is this an aust bitter

[tony y]

question!
if i put : 1 can coopers bitter
500gm dextrose
500gm lme
300gm corn syrup
safale yeast

what will i have

[Kevnlis]

Beer?

[tony y]

i think so too and probably nice
but is it depending on the yeast to
make it a lager or an ale or doesnt it
matter as long as you can drink it?

[mobydick]

The one time I've used Coopers Bitter it came out quite dark. But I did boil the kit. From that recipe I think you would get a fairly good, dry, bitterish ale. If it's one of your first, I think you'll be happy with it.

First time I did Coopers Bitter was very similar except I added 25g of Fuggles hops after I racked it off on day 7. Turned out really nice.

If I was doing it again I'd lose the dextrose and just use malt. If you have dextrose you want to use up, I suggest you save it for carbonation of your bottles.

If you do a search you will find a thread on Coopers Bitter with more ideas.

[Kevnlis]

i think so too and probably nice
but is it depending on the yeast to
make it a lager or an ale or doesnt it
matter as long as you can drink it?

You will be able to drink it either way.

The yeast will depend on what temps you will be brewing at. Figure out the average temp in your area and that will tell you what type of yeast to use. Unless you refrigerate your fermentor then I suggest using something like Wyeats 2001 @ 8C otherwise WLP026 is a great ale yeast for this style!

[Kevnlis]

I agree the dex will not do you any favours! LME might cost slightly more but is worth every penny!

[mobydick]

I used two 7g packets of Coopers kit yeast. One would have been enough though. Not sure why I used two I was trying to make a cheap brew, that could become a standard/regular - so I wanted to keep the price down, hence cheap yeast.

MInd you since then I have learned how to make expensive yeast go a lot further

[tony y]

thanks for all your advice much apprechiated(i think you spell it that way)

[The Carbonator]

...dex will not do you any favours! LME might cost slightly more but is worth every penny!

I'll second that.

[nt]

I went to super market last week wanting to try home brand 2 can brew to make an IPA. I guess 2 can of draught will give me just over 40 IBU (bitterness).

Instead I found coopers bitter on sale and cheaper than dusty home brand tin, so I bought couple of those. After googling, I found each tin contribute about 34 IBU. 2 can will be ~70!!!

I think I will just do one tin - IPA style
What do you think of this:

1.50 kg Light Dry Extract (15.8 EBC) Dry Extract 46.9 %
1.70 kg Pale Liquid Extract (15.8 EBC) Extract 53.1 % (coopers bitter)
15.00 gm Pacific Gem [13.70%] (10 min) Hops 8.1 IBU
15.00 gm Williamette [4.30%] (15 min) Hops 3.5 IBU
10.00 gm Pacific Gem [13.70%] (5 min) Hops 3.0 IBU
10.00 gm Williamette [4.30%] (5 min) Hops 0.9 IBU

Est Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.012 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.4 %
Bitterness: 49.4 IBU

Any thought? Is it too much/little hops for flavor/aroma/bitterness?

[mobydick]

I think if your plan is to use the Pacific Gem to increase bitterness, you would be better off adding them at the start of the boil, that way you'll need less for the same bitterness. And I think you will need to up the aroma hops a bit more, and/or dry hop them after primary. I think the Willemettes should be good for aroma, else Fuggles.

[Kevnlis]

Pacific Gem is a very strong bittering hop. Not sure how it will go as a dry hop. Let me know how it turns out if you decide to go ahead with your idea

Moby is on the right track, probably best to use less hops and boil the pacific gem longer and add the willamette as a late/dry hop.

[mobydick]

Bugger me I'm drinking a Coopers Bitter right now
Looking at my notes it was dry-hopped with 25 grams of Fuggles 4.7% AA.

I boiled the kit with this brew. The colour is a nice dark amberish. Mine has much less malt. It isn't hoppy enough for an IPA. It would need more bittering and more aroma hops IMHO.

[nt]

Thanys guys.

I think i will throw in another 20g of Willa at flame out. I plan to use pacific gem as flavor and aroma but I have no idea what they smell like, I use it just because they use it in mountain goat IPA and it is on sale. I have 90g of pacific gem, I will to find some way to use them.

And with bitterness I think I will try 50 IBU. I have another coopers bitter tin to try again later.

[mobydick]

The Coopers Bitter already has an IBU of 32. If you boil 20 grams of the Pacific Gem for 30 minutes with the 1.5 Kg of LDME, you'll get a further 18 IBU from the hops. Add your Coopers Kit at flame-out and your IBU will be pretty close to 50. This way you'll get some flavour from your Pacific Gem as well as bitterness. I'd save all the Willa's, use them to dy hop after primary has finished, or if you want to add them at flame out I'd increase the amount to 30g to make it nice and hoppy. Anyway thats I would do, and you can do whatever you like !

Thank-you to BeerSmith

[Iron-Haggis]

nt here is my suggestion for the IPA

2 1.7kg Coopers Bitter
1kg LDME
20g Willamette dry hopped

Should give you an IBU of around 54, if Coopers Bitter kit is 34 IBU. Alcohol will be around the 6% mark. Fits perfectly within the IPA style.

[nt]

The problem is 2 tin will double IBU to around 34 X 2 = 68. I will add more malt to get around 6% Alc.

Thanks

[Iron-Haggis]

The extra kilo of dry malt will bring down the IBU closer to what you were aiming for.