Using prehopped kits in place of LME in extract brewing?

[Aidan Curran]

Here in NZ kits are such Coopers Original series are cheaper than cans of plain unhopped LME. So I was wondering how cans such as the Coppers Lager would work out for extract brewing. I've read somewhere that if you boil them, you boil off the isohops flavour and aroma, it that correct? Would you then have the equivalent of an unhopped LME (with some bittering)? Are there any negative effects of boiling those kits? Or maybe even the hops can be used to advantage, reducing the amount of additional hops required. Very interested in hearing your opinions & experience on this. Thanks, Aidan.

[Al Witham]

Well I have a fair few brews under my belt – literally ;-) – since my last post on this thread and I’ve learned a lot about hops (and other things) since then. My second attempt at tarting up a Coopers Real Ale kit turned out better. I was pleased with the 1/3 NS and 2/3 Cascade blend. It was really enjoyable at about 4 weeks after bottling but both brews had a slightly harsh aftertaste that I’ve never encountered in any of my other brews and didn’t seem like anything hop related, so I put that down to the kit itself.

The brew I based on an Australian Pale Ale kit had none of that harshness so I had another go at that, but with a 30 minute addition of Rakau for extra bitterness and double the late hops. This one turned out really well. The 30 minute addition bumped up the bitterness to where I wanted it – crisp but not mouth puckering with a slight bitterness in the aftertaste, while the late Nelson Sauvin and Cascade gave the beer a juicy fruitiness up front. After 3 weeks in the bottle the Nelson Sauvin was too overpowering but a week later that had subsided and integrated nicely with the Cascade. A really nice NZPA for summer drinking.

The hops were boiled with the malt extract, with the kit dissolved at flame out.

Beyond the Pale

1.7kg Coopers Australian Pale Ale kit

1.5kg Black Rock light LME

200g steeped crystal malt

Hops:

20g Rakau (10.5%AA) (30 mins)

10g Nelson Sauvin (12.5%AA) (15 mins)

10g US Cascade (5.5%AA) (15 mins)

10g Nelson Sauvin (12.5%AA) (5 mins)

10g US Cascade (5.5%AA) (5 mins)

US-05 yeast