adding extra hops in exract kits

ok so ive done a few different brews and have decided which i like , am now looking to add extra hops to some , wondered what kind of quantities would be approprate ,
i know this is a matter of taste but would like a place to start the scale as ive never used hops before , will probobly use the coopers pilsner and add saaz hops , and maybe try coopers pale ale with some cascade (trying to get something like tasmanian pale ale "cascade")
any advice on boil time and quantity would be much appreciated
cheers
carl

Well, with pre-hopped extract kits it's hard to figure out what to do, to my knowledge, most brewing software doesn't list the ibu's of pre-hopped extracts, so you can't really look at the numbers. And I'm not sure, but are the IBU's of the kits listed in their instructions?

Your best bet would be to use your additional hops as flavor and aroma additions, rather than for added bitterness, which if you can't calculate could really make for some bitter brews.

To figure out WHAT type to use, look at recipes on here of the type of kit beer you are brewing, and follow their aroma/flavor additions and times.

By adding fresh hops, you will really improve the quality of the kits.

Good luck.

cheers revvy
the ibus are listed on the coopers website , which ive found usefull
im after adding to the flavour and arome as you say , im not really into bitter but like the flavour of the hops
im assuming you let it simmer for 15 hour as in the ag methods ?
thanks again
carl

carlos said:

cheers revvy
the ibus are listed on the coopers website , which ive found usefull
im after adding to the flavour and arome as you say , im not really into bitter but like the flavour of the hops
im assuming you let it simmer for 15 hour as in the ag methods ?
thanks again
carl

Click to expand...

you mean 15 minutes, right?

Generally there is an addition in the final 15 minutes, and another addition in the last five minutes or right at flameout. Sometimes there is an addition 2 the 30 minute mark as well. It really depends on the recipe...or the recipe that you're chosing to because it is similiar to the cooper's kit.

But don't look at the AG recipes, look for an extract or extract with grain recipe, that uses approximately the same amount of liguid malt extract as your cooper's kit....That way you'll be pretty close to the right amount of hops.

I believe coopers kits use 1 or 2- 3.3pound cans of extract, so you'll be looking for recipe that use 3-4 pounds of lme for each can of extract you are using.

Lol Oops Yeh I Meant Minutes
Most Of The Coopers Kits Just Use Dry Malt , But The Sparkling Ale Calls For 1.5lme And 500g Dme Plus A Bit Of Sugar . I Actually Made This Kit At The Weekend And Found The Og Really High , Am Hoping Its Not Gonna Be As Strong As It Could Be , With Any Luck The Fg Will Be High , Dont Fancy Getting Drunk On Two Pints !
Cheers For You Info Rev
Carl

I think the Coopers Sparkling ale theat they brew actually has a high ABV. I have made a whole bunch of coppers kits over the past year but I have yet to see the sparkling ale avaliable in my LHBS. I'll have to ask them if they plan on getting any in

Cheers

too right , according to the hydometer is has a strong potential , ive added an extra gallon of water to soften the blow somewhat
will let ya know what it turns out like , but what with the extra cost of the lme i probobly wont be doing this one again
think ill do another aus pale ale and put a few quid on some extra hops for flavour and aroma
cheers

also take a look at dry hopping - adding hops to the secondary for a few days before bottling - that can make a big contribution to flavour and aroma in the final beer.

only just found out about dry hopping , cheers
have just been playing with the beer smith software after reading this thread https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=61975 , noticed the recipe he suggests creates a ibu of 54 ish . the ibus given on the coopers site are in excess of 300 for ales and lagers , is this on the same scale or are they adding a zero ? if so that would be a sixty minute boil of about 13 oz of galena ! gonna cost a fortune
will read more of you guys recipes and try and get a handle on this
cheers

carlos said:

only just found out about dry hopping , cheers
have just been playing with the beer smith software after reading this thread https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=61975 , noticed the recipe he suggests creates a ibu of 54 ish . the ibus given on the coopers site are in excess of 300 for ales and lagers , is this on the same scale or are they adding a zero ? if so that would be a sixty minute boil of about 13 oz of galena ! gonna cost a fortune
will read more of you guys recipes and try and get a handle on this
cheers

Click to expand...

They actually say 300? THat has to be a misprint....300 IBUs would make your teeth shatter. Bell's Hopslam Ale is only 106 IBUs. Southern Tier's Unearthly Imperial IPA registers at 153 IBU's and Dogfish Head's 120 Minute IPA clocks in at 120 IBU's.

Most of my ales are in the 40-60 range. My Old Bog Road Brown Ale is 47.6 IBU's, My ginger orange dortmunder is 44.9, and my "Yooper's Dead Guy Clone" is 39.1....

FYI here's a list of the hoppiest beers.

http://www.beertutor.com/beers/index.php?t=highest_ibu

I really can't imagine what this tasted like;



Yep, that's right a theoretical IBU of 2007

From Beer Advocate

Served on tap at Copenhagen Beerfestival 2007.

Crazy beer...insane stuff. This little Pale Ale is brewed with a huge amount of bittering hops with a theoretical IBU of 2007...

Pours out in a very hazy amber colour with a low white foam. Big and sweet hoppy aroma of flowers, oranges, pine-needles and pepper. The flavour...uhm...is just a wacky, trashing and burning hop fest of grass and pine-needles. Same thing in the finish; a pure hop-slam buzz. I'm not sure that I would drink I lot of this hop-juice but if I would stumble over it again, but...hops is the drug!

Serving type: on-tap

Click to expand...

This would make my head explode!

Mmm Strange One That It Deffinatly Says Ibus In The Hundreds The Canadian Blonde Says It 420 , It Must Be A Different Scale There Using Thougth It Says Ibu

carlos said:

Mmm Strange One That It Deffinatly Says Ibus In The Hundreds The Canadian Blonde Says It 420 , It Must Be A Different Scale There Using Thougth It Says Ibu

Click to expand...

Can you post the link so we can take a look at it?

HERE YOU GO MATE , ITS A GOOD SITE REALLY JUST NOT SURE OF THE IBU NOW
http://www.coopers.com.au/homebrew/hbrew.php?pid=1&id=114 PALE ALE
http://www.coopers.com.au/homebrew/hbrew.php?pid=1&id=111 620 BITTER
IM GLAD ITS NOT JUST ME THIS HAS CONFUSED

carlos said:

HERE YOU GO MATE , ITS A GOOD SITE REALLY JUST NOT SURE OF THE IBU NOW
http://www.coopers.com.au/homebrew/hbrew.php?pid=1&id=114 PALE ALE
http://www.coopers.com.au/homebrew/hbrew.php?pid=1&id=111 620 BITTER
IM GLAD ITS NOT JUST ME THIS HAS CONFUSED

Click to expand...

Well, It does say it there...But I looked around the internets to confirm it...

Here's what I found....It's even more confusing.

A Clone recipe has the IBU's as 24.7 IBU

http://schneider.id.au/homebrewing/cooperspaleale.htm[

ALso, Homebrewer's outposts lists the APA kit as 17 IBU's

Homebrewer's outpost lists Copper's Bitters as having 32Ibu's...

But I found this info on the Aussie Homebrewer Forum that google kicked up...

I fell for that one myself. 710 IBU and 560IBU is for the bitterness at 1.7kg level. By the time you dilute to (say) 23litres, the IBU of the wort is no where near that level.


Edit found this

Coopers Kits

Lager 90 EBC 390 IBU
Draught 130 EBC 420 IBU
Real Ale 230 EBC 560 IBU
Bitter 420 EBC 620 IBU
Dark Ale 550 EBC 590 IBU
Stout 1800 EBC 710 IBU
Canadian Blonde 70 EBC 420 IBU
Bavarian Lager 90 EBC 390 IBU
Mexican Cerveza 53 EBC 300 IBU
Australian Pale Ale 90 EBC 340 IBU

This is for the concentrated form in the can - to get the figure for 23litres: multiply by 1.25 and divide by 23.
To convert EBC to SRM: SRM = (EBC - 1.2)/2.65

Therefore 710 IBU in can = 710 x 1.25 divided by 23 litres = 38 IBUs.

Click to expand...

Here's a followup post with an email exchange between a homebrewer and someone @ Cooper's.

QUOTE (My email)
How do you calculate how bitter a beer is?

I made a Coopers Bitter, which from your website says is 620 IBU. This is the bitterness of the tin yes?

If made to 23L, what would the bitterness of the beer be?

Would it be 620IBU/23L = 27IBU?

Thanks for your help,
Rob.

And got the reply:

QUOTE (Coopers reply)
G'day Robert. You're close. You also need to take into account the volume of can (1.25l) and allow 5% loss during fermentation:

(620 X 1.25)/23 X 95% = 32 IBU

Cheers, Frank.

Click to expand...

I've never used a prehopped kit before, but most beer kits I'm familiar with only list the IBU's of the final volume of beer....Not the IBUs of the kit itself...seems unduly confusing...But at least we have the answer.

Excellent , So I Dont Have To Buy A Pound Of Galena Can You Imagine What That Would Have Tasted Like .......
Chhers For All Your Help On That . I Can Now Brew A Beer That Wont Destory Peoples Taste Buds

Hello to all i am new here and i did not want to start a new thread so i felt my question could rouse some response here. I brewed a 5 gallon SNPA clone from northern brewer. I wanted to give it more of a IPA feel and a little citrus punch, so i added additional hops during boil (1 oz. centennial @30 min.). I dry hopped after 4 days in my primary fermenter (1 oz cascade). Ten days after pitching i racked to secondary (glass carboy) and held there for 20 days. Ended up with 44 bottles and i primed with corn sugar. Although i enjoy the flavor and aroma of it, it did not turn out how i expected. The aroma is more of a floral with underlying resin notes, the taste is on the bitter side with more than i expected alcohol flavor. yet the mouthfeel was not that big. In order to get what i expected what should i have done different? My understanding is that i should have compensated with a bit more malt to compensate the extra boiling hops to balance. what i am not sure of though, is where exactly i should have dry hopped. should dry hopping have been done in the secondary? I guess what i am getting at is that I thought it should have balanced out more, and should have punched me in the nose with some citrus. By the way i used Wyeast 1056.