Hop aroma oils and extract kits.

[Gregsy]

Hi all, just joined the site and looking for advice on making my extract kits more hoppy.

I have brewed about 8 batches of beer mainly using Coopers kits and think I have perfected it. All have been good but I am looking to get more of a hoppy taste from my next batch and have been reading about adding hops to beer kits. From what I can work out the best advice is to add 10 to 20g of hops to the fermenter after 3-4 days (once vigorous fermentation starts to subside), now I need to decide what types of hops for which kit.

However, I have found hop aroma oils for sale on themaltmiller.co.uk and wondered if anyone has used these to hop up there brew kits? For my 23l kit I would be looking at 2-3ml added the day before bottling I think. Would anyone recommend this or not, or anyother tips for adding hops to a kit?

I have a few days left of fermentation on my Coopers Dark Ale kit before bottling.

Thanks for any help.

Greg

P.S. This is a stepping stone for me before I try all grain brewing, probably next year.

 

[Aleman]

The hop oils sold by the malt miller are to adjust aroma only, If you are looking for an increased hop flavour then consider making a hop tea.

10-20g of hops covered with water at around 80C to which a tablespoon of malt extract (from your kit) has been added. allow this to steep for 30 minutes or so and then add the liquid to the FV, gently rinsing the hops with a small amount of boiling water.

If you are talking about increasing bitterness, then some retailers sell isomerised hop extract which will do this. I've not personally used it, and unfortunately think that you have to go with a trial and error approach as to quantities required, unless the manufacturers have improved their instructions. If they say something like 'Sufficient for 5 gallons' then take it to mean that they have the same bittering as 100g of hops and apportion then appropriately . . . the good news is that they can be added at the end of fermentation, so if you under do it at the start of fermentation you can increase the amount at the end before casking/bottling.

 

[Shayler]

Im interested in doing the same, my young’s bitter smells pretty dull compared to the munton’s gold bitter im brewing, but im not sure what hops to use for flavour and smell dont want to add extra bitterness.

Going to be placing an order with thehomebrewcompany so if anyone could suggest any hops they have to add flavour to my kit would be great
http://www.thehomebrewcompany.co.uk/ind ... x&cPath=77

 

[Gregsy]

Sorry, I did reply yesterday but my post didn't save for some reason.

I will give the hop tea a try when I get around to ordering more homebrew ingredients. I have a Coopers English Bitter kit left, I haven't tried this kit yet so might brew it as normal then get another kit which I've brewed before and add the hop tea then so I have something to compare against. I think the Coopers Real Ale could do with a bit of hops flavour, any recommendations for hop type to add to this kit?

I suppose the name "Hop Aroma" oil should have been a giveaway, but it's taste I'm after, not aroma. I would eventually like to get a beer tasting like some of the Brewdog beers, i.e. Punk or Trashy Blonde as these have loads of hops.

Cheers