Hi, I feel really confident with my kit brews, using Spraymalt or 2 tin kits, but I'd like to start using hops/hop extract to tinker with the flavour and aroma of my beer.
I remember reading something like....
'Adding hops to the barrel (dry hopping) gives the aroma, whilst adding hops to the fermenter gives flavour'.
Do you need dry hops or will hop extract do? I'm not after a massive change in the results of my kits, but there's nothing like pulling a pint from the keg with a mild but fresh hop aroma following you into the living room.
Any advice would be gratefully appreciated.
Dave. (currently sipping a Cooper's Stout with 1.2kg spraymalt) LOVELY!
Tinkering with hops
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Bryggmester
Tinkering with Hops
I brewed a rather good Coopers Dark Ale recently. I had 1/2 oz Challenger hops along with 2oz of crushed amber malt and 2oz of crushed chocolate malt in a hop boiling bag and boiled this in 3 pints of water for one or two minutes. This was then left to steep for half an hour and then cooled and added to the fermenting bin. I hadn't any spraymalt so I used 1 lb demerara and 1lb of white sugar. I used a Safale yeast rather than the Coopers, I prefer the taste in the finished beer. With this method there was added hop and malt flavour and hop aroma.
I happened to have some of a previous all grain mash dark ale/porter brew left and I got my brother to do a blind tasting of them both. Eventually he said he preferred the one which was from the Coopers kit!!
I happened to have some of a previous all grain mash dark ale/porter brew left and I got my brother to do a blind tasting of them both. Eventually he said he preferred the one which was from the Coopers kit!!
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Bryggmester
Tinkering with Hops
Sorry, I should have made it quite clear that the hop boiling bag and contents shoud be discarded, only the liquor goes into the fermenting bin.