Make my bitter more interesting.

[lazypie_man]

Hey,

Im rellativly new to brewing, just the simple stuff the mix with water kits.
Ive done 2 batches now both of wich we're a bitter... 1st went great 2nd not so much.

I got a 3rd bitter for Xmas, and Tbh im a bit sick of bitter... So was thinking, is there anything I can add to it to make it more exiting.. Coffee or chocolate or something else in the firment stage?

Its the coopers bitter with enhancer 2.

Any ideas on what I can add would be a ppreciated? / Peoples experiance?

 

[brewpirate]

Dry hops, fruit, coffee, oak chips, cocoa nibs and spices are all easy to do and can change up a bland beer

 

[Slid]

The Coopers English bitter is very bitter and is a good "base" kit for experimenting with hop additions.

If that is too complicated, at this stage, just adding a Wilko one can lager kit (Cerveza for example) makes the basis of a very decent drink indeed, that can be made quite strong with a smaller amount of sugar (than 1kg). But just use the Coopers yeast!

:

 

[lazypie_man]

Never thought of experementing with hops. Its a bit late for this batch but next time.

I was thinking of just throwing something in the brew bin, Im not sure what flavers would complement a bitter.
Maybe fry up some bacon and chuck it in....

 

[brewpirate]

Be careful with the oil on the back, that is a head killer.

When you go to bottle you could add small about of cold brewed coffee to some bottles to add a coffee flavor.

If you want to swap out the hops I highly recommend using Norther Brewer and Cascade, a great combo.

 

[clibit]

I think the easiest and most effective thing to do is to steep some specialty grains like roast barley or chocolate malt. You can then convert a bitter into a brown ale, porter or stout very easily, and you only need a little of the grain. Just steep it, strain it, boil the liquid and add to the FV with the extract and water.

You can also add hops and boil some with the liquid from the steep, and you can make big differences with different yeasts too.

 

[eltei]

Chuck a glass of vodka, 1/2 a cup of coffee grinds, a green tea bag, a kitkat and.....................no seriously take advice from previous posts..............I've tried this and it lacks mouth feel and body.

 

[Slid]

Never thought of experementing with hops. Its a bit late for this batch but next time.

I was thinking of just throwing something in the brew bin, Im not sure what flavers would complement a bitter.
Maybe fry up some bacon and chuck it in....

Not sure this would be as good as eating some pork scratchings with the finished beer. ;-)

 

[lazypie_man]

bit of a old thread however wanted to cap it off. i ended up doing a mix of stuff in second fermentation with dried fruit and bacon.. (not sure what i was thinking)

- Dried fruit (pineapple, banana, apple and mixed berries) was mixed, oil defiantly killed the head however the flavors infused fairly well.
- Instant Coffee, adding just a teaspoon. this was the most successful, worked great. would defiantly recommend if you wanted to jazz up a simple kit.
- Bacon... flavors defiantly made it through, however oils killed the head and look. maybe boiling the beer and skimming of the oil would be the way to go for this.

All in all i was quite chuffed with the results, a good little experiment. (little mental looking back)

 

[MyQul]

bit of a old thread however wanted to cap it off. i ended up doing a mix of stuff in second fermentation with dried fruit and bacon.. (not sure what i was thinking)

- Dried fruit (pineapple, banana, apple and mixed berries) was mixed, oil defiantly killed the head however the flavors infused fairly well.
- Instant Coffee, adding just a teaspoon. this was the most successful, worked great. would defiantly recommend if you wanted to jazz up a simple kit.
- Bacon... flavors defiantly made it through, however oils killed the head and look. maybe boiling the beer and skimming of the oil would be the way to go for this.

All in all i was quite chuffed with the results, a good little experiment. (little mental looking back)

Not even in my worst nightmares would I consider adding bacon to a bitter, but their is a way to do it successfully. It comes from cocktail mixing and is called fat washing. Basically; soak the bacon in vodka for several days. Then remove the bacon and put the vodka in the freezer. The fat will then freeze on top of the vodka. You then scrap the fat off and add the now bacon flavoured vodka to the beer

 

[Clint]

Bacon should be on white fluffy bread with brown sauce.

 

[lazypie_man]

Bacon should be on white fluffy bread with brown sauce.

agree, however nothing wrong with a little experimentation

 

[lazypie_man]

Not even in my worst nightmares would I consider adding bacon to a bitter, but their is a way to do it successfully. It comes from cocktail mixing and is called fat washing. Basically; soak the bacon in vodka for several days. Then remove the bacon and put the vodka in the freezer. The fat will then freeze on top of the vodka. You then scrap the fat off and add the now bacon flavoured vodka to the beer

that's some good advice i bet that's a good way to extract other flavours.

 

[foxy]

Actually it is not as bad as it sounds adding some smoked bacon to the brew, not something I would do myself but I have tried it (commercial brew) and it wasn't that bad, hop variations would be the way to go for something different and / or some different malt additions.

 

[Cwrw666]

Bacon should be on white fluffy bread with brown sauce.

With a fried egg on top.

 

[Clint]

AND black pudding. ....