Thanks for your insight and the detailed response! When you say "swirl the whole thing around vigorously" do you mean just pick the bucket up and swirl it, or open it and stir it with a sanitized spoon or something? Isn't there risk of oxygenating the beer at this point and ruining it for sure...

I bought one of those 5 gallon starter kits about 3 years ago and never got around to opening it until a few weeks ago. The ingredients supplied for a pale ale (1 lb crushed grain, 6 lbs LME, 1 oz hop pellets, 11g yeast packet) were clearly old, but I thought I'd give it a shot and brew a batch...