Great kit adding more malt

Made many times now settled on adding 500g crystal malt + 1KG dry malt, along with included Coopers beer dry yeast to 23L, bottle age at least 4 weeks, we find 3+ months really improves the flavor.  Similiar in style to our local brewpubs bitter but much cheaper to make.  Have made it with Wyeast Irish Ale 1084 yeast which makes much smaller carbonation bubbles, and Wyeast ESB 1968(finiky yeast but good), and Wyeast 1028(yeast profile got overwhelmed by kit flavors).  Introduced to this kit by some all-grain brewer posts who make up this kit when they have limited time and they dry hop(Willamette/Fuggles) + add 1.5KG dry malt, 21L.  We also prefer it maltier so add the extra malts, as the base kit is very bitter and too thin for my taste adding only 500g dry malt.  Still this is an English Bitter kit and much more bitter than lager type beers so make sure you like a bitter beer to drink.   

Cooper's English Bitter II

An update following my previous review.

After THREE whole months in the barrel, the beer has mellowed and become drinkable.  Considering the price of the kit, and if you are willing to wait, okay, it's an okay pint for the money, but it's not a beer that will keep pulling you back for more, acceptable is about the most flattering adjective that I could throw at it.  I still think that this beer is not true to style, it's beer, but it is not English bitter.  I haven't increased the score because I wouldn't bother buying this kit again, there are better ones out there where you get a decent result and don't have to wait three months.

Cooper's English Bitter

Done according to kit & kilo.  I don't like this one at all, the hops are overly aggressive to the point where the brew is actually acidic from the alpha acids in the hops. This is not a fermentation problem, it is actually the hops.  I mean we are in sucking on lemons territory here.  I don't think that the kit respects the beer style either, English bitter is just not acidic.  Nope, I really don't like this beer. 

On the positive side, the yeast provided with the kit did its job very well.  The beer coming out of the barrel definitely looks the part, lovely colour and good head retention too. 

Were I to do the kit again, I would give the wort a quarter of an hour boil to soften up the hop profile, it might work. 

Nice for a change.

ESB is not my normal go to beer style but I wanted to try something different. Put this down with 1kg dried malt, 150 grams light crystal steeped for 30 mins and some EK goldings hops boiled for 10 mins with the DME and steeped water.  The end result was a nice tasting beer, almost toffee after taste and easy drinking. Will be doing this one again.