2013 [bandit] Coopers English Bitters kit with Dark Malt Extract and a kilo of dextrose added to increase the color, body, malt flavor and ABV%. Has anyone attempted something like this? This will be my second attempt at brewing and I am hoping to attain something similar to a Porter without adding all the roasted hops, chocolate hops, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted July 5, 2013 Share Posted July 5, 2013 Welcome to the forum Douglas! I haven't made a beer like that but it doesn't look too bad. It will be fairly strong porter style beer so give it a go. What volume? The main thing with this brew is to pitch the right amount of yeast. It is a big beer and the kit yeast won't be enough. Check out the MrMalty website for the correct pitching rate. There is a fair chance that this beer may be a little volcanic when fermenting so just be prepared for that. Just one more point of clarification, the roasty and chocolate flavours come from specialty grains and not hops. Let us know how it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DouglasM1 Posted July 5, 2013 Author Share Posted July 5, 2013 Thanks Hairy! I didn't think about the yeast. I was going to do 23L. Mainly because I don't know how to adjust the ingredients down to 11L. Thanks for the MrMalty website, I'll check it out now. I am thinking about a fermentation temp of 20C, this wouldn't be to low, would it? I have read that Porters are generally fermented at a higher temp. I will definitely keep everyone up to date on the progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted July 5, 2013 Share Posted July 5, 2013 20 degrees is fine. You wouldn't want to go much higher than that anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Ruddager Posted July 5, 2013 Share Posted July 5, 2013 May I ask why you're avoiding hops and grains? You can make a porter from the EB kit, some malt and steeped grains with pretty good results, and if you want to boost ABV then dextrose is your friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DouglasM1 Posted July 5, 2013 Author Share Posted July 5, 2013 Mainly knowledge and cost King. The closest supplier is about 150 miles away, 100 miles to nearest city, so I have to order and pay shipping on everything. Once I get a couple of good brews under my belt, and a little more knowledge I may justify the extra cost for my own style brew. That, and I think my patience was mostly used up on my kids! [lol] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Ruddager Posted July 5, 2013 Share Posted July 5, 2013 Canadian Eh!L made a "campfire porter" from an English Bitter kit and an OS Stout kit plus a few extras. Recipe can be found in my EB Porter Dictionary thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottie Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 Hey Douglas I was wondering the same as David about why you are avoiding grains, I don't worry about additional hops in a Porter though. Grains are easy and relatively inexpensive (given the result) even by mail order. That said I understand your situation. I would however completely dump the dextrose here in this recipe. Replace it with some, 500g of, Dark Brown sugar and drop the volume to 21 litres. I have made a Porter recipe twice using the EB kit with the only difference being one used Dark Brown sugar and the other didn't. The brew using Dark Brown Sugar was far superior, in everyone's opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 It's also only Douglas' second brew. Grains and hops can be a little intimidating at first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottie Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 It's also only Douglas' second brew. Grains and hops can be a little intimidating at first. That said I understand your situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottie Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 It's also only Douglas' second brew. Grains and hops can be a little intimidating at first. I agree But I think the substituting of dark brown sugar for dextrose should be pretty straight forward. Dextrose will only contribute to the %ABV and give the brew a drier finish, dark brown sugar will do this plus add to the flavour profile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimZ1525228685 Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 I believe I used dark brown sugar or golden syrup for an amazing English Bitter. Douglas I'd say using the specialty malts and grains is pretty simple. For example, if you steep about 50g of roasted barley in boiled water for an hour, then strain the water into your FV when you mix everything up, it'll be a great addition for dark ales & stouts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelB42 Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 I'm following this discussion very closely with great interest as I LOVE porter and would love to do one and am at the same stage as douglas (not tried using hops or specialty grains yet) and in a similar situation (am limited at to what I can get my hands on - I can only get specialty grains and hops if I go the internet route) Timz (or anyone else who would like to chip in) - you say steeping some roasted barley would be a great addition to dark ales. For my next brew I am doing a winter warmer (I know, It's the middle of summer here in the UK but the Geordie Winter Warmer Kit is the only dark ale I can get my hands on at the mo) would roasted barley go nice with this kit as your instructions for adding some barley seems an easy introduction to the world of specialty grains and malts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 Roast barley is great if you are after a roasty flavour. If you aren't looking for roastiness then Choc malt might be a nice touch. But then I know nothing about the Geordie Winter Warmer Kit so take what I say with a grain of salt [biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelB42 Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 This is the kit: http://www.wilko.com/home-brew/geordie-beer-making-kit-limited-edition-winter-warmer-15kg/invt/0318916 Not exactly sure what "roastiness" would taste like but I'm willing to give it a go. Does Choc malt do exactly what it says on the tin and give a choclatey flavour? Do I simply steep for an hour like the barley? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 If you have ever had a stout and experienced the roasty bitterness in it, that's the flavour I am talking about. Chocolate malt is a grain (barley) and can be steeped like roast barley. Despite the name I find it gives a smooth coffee flavour rather than chocolate. Pale chocolate is less intense than the regular Choc malt. The pale might be a good one to start with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottie Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 This is the kit: http://www.wilko.com/home-brew/geordie-beer-making-kit-limited-edition-winter-warmer-15kg/invt/0318916 Not exactly sure what "roastiness" would taste like but I'm willing to give it a go. Does Choc malt do exactly what it says on the tin and give a choclatey flavour? Do I simply steep for an hour like the barley? Hey Michael I note that the same web site has the Coopers EB kit, do you already have the winter warmer? Choc Malt IMO is more akin to coffee, but a chocolaty coffee if you know what I mean. The roasted barley gives the roasted toastiness IMO. In Steve Earle's EB Porter both are used although the Choc Malt is the dominant grain (300g Choc, 100g Roasted Barley). If you have the winter warmer kit you'll probably need to play it by ear as it is already a dark ale kit, whereas the EB kit is not. Probably halve the grains, 150g Choc and 50g of roasted barley. Boost the %ABV with 1kg light dry malt and some sugar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelB42 Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 Scottie - I already have the winter warmer kit. I wanted a dark ale as my two previous brews were the OS Stout a EB porter will probably be my next brew . Rather than hijack douglas's thread I've created my own "Geordie Winter Warmer" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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