Mr. Beer and Malt Liquor...

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

stat quo

Member
Joined
Nov 8, 2005
Messages
14
Reaction score
0
Location
New York
hi. im pretty new to this whole brewing thing and this forum, so please bear with me :eek:

so i just purchased a mr. beer kit a few days ago, and decided to brew this recipe kit i got from their site:
http://store.mrbeer.com/defibbock.html



my question is, is it possible to brew a malt liquor or any high alcohol content beer using the kit and ingredients purchased from the site? if so, what do you reccomend/suggestions?

the one im currently brewing is supposed to reach 7% when its done, but itd like something with as much kick as a bottle of St. Ides, or more, like 8.2% - 10%+ (if possible)

id appreciate comments/suggestions. thanks :cross:
 
Very few yeasts can live in an ABV over 7%. It is extremely unlikely your kit has one of those yeasts. To get to 10% ABV, you need a wine yeast or a distiller's yeast. To get higher ABV, you also need to increase the amount of fermentables. This can be done by adding malt powder (dry malt extract), liquid malt extract or sugar. Sugar will change the flavor and make a mess of most ales.
 
Wrap a paper bag around it and set it in a dark smelly alley. Toss it a couple quarters, it'll come around! When its done fermenting, find some cappable 40oz bottles. For the full experience, wrap them in a brown paper bags when it comes time to drink them.
 
stat quo,

Does the air lock work? Was it with the kit?

The reason I ask is the Mr. Beer keg I have does not have a sealing cap, it as two notches cut in the top of the thread to allow the co2 to expell.
It relies on the co2 blanket to protect the beer from oxygen.

I have a couple for doing half batches when my full size gear is in use.

I've also figure that instead of buying MR Beer kits (500g) At £10 + £5 shipping that use 1kg of sugar(included). I use a £7.99 malt extract kit 1.5kg and don't add any sugar. I reckon it's cheaper, easier and gives a better result.
 
orfy said:
stat quo,

Does the air lock work? Was it with the kit?

The reason I ask is the Mr. Beer keg I have does not have a sealing cap, it as two notches cut in the top of the thread to allow the co2 to expell.
It relies on the co2 blanket to protect the beer from oxygen.

I have a couple for doing half batches when my full size gear is in use.

I've also figure that instead of buying MR Beer kits (500g) At £10 + £5 shipping that use 1kg of sugar(included). I use a £7.99 malt extract kit 1.5kg and don't add any sugar. I reckon it's cheaper, easier and gives a better result.


the airlock works fine. yes it came with the kit. how long ago did you buy yours? because it might be an older model or something...

I've also figure that instead of buying MR Beer kits (500g) At £10 + £5 shipping that use 1kg of sugar(included). I use a £7.99 malt extract kit 1.5kg and don't add any sugar. I reckon it's cheaper, easier and gives a better result.

i might have to experiment around with that once i get more experience. sounds like a plan...


btw, how has the mr. beer kit working for you so far? reliable?
 
david_42 said:
Very few yeasts can live in an ABV over 7%. It is extremely unlikely your kit has one of those yeasts. To get to 10% ABV, you need a wine yeast or a distiller's yeast. To get higher ABV, you also need to increase the amount of fermentables. This can be done by adding malt powder (dry malt extract), liquid malt extract or sugar. Sugar will change the flavor and make a mess of most ales.

so distilling yeast, and double up on ingredients?


Ed_Savage said:
Wrap a paper bag around it and set it in a dark smelly alley. Toss it a couple quarters, it'll come around! When its done fermenting, find some cappable 40oz bottles. For the full experience, wrap them in a brown paper bags when it comes time to drink them.

good idea on the 40 bottles. hmm....
 
by the way, what's a good sugar-alternative for this kind of thing? something thatll do the job better...
 
Dry Malt Extract (DME) is the best choice, use it pound for pound to replace cane/beet sugar.
 
stat quo said:
the airlock works fine. yes it came with the kit. how long ago did you buy yours? because it might be an older model or something...



i might have to experiment around with that once i get more experience. sounds like a plan...


btw, how has the mr. beer kit working for you so far? reliable?

Yes it's worked fine. They sent me some real old kits though and I had to get replacements.

I did my first one staright to bottle after the first ferment and it tasted fruity and Yeast after 2 weeks in the bottle, I left it another 2 weeks and now It's a realy nice beer. I now let everything do a second ferment for two weeks before bottling.
 
david_42 said:
Dry Malt Extract (DME) is the best choice, use it pound for pound to replace cane/beet sugar.

will liquid malt extract work too?

sorry if im asking too many questions...im just trying to learn a little bit about this sorta thing before i start concocting my own
 
sure it will. Same stuff. One just has water in it and the other doesn't.

However, you'll have to use a little more liquid than you would dry. (like 15% more).

-walker
 
Silly question but how did you do the second ferment with the Mr beer?

Thanks,
Chadd

orfy said:
Yes it's worked fine. They sent me some real old kits though and I had to get replacements.

I did my first one staright to bottle after the first ferment and it tasted fruity and Yeast after 2 weeks in the bottle, I left it another 2 weeks and now It's a realy nice beer. I now let everything do a second ferment for two weeks before bottling.
 
chadd said:
Silly question but how did you do the second ferment with the Mr beer?
Chadd

Secondary refers to a secondary vessel conditioning period, not really a secondary fermentation.

All you do is transfer it to another clean sanatized vessel that's very close to the same volume you're putting in it. Put a stopper and airlock on it and let it rest for 2 weeks. Bottle after this period and the brews will improve greatly.
 
Here's a recipe for a malt liquor like beer I brewed when I first started brewing 13 years ago. This was for 10 gallons but I scaled it down using promash to 2.5 Gal.
(if you want 5 gal then just dbl the ingredients but NOT the boil times)
BTW 1 liter of lme weighs about 3 lbs. Some places sell buy volume rather than weight. If you can't find HBS then most ubrews will sell you malt and hops and yeast.

Old Nanaimo Malt Liquor

Pale LME: 2.25 lbs
Corn sugar: 1.5 lbs

Hops:
.25 oz Hallertauer - last 30 min of boil
.25 oz Saaz - last 30 min
.5 oz Hallertauer - last 15
.5 oz Saaz - last 15
.25 Hallertauer - last 2 min (let steep as wort cools)
.25 Saaz - last 2 min

OG should be about 1.060
Depending on what yeast you use could be a FG fo1.004 - 1.014

I'd make it 3 lbs lme. That will raise the OG to 1.071

Basicly don't use any hops for longer than a 30 minute boil if you want a "malt liquor" taste. Longer than that will boost the bitterness considerably. Feel free to experiment.

Lalvin EC1118 or other champagne yeast for a drier finish, use an ale yeast for a more malty finish. Nottingham dry might be ok, or coopers ale yeast. They are both fairly neutral.

Actually, I might brew this again now that I've found it stuck in my beer book. I have a few friends and relatives that don't like any beer with much color. I'll probably brew a lower (6.5%) version since I'm not into the big kick to the head form a high alc high consumption brew like I was when I was 20. And I'll probably use all malt no CS.

I made a 12-14% version of this brew once back then. One friend asked me "...whats in this stuff?! I think I'm seeing things!.."

I think I added some light crystal malt to it though for the next batch for some more body and flavor.

Good luck. You might want to spend a few bucks and get some better equipment and just use the mr. beer keg as a cask for some of the finished product. I wouldn't mind one of those my self for when I make 10 gal batches. I'd like to have about 2.5 gal casked for gatherings.
 
stat quo said:
the one im currently brewing is supposed to reach 7% when its done, but itd like something with as much kick as a bottle of St. Ides, or more, like 8.2% - 10%+ (if possible)

White Labs has several yeasts for American Strong Ales, Old English Ales, or Barley Wines ranging from 6 – 12%:
California Ale (WLP001)
English Ale (WLP002)
Irish Ale (WLP004)
British Ale (WLP005)
Bedford British Ale (WLP006)
Dry English Ale (WLP007)
East Coast Ale (WLP008)
Australian Ale Yeast (WLP009)
European Ale (WLP011)
London Ale (WLP013)
Whitebread Ale (WLP017)* Available Sept/Oct
Essex Ale Yeast (WLP022)* Available Jan/Feb
Burton Ale (WLP023)
Premium Bitter Ale (WLP026)* Available May/June
Edinburgh Ale (WLP028)
German Ale/Kölsch (WLP029)
Dusseldorf Alt Yeast (WLP036)*Available May/June
Pacific Ale (WLP041)*Available March/April
California Ale V Yeast (WLP051)
American Ale Yeast Blend (WLP060)
Super High Gravity Ale (WLP099) - Can ferment up to 25% alcohol.

Good Luck,
Wild
 
I'm surprised nobody posted this before.

Go find a homebrew store. Look them up in the yellow pages or online.

Mr. Beer is a great introduction into brewing. Don't plan on using it long - consider it the geo metro of the brewing world.

Handy, nifty, cool, yes. Mr. Beer is a nifty system, but it's bottom of the line. You probably cannot get lower quality stuff. Once you find a homebrew store near you, they'll get you hooked up right. In my area, a hundred bucks gets you a complete kit of everything you need to start brewing right. I made the mistake of buying piece by piece. Probably cost me twice as much.
Consider the investment well worth it.
 
Back
Top