Re: Willco's hoppy copper.

[Brewbob]

So Wilko kits.... I thought I'd chuck one on quickly as I was in town and had an empty FV that needed filling, so I got the Hoppy Copper, and a bag of brewing sugar, I already had a half bag of Muntons enhancer so I knocked it all up. Looking at my notes I stirred the yeast a bit vigorously, and it clumped together and sank, so I legged it to my LHBS and got some Safale-05 and pitched that instead, OG was 1042, FV was 1008.

I left it in the FV for 2wks, then put it in a secondary to clear, after a week it was crystal, so I primed it with 100g of sugar and put it in a PB.

Its been there now for about 3wks and I've had about a gallon.

I don't find it particularly hoppy, in fact it just tastes like non-descript homebrew. Its not unpleasant, but it is definitely HB. It keeps its head to the bottom, its conditioned nicely, not too fizzy, and it fills a gap. For only £9 it is an acceptable kit, but doubt I'll do it again....

 

[RobWalker]

^ this.

i actually thought it was quite bad, more like a cheap coloured lager kit. but with a shorter brew and some finishing hops it could easily be a cracker :thumb:

 

[eddie66]

I have just done this as my last can brew and brewed with 75% light spraymalt 25% brewing sugar then added 35g of dried elderflowers after 6 days. Still in the fv but had a small taste yesterday a the elderflowers have come through well so hopefully it will be a nice light summer ale. It came out at 3.6%.

Brewing :- Hoppy copper bitter & Extract Boddingtons
Conditioning :- Wilco Sweet newkie brown, Wilco Pear cider.
Drinking :- Wilco Cerveza, Wilco golden ale, wilco apple cider.

 

[Brewbob]

Well, I've just been away for 10 days and had my Hoppy Copper sitting in the PB. So the obvious thing after a 3.5hr drive back was to sample some to see if it had improved. It hadn't, it is OK and I'll drink it, but I'll definitely not do another. If I'm sticking to kits I think its going to be 2 cans, Woodfords, Festival, St Peters.

It just has that HB twang to it. In the meantime I had bottled my Festival Golden Stag and had it in the kitchen conditioning. I gave it a taste comparison and its basically blown my socks off!! The hoppiness really comes through and I honestly don't think I can buy better, especially in bottles, but even in pubs to be honest. I've just put it in the garage to chill and clear, can't wait!!!

 

[Kinleycat]

The name suggests this is a hoppy bitter, is the general consensus that it isn't and requires additional hops?
I ask as i have a hoppy copper kit and a bag of styrian goldings sitting idle.
Is it worth dry hopping or making a hop tea?

 

[tricky_dicky]

It's not hoppy at all from the one I made, so would suggest a hop tea and some dry hops are needed. It's the most disapponting of all the £10 Wilko's Kits - which in general are actually pretty good.

 

[geordiesaint]

I am supping bottle of this at the moment. Brewed as per the instructions using wilkos brewing sugar. Been conditioning in the bottles for about a week. Its cleared but a bit young. Can't see this one getting much better though. Its drinkable but not a patch on my St Peters golden ales I have in the keg and is not as good as the geordie one can kits which get quite a bad review on here but I actually quite like them. Not a great deal of taste but not unpleasant. Probably wont do this one again, although it is ok to drink - would rather invest the time and money into something else.

 

[redhousebrewing]

Early days for mine but tried a bottle after 2 weeks conditioning - beautifully clear, well carbonated, but tasted very average and not hoppy. Hopefully it will improve with time but next time I'd go up from 500g enhancer + 1 kg sugar and also try dry hopping so it might live up to its name.

Stuart

 

[fbsf]

If any of them have the HB Twang, then time in the bottles (6-8weeks) should help. But nothing will help a lack of flavour other than dry hopping or a hop tea when bottling.

 

[Kinleycat]

Put this on last night, standard issue 1Kg fermentables, two tspns yeast nutrient and will dry hop with Styrian Goldings for last four days of primary fermentation.
Open to offers of how much to use, never dry hopped before. :thumb:

 

[Kinleycat]

Never got round to dry hopping so it ended up as per instruction.
Without doubt it's the least satisfying brew kit I've made.
The Wilko two can kits are very good but overall I'm not a fan of the one can kits.

 

[iceo]

i picked one up in the sale but its still sat in my brew box but i did pick up a few hop teas so might throw a few in if its that bad

 

[Kinleycat]

i picked one up in the sale but its still sat in my brew box but i did pick up a few hop teas so might throw a few in if its that bad

It's really thin, brew it short...very short!! :thumb:

 

[iceo]

if its that bad i might brew it to 10L with no sugar

 

[Kinleycat]

if its that bad i might brew it to 10L with no sugar

I was going to suggest 15 litres with 500-750g DME.

 

[memit]

It's not very interesting, but at that price it's good for playing with.

I brewed it with 500g of spray malt and added extra styrian golding hops and hibiscus for flavour. Of the hops I put about 10g in a hop tea and 10g dry in the secondary (and a little more hibiscus). I think it's still a little bland though - I could have gone for more of either.

 

[Brewbob]

TBH I think if you start with a poor product there not really much you can do to improve it, whats that old adage about pigs ears...

 

[RobWalker]

TBH I think if you start with a poor product there not really much you can do to improve it, whats that old adage about pigs ears...

i'm inclined to agree. it's like those scally bastards who try to modify their vauxhall corsas and make 'em look like mazzerati's. you can't polish a turd.

for this very reason, the quality of the barley in the coopers kits shows through for simple brews. and for what's £4 extra for 40 much better pints...

 

[BrewerRS]

Well, at the risk of rocking the boat, I've had this bottled for nearly 3 weeks and I quite like it.

I brewed it short to 20 litres, added a squeezy tub of golden syrup, and 1 kg of muntons bke.

2 weeks in primary, 1 week in sv...maybe time is needed. 85g of priming sugar.

I definitely would agree that it's more of a lager but mine has better mouth feel, I would do this again but with 1 kg medium dme instead of bke and experiment with dry hopping.

Cheers :

 

[MattN]

After reading the comments on here I decided to brew this to 18 litres. I batched primed/bottled it just over two weeks ago and have just opened a bottle. Well what can I say, fantastic as an after work nice smooth pint loads of flavour, clear, a good head albeit a bit strong at 4.9% it is great.

I will be doing another couple of these very soon (I have a few others on the go and some in stock first) however I will reduce the sugar next time to try and get to 4%-4.2% as this is my preference for a bitter.

Regards
Matt