jononation

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Hi everyone.
Although I've read up and watched videos on how to brew from kits, I made a mistake.

I'm using a Cooper's Premium IPA kit. Added the concentrate to the boiling water, stirred, added more water to 23L, checked the gravity and then added the yeast. (I was trying to read the directions, but evidently skipped a part).

I then realized that I didn't add the dextrose and dry malt extract! I quickly added both and stirred.

My questions are:

1. The dry malt clumped and I couldn't get rid of them. Is that OK?
2. Will all the stirring to mix the dextrose and dry malt affect the yeast?
3. Am I to add liquid to the air lock and stopper so that I can monitor the bubbling?

Thanks for your help!

wup

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I am not entirely familiar with those kits, but if you added the sugar and extract after boiling you may have a problem as you don't know what might have been living in them(if anything). If you have a local homebrew store, my suggestion would be buy a pack of yeast, boil your whole lot for 15 minutes to make sure you kill off any nasties, cool, and repitch the new yeast. To answer your questions specifically.

1)Clumps=no way for yeast to get to the middle of it
2)Stirring will not affect the yeast, the introduction of more sugar and oxygen will probably help
3)Yes liquid in the airlock or else it isnt really an airlock/

Kentunkel

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I'm not familiar with those kits either but if the dextrose was included to use for priming, you'll want to pick up 5 oz. of that while you're at the HBS too.

smokinj

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Though the bubbles are fun to watch, especially on your first brew, the purpose of adding liquid to the airlock is to keep contaminants out.

unionrdr

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__________________
Everything works if ya let it-Roady(meatloaf)

jononation

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Ya, that's what I'm using so the contaminants wouldn't be a problem.

So although the yeast won't get to the middle of the dry malt clumps, everything else should be fine?

Thanks guys.

kh54s10

Recipes 

Not necessarily. The additions made after the boil were not sterile.

The clumps in the DME should dissolve eventually.

You said you took a gravity reading then made the additions. That gravity reading should have been WAY off!

Bubbles in the airlock or lack thereof don't mean much. It only means that there is more gas than the vessel can hold. The airlock is there only as a one way valve to keep contaminates out of the beer.

The only way to know how the fermentation is doing is gravity readings.

You should end up with a drinkable beer but it certainly will not be what the kit intended.

unionrdr

Recipes 

__________________
Everything works if ya let it-Roady(meatloaf)