Dextrose Question?

I have a new set of equipment to replace my lakeview valley farms brewing kit and was hoping to use some of the left over ingredients from the kit. I have a package of Amber DME, hops, yeast, gelatin and dextrose.
I was thinking of trashing the instructions and trying something different but in all other recepies/instructions there is no mention of Dextrose until bottling. But the original instructions say to add in. Should I skip it or use it. I think I would need it to react with the yeast.

thanks

the dextrose is your priming sugar. You need to add it right at the time you bottle so that the yeast have food to produce carbonation in the beer.

-walker

thanks walker,
I have that part understood. But it also mentions addind dextrose in the boiling of the wort step and after a week. Maybe because I am not using enough DME and need sugar as a substitue!?
here are the instructions that I wanted to not follow anymore(stolen from another website) The sugar part is the only thing that I dont get, it doesnt mesh with what I have been reading for the last 2 months, in joy of brewing, howtobrew.com, etc.


STEP I: In a large enamel or stainless steel pot, place 3 quarts of bottled or filtered water. Place on stovetop and bring almost to a boil. Prepare the wort by pouring 1/2 cup of dextrose and 1/4 cup of dry malt into your pot of hot water. Stir with a long handled spoon until well dissolved. Store dry malt in plastic food bag in cool, dry place. Heat the wort to boiling and add 1/4 teaspoon of table salt and the 5 heaping 1/4 teaspoons of hops. Simmer the hopped wort for a half hour. Stir occaisionally to prevent excessive foaming. Set wort aside to cool slightly.

Using a sterile funnel, carefully pour the cooled wort into the cubitainer (their name for the container where primary fermentation takes place), leaving behind any sediment, which has settled out of the wort. Add two cups of room temperature bottled/filtered water. Make sure the wort has cooled to between 65*-70* F. Now add the yeast starter to the wort. Fill the cubitainer to within 2 inches from the top. Fill the air lock halfway with water, and place it on the cap and screw it into the cubitainer. Place the cubitainer where it will be undisturbed at room temperature. Bubbling should begin within 12 to 24 hours and continue for 5-7 days.

STEP II: At the end of 7 days, whn the fermentation has slowed, add an additional 1/2 cup of dextrose and enough room temperature bottled/filtered water to fill the container to one inch from the top. Place the cap and air lock back on the cubitainer, making sure air lock is half filled with water. Allow to ferment for 7 days more. Fermentation is complete when bubble cease

ok, those directions certainly suck. Nowhere does it mention using more than 1/4 cup of the dry malt? also, I'd say thet theyare definately using SOME of the dextrose in place of malt in the wort. common practice for kits to do this.

Plus, the idea of letting it ferment, then adding more sugar and letting it ferment again is kind of strange.

Is there a step 3? (like.. bottling this stuff?)

If you can estimate how much malt extract and dextrose you have, we can probably make something out of it.


In short, the simple, general procedure with extract brewing with no use of grains and a single fermenter is:

heat water to boiling.
remove from heat.
add malt extract and dissolve.
return to a boil.
add hops.
boil for an hour (maybe adding more hops along the way)
cool.
put into fermenter.
add yeast.
seal fermenter.

... about a week later ...

add more sugar (for carbonation).
bottle it.

... about 1 or 2 weeks later ...

open and drink.

thanks again for the reply.. I agree the instructions are pretty bad, thats why I want to ditch them and use others but not sure if I have all the right ingredients for doing that. There is no other mention of DME. I figured the sugar was a substitute for the small amount of DME. Yes there are more steps for adding gelatin and bottling, I took them out trying to save space.
Here are the ingredients and the rest of the steps. I made 1 gallon using the Light DME and it is ready to drink tomorrow. It definately tasted like beer when i bottled, although it was a bit watered down which I have read to not worry about since it was flat. But maybe it will always be watery if I am using such little DME?

ps -- I know this kit isnt the best so I replaced my hardware, just hoping to still use some of the ingredients to salvage most of a christmas present...

6.5 oz Light Dry Malt
6.5 oz Amber Malt
.75 oz Hops
21.5 oz Dextrose
.039 oz Windsor Yeast
.25 oz Gelatin (clarifying agent)


STEP IV: Wash hands thouroughly. Wash and sterilize all of the plastic bottles and caps. Siphon the beer from the container into the bottles. Using rigid siphon hose and racking cane tip, siphon the beer by starting a flow from one end of the hose by sucking the air out of it. When flow starts, place the end of the tube into the bottle. Bottle must be lower than container to start to flow. After the first bottle is filled to within 1 inch from the top, quickly remove the tube and cover the end with your thumb. Insert the tube into the next bottle and continue the process. You can stop the siphon at any time by pulling the hose out of the container. The racking cane tip should prevent sediment from going into the bottles. The racking cane tip should be place in the container. Avoid disturbing any sediment in the bottom of the container.

STEP V: After all the bottles are filled, add 1/2 teaspoon of dextrose to each bottle. Do not add more dextrose than specified or excessive pressure will build up in the bottles. Bottles should be filled to within 1 inch from the top of the bottle. Push plastic screw cap on bottles and screw them on tightly.

STEP VI: Keep bottles at room temperature for 15 days. Then store in a dark place for an additional 10 days. This is when the carbonation takes place. The bottles should feel very firm to the touch. If any bottles have a lot of give to them, let them set 5 more days at room temperature. Refrigerate your beer at least one day before drinking. When you serve your beer, pour the entire contents carefully at a 45* angle into a glass, leaving any sediment in the bottle. There will alost always be sediment in your beer from the carbonation that takes place in the bottles.

woopss.. forget step 3


STEP III: add 1/4 teaspoon of gelatin to 1/2 cup of cold bottled or filtered water and allow to swell. Heat this mixture over very low heat (DO NOT BOIL), stirring constantly until well dissolved. Add to beer, place the cap and air lock back onto the container, making sure air lock is half filled with water. Allow to settle for 2-3 days.

you can certainly use those ingredients in other batches. don't throw them away.

Do you have the means to brew bigger (5 gallon) batches now?

the dextrose can be used to prime about four to six 5-gallon batches of beer. Keep it.

The ~0.5 lbs of light and amber malt extracts can be used in just about any batch of beer. There's such a small amount, you can probably just throw them into the next 5-gallon batch you make and forget about it.

Same thing with the hops (do you know what kind they are)? Keep them... they can be used for SOMETHING, for sure.

The yeast??? there's not much there, and dry yeast is pretty cheap, so it might not be worth keeping such a small small bit of it.

The Gelatin? you can use it if you want, but my personal experience is that it does VERY little to improve clarity.

I suggest reading www.howtobrew.com for MUCH better brewing instructions.

-walker

thanks..
yes I have a 6.5 gallon glass primary and 5 gallon glass secondary and a bottling bucket with spigot.

guess its off to the brew store this weekend to get a new receipe that I can use this stuff in.


thanks again for all the help

sweet! good luck with the next batch.

One thing to comment on regarding recipe kits: they often give you about 1/2 of the malt extract you really need and substitute dextrose for the rest of the fermentables. this will produce a potable beer, but you'll be MUCH happier with the results if you spring for a second can of extract. leave the sugar out of the wort (save it for priming purposes) and use the second can of extract instead.


-walker

The rule for beer is hops water malt and yeast. Sugar is bad to use as your main fermentable. Look in the recipie section to get an idea of the amounts of ingred. in 5 gallon batches, then get a recipie and stick to it. Corn sugar works great for priming but makes beer taste like watery trash when used as a high percentage of the fermentables. Ask El Pistelero what he thinks of corn sugar.

IIRC, dextrose does not ferment, no?

dextrose fements
lactose does not

Ah, nevermind. Was thinking of dextrin. Keep getting the two confused.