Coopers English Bitter

[RobH]

This kit has become my favourite, for sheer simplicity and the type of flavour & results already discussed in this thread.
I am brewing in the house presently as the garage gets too cold for ales now & the yeast goes to sleep (had an ale drop to 12 deg with the Coopers yeast & had to bring it back into the house & up to 20 deg to get it moving again).

So right now on my desk at home next to my computer are two fermenters with Coopers English Bitter + 1.5 kg of light dried malt & the kit yeast - very simple to put together, and when bottling time comes around I will bulk prime with about 100gms of dex (in 20 litres of beer). The hardest part is waiting 2 - 3 months for bottle maturation, as I have noticed quite an improvement in flavour after a few months in bottles.

I have not yet tried adding hops, or steeping grains for this kit yet ... maybe next time I brew it I will try some of the above recipes

 

[redunderthebed]

Mate, seeing as you're in SA, why not order direct from Coopers Kit Cans

Too easy :icon_chickcheers:

Because the shipping is exorbitant $14 to get it from Adelaide to Port Lincoln **** off.

 

[Adam Howard]

Because the shipping is exorbitant $14 to get it from Adelaide to Port Lincoln **** off.

I pay $12 to get most stuff sent from Grain and Grape in Yarraville to me in Gembrook..around 84km's.

When you take into account that you're basically making $100 worth of beer for around $12-50 dollars...postage is bugger all. Especially if you farm your yeast.

 

[redunderthebed]

I pay $12 to get most stuff sent from Grain and Grape in Yarraville to me in Gembrook..around 84km's.

When you take into account that you're basically making $100 worth of beer for around $12-50 dollars...postage is bugger all. Especially if you farm your yeast.

True i might check it out on payday failing that i'm going to Adelaide soon...

 

[RobH]

You say you have K-Mart ... what about Coles then?

In Penrith recently Iwent to K-Mart for Coopers tins & they had no English Bitter ... so I went next door to Coles & they had a larger range on the shelves of Coopers tins than K-Mart did (and i got my English Bitter from Coles!).

 

[redunderthebed]

You say you have K-Mart ... what about Coles then?

In Penrith recently Iwent to K-Mart for Coopers tins & they had no English Bitter ... so I went next door to Coles & they had a larger range on the shelves of Coopers tins than K-Mart did (and i got my English Bitter from Coles!).

We have coles shall check it out.

 

[zabond]

second brew of EB
coops EB[ 10min light boil with grain juices to reduce bitterness a bit,dont know if it did]
300g ldme
150g carapils
50g caroma
150g caraberg
250g med crystal
250g golden syrup
500g be1
safo4 styrian gold plug dryhopped into ferm/ 20ltrs
ohboy very creamy thick head,nice deep red with full body mouth feel[lip licker]pine/citrus aroma not realy bitter but 5.9%AC :super:

 

[Nevalicious]

second brew of EB
coops EB[ 10min light boil with grain juices to reduce bitterness a bit,dont know if it did]
300g ldme
150g carapils
50g caroma
150g caraberg
250g med crystal
250g golden syrup
500g be1
safo4 styrian gold plug dryhopped into ferm/ 20ltrs
ohboy very creamy thick head,nice deep red with full body mouth feel[lip licker]pine/citrus aroma not realy bitter but 5.9%AC :super:

Sff 04 is definitely the best yeast for this kit I reckon... Redunderthebed, ditch the packet yeast (or add to the boil) and buy some of the saf 04. Cheapest, easiest improvement to the flavour profile of your kits.

@ Zabond... ALOT of spec grains in there. Does it seem like they are trying to compete, or are they all working in unicen to create the beer you speak of... Have never experimented with so many different types of grain. The most I've put in a 21L batch is about 250g of crystal, that was heaps I reckon...

 

[zabond]

Nev I hope they are working together
carapils gives a good creamy head,caroma a deeper red,caraberg smoother mouth feel and aroma,I like my beers to be on the malty side with good head retetion and taste lingering on the pallet,sorta Kilkenny/Guiness style

 

[QIK86]

coops EB[ 10min light boil with grain juices to reduce bitterness a bit,dont know if it did]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought boiling kits just drove off the flavour and aroma characteristics of the hops used in the kit, not the bitterness?

 

[redunderthebed]

You say you have K-Mart ... what about Coles then?

In Penrith recently Iwent to K-Mart for Coopers tins & they had no English Bitter ... so I went next door to Coles & they had a larger range on the shelves of Coopers tins than K-Mart did (and i got my English Bitter from Coles!).

Huzzah!

I took your advice and checked out the local coles and they have it!. :beerbang: I did note with some irony that they have a larger range of homebrew gear than kmart owned by the same company go figure. :huh:

Buying the kit on payday.

Also i like adding liquid malt would the light or the amber be better for it?. I was thinking because of the colour of the beer the amber stuff would be better and i was going to buy brew cellar english ale yeast for it.

 

[Aussie Mick]

First of all, sorry for dragging up an old thread, but I sampled my English Bitter tonight.

I brewed

1x Coopers English Bitter
1x KG LDM
25 gms Fuggles pellets steeped for 15 minutes then strained into fermenter
Safale 04 yeast

I had it bottled for 2 weeks, so I thought I would try a sneaky one tonight.

WOW. Of all the Coopers kits I've done so far, this is so good.

I had a few tonight, and it really suits my taste buds. The 750 ml bottles had been primed with the equivalent of 1 drop per bottle, and the beer had a tight creamy head that clung to the glass all the way down...........all this after just 2 weeks bottles.

I will be brewing this on a regular basis.

 

[Brewnicorn]

Sounds like a cracker Mick.

 

[Stouter]

I might revisit this one. I made one up a few months ago and added an extra 200g of molasses to the Coopers brew enhancer, then dry hopped with a Fuggles tea bag for the last half of the ferment.
Was very tasty and one of my few successes to date.

 

[Dr Bee]

This is my go to brew. Just the kit and BE#2. I use filtered water, and it has always come out with a great head that sticks to the sides of the glass all the way down.

I always leave for a min of four weeks.

SWMBO tried some after our recent trip to NZ and cleaned up my supply. She has never liked my HB before, so it has started something I'm not sure I agree with. Although, I am happy to have turned her away from the expensive wine she has been drinking, but now she's drinking my fav. beer.

Sucks that it is now summer and the temps are getting too high to make a brew that doesn't taste. Bring back winter so I can control my temps!!

 

[manticle]

Buy her a fermenter, teach her how to make it.

 

[Grott]

It's my regular drinking drop as well however I use the Coopers liquid light malt extract, try that next time MICK"
Cheers

 

[Aussie Mick]

I will do Grott. I'm sure that can only improve it.