Extract - Bitter/IPA ish Recipe?

[rowyourboat]

Hi there

First post on the forum, but have found it a really useful place to get tips and advice previously and hoping some of you could help me now.

Been learning to brew for a while now. I moved on to extract after doing a few of the 2-can kits, and have loved the results.

A non-brewing friend has given me a Coopers English Bitter kit (he was given it as a gift by someone who seemed to think you could just make it like orange squash or something!). Having heard mixed things about the kit online, and enjoying the "extract experience" (the beer!), I thought it might be time to come up with something of my own and incorporate the kit into it.

I've only followed other peoples extract recipes until now. I was hoping to turn it into a maybe something resembling a bit more of an IPA, or at least something a bit stronger and more hoppy! This is my thoughts on what I might do:

Ingredients:
Coopers English Bitter Can 1.7kg
LME Light can 1.5kg
25g Challenger Hops
50g East Kent Goldings Hops
Yeast
21-23 litres water depending on gravity - looking for about 1.045 to 1.05 sfor OG probably.

Brew:
Bring 8l water to the boil
Add approx 1kg LME and stir in
Add the challenger hops and 20g goldings
Boil for 40mins
Add 10g golding hops and rest of LME
Boil for another 15 mins
Turn off heat and add remaining 20g hops and steep for 30 mins

Add 8l water to fermenting bin and strain boiled liquid and Coopers in. Top up with cold and pitch yeast when cooled.

I'm hoping to get a nice, hoppy summer-y ale...

Questions
1. Will this work? It's my first attempt so please go easy on me!
2. I'm in a hard water area - should I treat the water with campden?
3. Should I use the Coopers yeast or something else? I have some Danstar Nottingham and S-04 somewhere, but is the Cooper's yeast any good? I hate to waste things and figure I won't use it if I don't use it now...

Any comments, ideas or suggestions will be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[jimp2003]

Hi!

I think your recipe and proposed method will give you a really nice english style bitter/pale ale -go for it!

I wouldn't worry too much about water treatment at this stage. I don't think it is as important for extract brewing as it is for all grain but adding a crushed campden tablet will help remove any chlorine taste in your water if you find that is a problem. Don't forget you will need to treat all the water that you use.

As for the Coopers yeast I can not really comment as I have not used it since I did kits. How big is the pack? I would only be cautious of using the Coopers if the pack was only 6g (Notty and S04 are 11g). Other than that any of those yeasts would work well.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

Cheers!

Jim

[Manx Guy]

I'd agree with what Jim says above & ADD that as long as your water tastes ok (no Chlorine taste etc.) then there is no need to treat the water as you are not mashing.

Where abouts are you, as 'hard water' varies and can sometimes be a 'good thing' depending on the style you are brewing. That said I think the beer will turn out nice as propsed and don't worry about the water too much.

A campden tablet will help minimise any chlorine/chloralamine issues in the finished beer.

Hope that helps!

Cheers!

Guy

[rowyourboat]

Thanks Jim and Guy

Re the water, I don't think I'll worry then - it's not seemed to cause a problem until now but I've read about it, and also seen recipes saying I should always use bottled water. I'm in Hampshire and water is from South Downs so is considered pretty hard. It's pretty clear out the taps so I don't think I need to think about it too much for now.

Re the yeast, it's a 7g sachet. Maybe I'll use the Notty then, and save the Coopers for if I were to try an experimental batch of a slightly smaller size e.g. 2-3 gallon instead of 5.

Cheers!