Cooper's Homebrew Kit

First time brewer...

As a birthday present- my wife gave me the Lager Cooper's Homebrew Kit.

I am currently fermenting the beer.

The wort is fermenting and bubbling up through the Airlock.

But...

The bubbles are very strong and most of the water in the Airlock has bubbled out...

Is this normal? Should I add additional water to the Airlock?

Add some more water, or even some vodka. And be patient, leave it in the fermenter for longer than the directions specify.

I started with that kit. Don't let the results of it discourage you if they're less than spectacular - make your next batch a more quality extract and steep batch.

That being said, I still use some of the equipment that game with that kit, including the fermenter itself.

Good luck!

Keep your airlock at least half-full, this is the barrier to keep the air at getting at your beer, although atm it sounds like your yeast isn't letting anything in...

+1 on ignoring the instructions and leaving it longer. I leave those kits for at least two weeks in the primary, and then I put them in a secondary. (Thus isn't necessary, but not many of my beer community drink a lot of homebrew and I find this gets rid of most of the sediment, which can throw some people off.)

Either way although everything will be fermented the yeast still have some cleaning up to do, and they like to hang out in a group while they do it. Let them leave their trash at the bottom of the bucket, rather than in your bottles.

Last thing... your beer needs to be in the bottles for longer than the kit says. Sure at that point there will be a pop, but if you can wait at least three weeks (and 5 is better) to drink it it will be better. I usually get 5.5 dozen out of a batch, and will be honest that I try two after 10 days in bottles, 2 more a week or two later, then 2 more when I can't wait any more.

Thanks for the words of wisdom.

I put some vodka in the airlock... I also put some vodka in my belly.