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Coopers English Bitter


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Hi guys, was after a bit of help regarding ideas for a Coopers English Bitter.

 

Im looking for a ABV from 4%-5%

 

1) was thinking of using either 500g of DME or 1kg of DME? what sort of ABV would i get with this?

 

2) I wanted to pimp this kit up a bit by adding some hops either dry hopping or via a hop tea - what hops could i use for this and how much? wanted to use mosiac but its proving hard to find in the neck of the woods...

 

Thanks for any advice, tips and general responses biggrin

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Hi MonkeyMullins. 500gm DME would give you about 3.2% ABV and 1kg about 4%.

 

I have not tried them but from their description I don't think Mosaic hops would suit the style. The kit already has some late Styrian Goldings hops, so you could dry hop with some more (or Fuggles, or Willamette) if you wanted to.

 

If you want to increase the alcohol a little more, in addition to the 1kg DME, you could also add 500gm of dextrose or brown sugar (for some molasses notes). That would bring your ABV to 5%.

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I just brewed a pale ale with Mosaic hops and would agree they don't really suit the English style. Brilliant in American pale ale though. Something like Styrian Goldings, Fuggles, East Kent Goldings would go well with the EB.

 

I've seen a lot of English ale recipes that use dememara sugar, so maybe you could add 250g of that on top of the 1kg dry malt. Bear in mind your priming sugar in the bottles will increase the ABV by about 0.4% as well.

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G'day MonkeyMullins,

 

My colleague brewed up an English Bitter tin + 1kg LDM with no added hops. It was very tasty, but a little bit 'bigger' than a standard English Bitter would be. A hop tea or a dry hop would have definitely given it an extra dimension, but it was his first brew so wanted to keep it simple. I'd go for Styrian Goldings, Fuggles or East Kent Goldings if you can get a hold of any of those. Don't go over the top with the quantities, I'd use maybe 25g?

 

I quite like the hop tea concept as it doesn't involve hop bags or hop bits floating in the fermenter! You could add it at the beginning of fermentation, near the end of fermentation or just prior to bottling. The one time I've done a hop tea I added 2 lots, once at the beginning of fermentation and again a day or 2 before bottling.

 

Cheers,

 

John

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I've seen a lot of English ale recipes that use dememara sugar' date=' so maybe you could add 250g of that on top of the 1kg dry malt.[/quote']

 

Hey Otto, I tried to buy some demerara sugar the other day but in the two stores I checked all they carried was "Demerara-style" sugar which, since nowhere on the label did it claim to be raw sugar. I gather it is large crystal refined sugar that has had refiner's syrup added to it. Personally I didn't find it worth the premium price and got the regular dark brown sugar, which at least has molasses in it. In contrast the Turbinado sugar label identified it as "raw" sugar.

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Great replies guys, very much appreciated. Not really looking for a traditional English Bitter, i want a nice tropical/citrusy taste in the lines of Motueka or Mosaic any thoughts on this or how to go about it?

 

Also will the coopers kit yeast be sufficient with 1Kg of Light or Medium DME?

 

trying to create a nice hoppy go to beer that isn't too expensive be it this time around or int he future.

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Great replies guys' date=' very much appreciated. Not really looking for a traditional English Bitter, i want a nice tropical/citrusy taste in the lines of Motueka or Mosaic any thoughts on this or how to go about it?

 

Also will the coopers kit yeast be sufficient with 1Kg of Light or Medium DME?

 

trying to create a nice hoppy go to beer that isn't too expensive be it this time around or int he future.[/quote']

The kit yeast will be fine with 1kg DME.

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You'll probably end up making a mashup of an English Bitter and an American amber ale by doing that. It's not actually a bad beer - my red ale recipe is sort of like that, it has the toffee/caramelly malt flavours that I like in English beers, but also the citrusy hop flavour/aroma from the American hops and yeast I use in it. Always a favourite to brew. biggrin

 

As for how to go about it in your case, do a short boil of say, 10 minutes with 15-20g of your chosen hop, maybe 25g if you like, in I dunno.. 3 litres of water mixed with 300g of the LDM. Then strain into the FV with the other ingredients.

 

Another method is to make up a 'hop tea' by boiling some water in a pot, dumping the hops in then taking it off the heat and letting it steep for 20-30 mins before straining into the FV with the rest of the ingredients.

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  • 5 years later...

I bought an EB kit today, was a little bit scared of how much bitter would be...butI found out that this variety it's called bitter not for the taste, but for the Italian vermouth: bitter. Which happens to be red!

With all that said, I would like to add that I bought an extract of "fruits of the forest".to add some flavour! Is it ok to do all the 1st fermentation as usual, and then, before the second fermentation add the extract and do the bottling and carbonation?

Thanx

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Hey @mrchino73, I had a look at the Coopers Recipe Spreadsheet for a possible answer to your query.  I think the thing to consider is the sugar content of the flavouring because it may affect fermentation if adding just prior to or during bottling.  The following beers have similar sounding additions to your Fruits of the Forest:

  • Choc Liquer Stout - Has 50ml Chocolate Flavoured Spirit Essence added to the brew about 2 days after the foam (krausen) has collapsed back into the brew.
  • Lime Milkshake IPA - Has a teaspoon of Vanilla Essence added in to the FV after 5 days.
  • Wicked Winter Warmer - Has Samuel Willard's Queenslander Dark Rum Spirit Essence added to each 740ml PET on bottling day at the rate of ½ teaspoon Dark Rum Essence (about two capfuls) OR if adding your preferred spirit instead, 30ml per PET bottle.

So I guess you could go either way.  I would favour adding it to the fermenter toward the end of fermentation.

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  • 1 month later...

Did this kit a while back. Tasting after 4 weeks it was very pleasant with a nice, slightly bitter twang. However, after 8 weeks or so it was completely different. Noticeably caramel, slightly sweet and very easy drinking. TBH I was really stunned by the difference 4 weeks made.

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On 8/8/2021 at 4:32 PM, disgruntled said:

Towards the end would be best I think, having said that it may best to not include the flavour?

It is a STUNNING kit as is.

I agree. An outstanding kit as is, brewed with either 500g or 1 kg of LDM it makes a delicious drink. As others have noted it is nicely hopped already ,so be sparing with additions. EKG or similar. Good luck.

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