When to mix brew enhancer?

[Wavery]

I just started primary fermentation on a 23L Coopers "Lager" brew kit.

The instructions weren't all that great. I boiled 1/2G of water, opened the can of wort mix and stirred it in. Then I poured the "Brew Enhancer" (that came with it) in the boiled water and tried to stir it in. When I poured the wart into the Coopers fermenting vessel, I noticed a lot of the white powdered brew enhancer had hardened on the bottom of the pan. I scraped it off and put the hard pieces in the vessel.

I just found a youtube video and it showed pouring the brew enhancer in the vessel 1st, adding hot tap water and stirring. Then pour the boiled wart into the vessel.

My question is, "Did I mess something up? Will those hard chunks of brew enhancer dissolve in the fermentation process?"

 

[m00ps]

I'm not sure what "brew enhancer" contains but I would be much, much more worried that your sanitation practices with scraping it off the pot may have infected you batch. Were you hands and spoon sanitized properly before touching anything post-boil?

 

[Wavery]

I'm not sure what "brew enhancer" contains but I would be much, much more worried that your sanitation practices with scraping it off the pot may have infected you batch. Were you hands and spoon sanitized properly before touching anything post-boil?

I scraped the S/S pot with my long spoon (that came with the kit). Everything was soaked in sanitizer 1st. I wash my hands thoroughly before starting but I don't touch anything that touches the ingredients.

Coopers Brew Enhancer 1 (1kg) contains dextrose, and maltodextrin.

 

[m00ps]

Both if those are just sugars that will increase the alcolohol content. Dextrose is completely fermentable. Maltodextrin is partially so it add body to a beer. But they both will dissolve completely. I'm sure once fermentation takes off, the yeast activity will take care of your clumps. I wouldn't worry

 

[JustLooking]

Brew Enhancer? If it's not hops, they're lying to you.

 

[Wavery]

Both if those are just sugars that will increase the alcolohol content. Dextrose is completely fermentable. Maltodextrin is partially so it add body to a beer. But they both will dissolve completely. I'm sure once fermentation takes off, the yeast activity will take care of your clumps. I wouldn't worry

Thanks...... I sorta thought that it might but I didn't know if the dextrose had to be dissolved better.

The brew has been in for 2 days now and the krausen is about 3-4" thick so I think it's working.

 

[unionrdr]

I used to add the brew enhancers @ flame out, stirring til dissolved, just as you would with DME. It's hydroscopic, so it clumps easily. In this case, since fermentation causes an up & down swirling effect, it should dissolve eventually.

 

[Wavery]

I used to add the brew enhancers @ flame out, stirring til dissolved, just as you would with DME. It's hydroscopic, so it clumps easily. In this case, since fermentation causes an up & down swirling effect, it should dissolve eventually.

Thanks........ I suppose that if worse comes to worse, it will just settle to the bottom and go down the sink with the debris.

 

[unionrdr]

I think it'll just take longer to dissolve or get eaten by the yeast.

 

[peterlonz]

How & which you put in the fermenter first does not really matter.
It's just common sense to attempt to fully dissolve both, but often the brew enhancer, because it is hygroscopic, will have hardened & be a bit more difficult to dissolve.
You can use as much hot water as necessary, better if pre-boiled, but hot tap water is OK so long as your supply will deliver 65 deg C minimum. In either case you are assured of adequate sanitation.
One caveat here: you may end up with rather too much hot wort & getting it down to yeast pitch temperature can be problematic. A simple procedural remedy is to always have pre-chilled filtered cold water on hand. Prepare the day before, usually 6 to 8 litres will suffice. You will need suitable clear sanitised PET bottles for this. I use 3 litre bottles & filter with a commonly available kitchen bench mount cartridge filter with a carbon block (filter rated at 0.5 microns). In practice this does not prejudice sanitation, I have used this technique many many times.

 

[madscientist451]

Since that stuff didn't want to dissolve, I suppose a better method would be to pull a quart of the wort using a 2QT measuring cup, and dissolve the dextrose in that before adding back to the kettle.