prehopped kit, wort chill question and rookie

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kidoduck

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I got a starter kit that included the ingredients of my first batch(Cooper's 1 can prehopped pilsner, 1 can light malt extract, 3/4 cup corn sugar). The instructions say dissolve the ingredients 2 liters boiling water or hot tap water, then mix with 20 liters cold.
-Now, I'll boil my water for sanitation sake, but should it be below any temp before adding the prehopped can?

-Will wort chilling be necessary or is adding 2 liters hot to 20 liters cold sufficient?

-Should I plan on moving this to a secondary? Is that necessary with these beginner kits?

-What is in these cans? Are there hop pellets mixed in or is it cooked into a syrup?

Thanks for any help! I promise to move up the brewer food chain soon.
 
First off, never used these kits- that said, I am assuming this 'quick kit' has a hopped up extract (just to be clear, the corn sugar is for bottling- not in the mix before fermenting).

Warm up your cans under hot tap water while you bring water to a boil. Remove kettle from heat and stir vigorously while adding LME. If you leave it on the burner you might have scorching.

Mix with cold water (in fermenter) to bring it own to 70ish degrees, pitch your yeast and let it go. I'd say there's no need for a secondary.

Once it's done in 3 weeks or so (guessing) you can bottle by mixing hot water with sugar to dissolve, and mixing this solution with your un-carbonated beer thoroughly before bottling.

Hope this helps! As always, I would be sure to sanitize everything before brewing; make sure you have everything you are going to need before starting, and enjoy a beer and the aroma :)
 
...
-Now, I'll boil my water for sanitation sake, but should it be below any temp before adding the prehopped can?

Yes, 80F/26C before pitching the yeast, there should be instructions on this somewhere. Take a reading and wait until below this temp. Since you're boiling the water make sure you stir well to get oxygen back into the wort before pitching.

-Will wort chilling be necessary or is adding 2 liters hot to 20 liters cold sufficient?

Not sure, it depends no the temp of the cold water, just take a reading.

-Should I plan on moving this to a secondary? Is that necessary with these beginner kits?

It's no different then more complex recipes, I recommend just leaving it in primary for 3-4 weeks, you don't need a secondary and for your fist just keep it simple.

-What is in these cans? Are there hop pellets mixed in or is it cooked into a syrup?

It's got it all in the syrup, you don't need to add anything. My first two batches where pre-hopped extract. Don't get discouraged if these aren't what you expected from homebrew. While I don't recommend you boil the extract if you do, focus on keeping it off the bottom and do not burn it.

You're next step is the kits where you steep specialty grains, add the hops doing a 1 hr boil with a hop schedule. While it may take longer it's not difficult and the quality of your ale's can dramatically improve.
 
Thanks! I have been reading the book on how to do this, but when it occurred to me that what I had was a prehopped kit, I looked back through and found little specific info on them. Then I saw some threads about "no-boil" kits that got me worried.
 
MikeG: "You're next step is the kits where you steep specialty grains, add the hops doing a 1 hr boil with a hop schedule. While it may take longer it's not difficult and the quality of your ale's can dramatically improve."

That's what I'm looking forward to!
 
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