Did I add right stuff to Coopers IPA kit?

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ManyBrews

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Hi everyone!! I made my first batch yesterday with a Cooper's IPA Beer Kit Package from learntobrew. The kit came with the can of hopped malt extract and also 1.5# of DME and I used the dry IPA yeast that came with the kit. I went down to basement this morning and the air lock was percolating less than 20 hours later!!!

My worry (I know) is that other instructions I have seen online call for dextrose and some other fermentables. I'm just learning about different fermentables. Does this sound like proper ingredients for and IPA...coopers can and DME only???

Thank you for the help.
 
...maybe I should add that coopers can came w/ real generic instructions only saying to add fermentables....so that's why I'm asking here.
 
^malt extract is hopped. my first brew, so i wanted a real easy one and just want to make sure i used proper recipe.
 
1.03 sounds extremely low for an IPA. I'm assuming you added water to bring your volume up to somewhere around 5 gallons (assuming this was a 5 gallon recipe). Did you thoroughly mix the water with the rest of the mixture (wort) before you took your og?
 
uh oh.

learntobrew might have made recipe for 5 gallons, but coopers kits generally make 6 which i followed (could fit about 5.5 in fermentor), so that could contribute to low og; definately mixed wort well enough as i boiled about 2 gallons and mixed that in pot then added to fermenter w/ 3.5 gallons and stirred vigorously.

nothing left to do but wait i guess
 
So you're saying you made a 5 gallon recipe into a 6 gallon recipe without increasing the ingredients?

That would certainly give you a low OG.
 
^I guess I don't know what the recipe was supposed to make...I assumed 6 gallons from coopers instructions, but could be wrong.
 
the coopers site says that 500g light dry malt extract and 300g dextrose should be added. i guess in my recipe the malt was just upped at expense of dextrose....which i think could work out? i could have easily read wrong og as it's my first time.

i'm going to focus on the positives...it's fermenting vigorously.
 
Coopers kits are sized for 6 gallons, but, the site where you got this from might have worked out the additional fermentable amount at five gallons. If so, and you followed the Coopers instructions, you would probably get a lower OG. Either way, you'll still get beer.
 
Where did you get the DME for the Cooper's kit? I know that my kits come with suggestions for adding ABV to their hopped extracts and they generally go with dextrose.

Having said that, with 1.5 kg of DME, along with the yeast, you should have a dang good IPA (for a kit). I would also think that you may have mis-read your hydrometer. My triple scale has a Balling scale where 13% sugar would be about 1.051, which would be about right for your wort.
 
^the DME came with the coopers beer kit "package" for learntobrew.com via amazon which includes dme and priming sugar; and it was 1.5 pounds of DME...not kilograms :>(

...i'll just see how it goes and maybe complain to the company if it comes out like crap?
 
I have this same exact beer combo in primary right now. OG in my case was 1.45. I got the coopers and the corn sugar/dme pack from Austin Homebrew at the same time.
 
You noobs crack me up sometimes.

RDWHAHB.

johnd4, I think you mean 1.045, an SG of 1.45 would be as viscous as molasses.

MB, your current brew will be what it is. Give it about three weeks in the primary fermenter, bottle it and give it another three weeks to condition. For you next brew, take danielinva's advice and get an extract + specialty grains + hops kit. The beer you produce can be awesome and the level of difficulty isn't great.

Both of you, Google "How to Brew" and give John Palmer's online book a read.
 
krump...we are here for your amusement :>)

i contacted the seller, learntobrew, and they told me that the fermentabels in fact were 500g dme + dextrose, though it wasn't labeled that way; and i most likely got a wrong reading. onward and upward...my next batch, which i have already will be a saison extract + specialty grain and hops kit.
 
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