Questionable Kit Instructions

Hi everyone,
First time brewer here with a few questions. I just bought a kit today, but after doing some reading on home brewing, the instructions seem oversimplified, for lack of a better word. They are for an Irish Cream Ale, and they read as follows:

"In a pot that has a capacity to hold approximately 10 litres, pour in the contents of the SuperBatch beer kit with the 2-3 litres of warm water and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occaisonally.

Pour approximately 10 litres of cold water in a sanitized primary fermenter. add the hot mixture and stir vigorously. Add water, until a total of 23 litres is reached, making sure that the temperature does not exceed 29 degrees Celcius. Sprinkle the yeast on the surface of the mixture and cover the pale with a loose fitting lid."

After reading this a few times, and realizing I don't want to ruin my new $30 investment, I thought I should question it. Aren't you supposed to boil the wort for longer, and activate the yeast beforehand? Also, aren't you supposed to cool it in a sink before you pour it into the fermenter? Is there something wrong with this picture or do I just have beginners paranoia? Thanks everyone, hope to hear from you soon,
~Greg

Hi Greg,

Based on those instructions, I assume that your kit is a 'pre-hopped' extract kit. The instructions provided are pretty much sound for that kind of a kit, however I would use a proper fermenting bucket with a sealed lid and an airlock. You also did not mention sanitation. It is important to clean and sanitize any item that will be in contact with the wort post-boil.

Boiling for extended periods is done when you are providing your own hops. Hops have to be boiled for ~60 minutes to extract their bitterness. This is not required with pre-hopped extract.

You are correct that the boiled wort is usually cooled before adding to the fermenter. In this case, I think it is being assumed that the addition of 10 liters of cold water will sufficiently cool the wort.

Many people just sprinkle the dry yeast onto the wort, but others believe that re hydrating in warm water for 15 minutes is beneficial.

I would say go ahead and make this kit. I would also recommend reading the free online 'how to brew' tutorial by john palmer for some alternative brewing methods.

This sounds like my first brew. The instructions asked me to empty the cans of LME into the fermentor then add boiling water, then add chilled water ... wait until the wort was about 75 degrees then add the yeast packet .... it was really simple, the liquid malt extract was pre hopped also. Its turned out ok so far.

Great thanks guys, I'm just waiting for my wort to boil at the moment. I sanitized everything that needs it, so fingers crossed on not getting any unwanted critters in there. Hope this one turns out good.

I would boil the water, not the wort. If you boil the wort, the flavour and scent aspects of the hops already added will boil away.