MrBeer time to move on (maybe)

The 3 hours it takes to cook a batch of homebrew is not worth it for a mere 2.X gallons of beer. For the same amount of time and just a few more dollars I could make 5 gallons. I am seriously considering making the leap to a 5 gal kit.

Any encouragement will be greatly appreciated!

Go for it! It won't take any longer to brew 5 gallons than it does for 2. I bet you will also make better beer.

Go for it!!! I can't imagine just brewing 2.x gallons. I can barely keep myself in beer brewing 5 gallons...

I think some people DRINK two gallons of beer while making a batch, so there's potentially no net gain with a 2 gallon kit

one giant leap for beerkind...Ive never had Mr. Beer beer (im sure its good), but i think it deserves props as a stepping stone. Ive heard of soo many people that try a mR. Beer kit, either like it and eventually step up to bigger and better things, or they hate it and as a result step up to bigger and better things, or lastley, hate it and never brew again. I think the majority do the first 2 though which is awesome...

Yeah, all that - but two gallon batches? I'd be cooking every other weekend!

Better yet, bump to 10 gallons. It doesn't take any longer to make 10 than 2!

Seriously, all the encouragement in the world. I think you'll see a big improvement if you move beyond Mr. Beer, and you may actually have some quantities of beer around for more than a few days. Cheers

SteveM said:

Yeah, all that - but two gallon batches? I'd be cooking every other weekend!

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i know right...my yeast starters are half that...2 gallons would be gone in like 2 days, thats not even a case is it...

How does that jingle go? "Mister Beer, that's my name, that name again is mister Beer"

Call Mr Beer, cause that's my name, that name again is Mr. Beer!

LOL!!!

http://www.simpsoncrazy.com/downloads/track.php?dl=music/mrplow.mp3

how on earth can it take 3 hours to boil 4 cups of water and open two cans of mix?

sure you have to sanitize things but that's a 20 minute job.

mik said:

how on earth can it take 3 hours to boil 4 cups of water and open two cans of mix?
sure you have to sanitize things but that's a 20 minute job.

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Well, I stopped buying MrBeer kits since shipping to Hawaii is painful.

Technically I'm using MrBeer fermenters but have not been using their ingredients.

MrBeer kits are nice since you don't need to boil the ingredients for an hour. The stuff is already clean so all it takes is a quick rise to boiling temp.

Instead I've brewed two batches of beer using LME and cracked grain from a local HBS. I added a sack of cracked grain, hops, and honey at specified intervals. That is where the 3 hours comes from.

An hour to bring it all to a boil, an hour of boiling, and I honestly don't know where that third hour goes.


Well, I stopped at the homebrew store today and am the proud new owner of a 5 gallon glass carboy. I also bought a 5 gallon supply of Newcastle Nut brown clone.

Hopefully tomorrow (depending on how long it takes for 4 gallons of boiled water to cool to room temp) I will be cooking a 5 gallon batch.

Remember though, cool glass carboy and boiling hot wort are a bad combo. Some cold water in the bottom first will keep you from cracking the glass. Congrats on the next step, though.

Keep your Mr. Beer around. It can be useful for experiments (re: Poisoning Pigeons in the park)

A buddy of mine got me a Mr. Beer for Xmas last year, it was 100% responsible for demonstrating to me that I could easily brew my own beer. One batch and I was hooked. I plan on giving them out to as many people as I can afford to next year to spread the bug. I'm hoping maybe then they will have good beer when I visit I'd definitely move on, but much respect to Mr. Beer none the less.

I love my Mr. Beer kit, it's so easy. Just bottled my second batch today. I'm trying to cut down on beer consumption, so the 2.5 gallon seems enough for now, but I can see how in the future (once friends start to notice a "real beer" exists) that my supply might disappear pretty fast!

I got a Mr. Beer for X-mas a year ago, I made a couple of beers with it and enjoyed them but wanted MORE!.
I switched to the 5 gal method a few months ago and now is on my 6th or 7th 5 gal batch.
I HAVE used the Mr. Beer since. I made a nice Heffe and a Hard Apple Cider with it not to long ago.
I find the Mr. Beer a QUICk and easy way to make a QUICK beer. (Just in case I've runned out or is between Fermenter, Secondary and Kegging).
Living In Tucson, AZ (Mr. Beer Headquaters) I have the oppurtuninty to go to the main Store and meet the peple there (including the Brewmaster). I've drank the beer they make for sampling and experiments and it's quite good. Not to mention they are a bunch of really nice people.
So I do NOT plan on getting rid of Mr. Beer. It comes in handy if I'm in a hurry for a beer.
(BTW, Racking to a 3 gal secondary DOES help out Mr. Beer, makes for a cleaner beer).

Clayton79

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Kegged: Pale ale, Amber Ale
Secondary: IPA
Fermenters: Notta

I"m currently doing the MR Beer thing as well. Now you can get more than one Mr beer keg, they are only 10 bucks each. I saw in a picture in a Mr beer news letter that some guy had 5 of them going at once.

The thing about Mr beer that I don't like is that its gets really expensive if you order a recipe that has a lot of fermentables for a higher alcohol percentage. In fact some of them are more expensive than the materials you would order in a 5 gallon extract kit.

Also, if you go with liquid yeast, It makes the price per gallon go up as well because you are using the same amount of yeast for a 2 gallon batch that you would for a 5 gallon.

I definately plan to switch eventually for this reason. The only thing that scares me is instead of bottling 20 bottles, I will have to bottle 50!

Mr beer kits do make some good beer, but I'm wondering how much better a 5 gallon extract kit would taste in comparison if all else is equal?

Props to Herr Beer. I never did use one, but my brother did, and liked it. I jumped right into the kit, as I knew this was something that I wanted to do. Congrats on jumping to the next level. From how you are brewing (extracts/grains, etc) as opposed to the straight Mr Beer kits, you sound ready. Someone already mentioned it, but since you are using a glass primary now, it is even more important that you cool properly before going to primary!!!

I did one batch in the Mr. Beer kit I got from Christmas. After that I decided that if I was gonna brew again, I wanted more control and to be able to make more specific styles then thier kits allowed me. So I made the move and have not looked back. Best beer move, EVER!

I'm in the same boat. Mr. Beer was a xmas present with three kits. After my second kit I was at the Home Brew Store picking up a full set of equipment and am lovin' every minute of it!

Last night brewed a Pilsner while sipping on two bottles of my Charlie Brown Ale ... can't beat that!