normbrew487

Recipes 

I have not tasted the final product yet, so i might be asking this too soon. My first batch is in the bottling stage. Its a basic lager recipe from mr beer co. Evrything seemed quick and simple. I guess my question is...is mr beer a good way to understand the basics or is it an easy way to skip advanced steps, such as secondary and tertiary fermentation

flushdrew42

Recipes 

MrB is an inexpensive introduction to the hobby...
there is a 319 page thread on it, has TONS of information. literally.
it's stickied at the top of this forum, check it out.

D_Ranged_Eskimo

Recipes 

It is pretty simple, but that is how a lot of people got started into brewing, including myself.

It left a lot to the imagination, but it also kick started my interest to learn more of the detailed processes of brewing. If you enjoyed doing it, but felt the process was overly simplistic, be warned, you may be hooked to buy a starter kit and get into extract brewing. It's a slippery slope, and it's what got me into this hobby!

Bmorebrew

Recipes 

It's the Easy Bake Oven of beer. It won't make the best beer out there, but if you follow the instructions, it will help you start to understand the process and give you a passable product as a result.

Long term though, it won't really teach you much if you don't eventually move up, and it will be very expensive by comparison to other options.

RM-MN

Recipes 

It's a slippery slope indeed but there is a pool of good beer at the bottom.

Like Bmorebrew said, it's the Easy Bake Oven of beer making and you can stay right there if you wish or you can go much farther if that is your wish. I looked at Mr. Beer a bunch of times but when I was finally ready to brew I bought a basic equipment kit and an extract recipe kit, just as my son had done. He stayed at that level, enjoying making the recipe kits while I wanted more options on beers that I could make and jumped into all grain brewing and I'm having a ball with it. I'm currently brewing about 3 times as fast as I can drink but I have the time and conditions for brewing now and there will come a time called summer when I have no time to brew at all so I'm stockpiling.

SasquatchSmith

Recipes 

I started with Mr. Beer and in my opinion, it is a good introduction. I've done 3 or 4 batches of it and just last week did my first extract brew with a 60 minute boil, hop additions, etc...taking it a step at a time. Mr. Beer definitely makes it very easy but serves its purpose as an intro.

Mugsfull

Recipes 

My first homebrew was Mr. Beer. I liked it and it made me more interested in making good beer. I then went to extract and 5 gallon batches. I've done 50+ batches now. Now I do only partial mash beers using 6 lbs of grain in every batch.
It's an incremental learning process. You will gather information and equipment over time. You'll refine techniques and aquire skill.
Mr. Beer is fine. It is a simple way to make a simple beer. I don't knock it because if someone hadn't given me that kit for Christmas 3 years ago, I wouldn't be writing this. However, if in a year from today, you find yourself buying your 3rd Mr. Beer Combo refill pack, then I would say yes, you're limiting yourself and missing out on all the flavors and complexity that is so desireable in homebrewing.
For now, enjoy Mr. Beer. The fact that you're asking questions in this forum tells me that you an Mr. Beer will part ways soon.

Brockway

Recipes 

I started with a Mr. Beer kit. They're nice and easy and don't take up much room. I moved pretty quickly to 5 gallon kits though. I've tried a lot of the Mr. Beer recipes, and they are fairly good (the non-booster all malt ones are much better) but the 5 gallon extract kits always turn out tasting better for me. You can buy non-Mr. Beer 2 gallon kits, made an awesome Imperial Russian Stout, but its not as cost effective as the 5's. I've thought of using 2 lbk's for 5 gallon kits (more alcohol % woooo), but the buckets are just so much easier to clean that I haven't bothered.