Advice on hopping needed..

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Loafman
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Advice on hopping needed..

Post by Loafman » Thu Nov 05, 2015 8:07 pm

Hi guys, as we speak, I'm setting up my gear to put a Coopers stout kit and a Coopers English bitter kit on to brew.

The stout will consist of:-
1.7kg Coopers stout kit
1.5kg Liquid malt extract (found 10 1.5kg tins of LME in the garage that I'd forgotton about :shock: it has a BBE of 11/2014, but not an issue)
454g of Lyle's Black treacle
Kit yeast
20l brew length (spring water)

The English bitter will consist of:-
1,7kg Coopers English bitter kit
1.5kg tin of LME
Fuggles hops?
Kit yeast
20l brew length (spring water)

I've decided to add some hops to the Coopers English bitter kit. I have a 100g vacuum pack of fuggles hops, and as I have never done a boil with hops before I was wondering what would be a good suggestion for adding the hops.
I've heard this kit benefits from some hop additions of EKG or fuggles, so thought I'd try boiling the LME with some water. I'm looking to do a 60 min boil, but am not sure how much hops to add and when.

Maybe 20g for 60 mins, then add another 20g to steep at the end? It's all new to me, never done a boil with hop additions before despite the fact I've been home brewing for donkeys years.. :?

Any help would be ace.. cheers guys!
In the past:
21.5L Coopers Stout + Treacle OG 1054 (Start 6/11/2015)
21L Coopers English Bitter + Hops OG 1047 (Start 6/11/2015)
20L Coopers APA OG 1050 FG 1014 (Start 26/10/2014, PB'd 30/11/2014 Dry hopped 100g Cascade on 18/11/2014)
20L Coopers Stout OG 1048 FG 1016 (Start 30/11/2014, PB'd 17/12/2014)
20L Coopers Stout OG 1048 (PB'd 17/12/2013)
20L Coopers Lager OG 1047 (Start 03/12/2013, PB'd 04/08/2014!)

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Loafman
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Posts: 190
Joined: Wed Nov 09, 2011 7:07 pm
Location: Milton Keynes

Re: Advice on hopping needed..

Post by Loafman » Fri Nov 06, 2015 2:21 pm

I decided to treat it a bit like an extract brew.
It's something I know nothing about, but I gave it a go anyway..
I boiled the 1.5kg tin of LME with 4 litres of spring water. Once it was sitting at a rolling boil, I added 20g of fuggles hops. 75 minutes later I added another 20g, and boiled for a further 15 mins. I then removed from the heat and put it in a sink of cold water to chill it down.
I found various info on t'internet, but a lot of it seemed almost conflicting, so I tried the above method, and i guess time will tell.. :mrgreen:
In the past:
21.5L Coopers Stout + Treacle OG 1054 (Start 6/11/2015)
21L Coopers English Bitter + Hops OG 1047 (Start 6/11/2015)
20L Coopers APA OG 1050 FG 1014 (Start 26/10/2014, PB'd 30/11/2014 Dry hopped 100g Cascade on 18/11/2014)
20L Coopers Stout OG 1048 FG 1016 (Start 30/11/2014, PB'd 17/12/2014)
20L Coopers Stout OG 1048 (PB'd 17/12/2013)
20L Coopers Lager OG 1047 (Start 03/12/2013, PB'd 04/08/2014!)

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Loafman
Piss Artist
Posts: 190
Joined: Wed Nov 09, 2011 7:07 pm
Location: Milton Keynes

Re: Advice on hopping needed..

Post by Loafman » Fri Nov 06, 2015 3:36 pm

The stout had a starting gravity of 1054 at a brew length of 21.5 litres, which was a little higher than I expected. I guess that'll be the tin of black treacle.. :)

The English bitter with hop additions had a SG of 1047 at a brew length of 21 litres, which is roughly where I wanted it. You could see some of the hop oils on the suface of the boiled LME with hops when it had cooled, it had that rainbow oil slick look on the surface. Just hope it tastes half decent.

I quite enjoyed the process, although it does take a lot more time.. It's made me think about doing a full extract brew at some point, although I doubt I'd ever have the time (or equipment space) to go AG..
In the past:
21.5L Coopers Stout + Treacle OG 1054 (Start 6/11/2015)
21L Coopers English Bitter + Hops OG 1047 (Start 6/11/2015)
20L Coopers APA OG 1050 FG 1014 (Start 26/10/2014, PB'd 30/11/2014 Dry hopped 100g Cascade on 18/11/2014)
20L Coopers Stout OG 1048 FG 1016 (Start 30/11/2014, PB'd 17/12/2014)
20L Coopers Stout OG 1048 (PB'd 17/12/2013)
20L Coopers Lager OG 1047 (Start 03/12/2013, PB'd 04/08/2014!)

bigtoe

Re: Advice on hopping needed..

Post by bigtoe » Fri Nov 06, 2015 6:03 pm

Loafman wrote:The stout had a starting gravity of 1054 at a brew length of 21.5 litres, which was a little higher than I expected. I guess that'll be the tin of black treacle.. :)

The English bitter with hop additions had a SG of 1047 at a brew length of 21 litres, which is roughly where I wanted it. You could see some of the hop oils on the suface of the boiled LME with hops when it had cooled, it had that rainbow oil slick look on the surface. Just hope it tastes half decent.

I quite enjoyed the process, although it does take a lot more time.. It's made me think about doing a full extract brew at some point, although I doubt I'd ever have the time (or equipment space) to go AG..
You have done the stout exactly how i do mine ;) (I use either LME or DME) and no mamby pambying about, full tin of treacle goes in ;). I love it this way, however come April im wanting to brew the same but no treacle so I use golden syrup instead, just as awesome without the winter feel to it ;)

Interested in the Bitter, got one of these to do next, got a tin of Coopers Amber malt to go in and was wondering about additional hops.

bigtoe

Re: Advice on hopping needed..

Post by bigtoe » Fri Nov 06, 2015 6:13 pm

Also remember 20L water + 1.5L LME + 1.7L Kit is just over 23L. I use the 200ml for gravity checking so work on bang on 23L for bottling

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Loafman
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Posts: 190
Joined: Wed Nov 09, 2011 7:07 pm
Location: Milton Keynes

Re: Advice on hopping needed..

Post by Loafman » Wed Nov 11, 2015 8:48 pm

Well, I've been away since late Friday afternoon, so for the first time ever I missed the initial 'vigourous' fermentation of my brew. It's very strange how you miss your brew when you can't keep an eye on it, as I found myself thinking about it a LOT while I was away! :lol: I imagined coming home to a barrel that had popped it's top or something..

There is a krousen ring on each barrel (at around 26-27 litres), which shows it did ferment pretty vigourously, and there is a tiny bit of action still.

Another week (and a bit) and they should be ready to prime and stick in the pressure barrels. Can't believe these are my first brews of this year! :shock: Just looking forward to getting started on a 10% RIS for next xmas once these are out of the FV's.
In the past:
21.5L Coopers Stout + Treacle OG 1054 (Start 6/11/2015)
21L Coopers English Bitter + Hops OG 1047 (Start 6/11/2015)
20L Coopers APA OG 1050 FG 1014 (Start 26/10/2014, PB'd 30/11/2014 Dry hopped 100g Cascade on 18/11/2014)
20L Coopers Stout OG 1048 FG 1016 (Start 30/11/2014, PB'd 17/12/2014)
20L Coopers Stout OG 1048 (PB'd 17/12/2013)
20L Coopers Lager OG 1047 (Start 03/12/2013, PB'd 04/08/2014!)

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