Mr. Beer as a fermentor

Hey gang,

I want to make a strawberry Mead for my family and have a Mr. Beer that is open at the moment. Would you folks consider this an appropriate fermenter? I am not sure adding an air lock provides any value as the screw on lid is vented in the threads.

Is this a waste of time or should I go for it?

I have a 6.5 gal fermenting bucket however I want to start my next beer which is why I am considering the Mr. Beer unit.

Thoughts?
Thanks in advance
Toy4Rick

Go for it, it makes a fine fermentor.

Thanks for the quick reply.

Should I set it up with a blow off tube or is this not necessary for a mead? I only have a few LME beer batches under my belt and want to be careful.

Thanks again
Toy4Rick

Hmmmm, what sort of volume are you figuring for your mead?

I'm pretty sure that the one full strength mead I have made was started in a 3.5 gallon bucket, then racked to a Mr. Beer keg. That worked fine.

If you are doing two gallons you may get away with leaving the cap loose. If you're doing the full 2.2 or more...

I'd say go for it. But how safe is your fermentation area? You're prepared for a blow out if it happens?

This sort of stuff is brewmaster's choice. If you think you need a blow off tube and know how to set it up, do it.

back when my mr beer was still usable, i used it to make mead. never used a blowoff, but i used champagne yeast, so not necessary

Well, it's all in, 10 Qts total volume.

Here is the recipe I used and I have a couple of questions
2 Gal batch w/ blow off tube :rockin:
• 6 Lbs. light clover honey
• 5 Lbs. whole frozen strawberries - Pureed
• WLP720 Sweet Mead Yeast (Made starter of 1/4c honey and 3/4 Qt water and a pinch of yeast nutrients, let yeast work for approx 18 hours)
• 1 Quart Welch's White Grape Juice – 100% juice
• 1 tsp of yeast nutrients in the must
• 1/2 Gal water to start honey in pot
• Brought must to 160 then added strawberries, removed from heat
• ~3/4 Gal water to top off fermenter to approx. 10 Qts.

OG was approx 1.114-1.116 but it's so hard to tell

So my questions are
1) Since I don't know my FG target, how can I tell when to add more nutrients, at or before the 1/3 mark hopefully?
2) My yeast starter never showed any signs of activity before I pitched it, am I hosed?
3) Should I add more strawberries during secondary?

Thanks in advance
Toy4Rick

starters frequently don't show any signs of fermentation
can't answer the rest

Taste it when you are transferring to secondary. If it needs more strawberries add them.

Toy4Rick said:

Here is the recipe I used and I have a couple of questions
2 Gal batch w/ blow off tube :rockin:
• 6 Lbs. light clover honey
• 5 Lbs. whole frozen strawberries - Pureed
• WLP720 Sweet Mead Yeast (Made starter of 1/4c honey and 3/4 Qt water and a pinch of yeast nutrients, let yeast work for approx 18 hours)
• 1 Quart Welch's White Grape Juice – 100% juice
• 1 tsp of yeast nutrients in the must
• 1/2 Gal water to start honey in pot
• Brought must to 160 then added strawberries, removed from heat
• ~3/4 Gal water to top off fermenter to approx. 10 Qts.

Click to expand...

That's a lot of fermentables, I hope it doesn't wind up in orbit.

Well it didn't end up in orbit but it was a bit messy

I woke up this morning to it going off and since the Mr Beer has vent slots under the cap and they were plugged, the blow off tube was going nuts. All is much quieter now near the end of the day

How do I judge 1/3 fermentation to know when to add more nutrients?

Thanks,
Toy4Rick

Toy4Rick said:

...How do I judge 1/3 fermentation to know when to add more nutrients?

Click to expand...

I'd say any reasonable guess at the FG will be good enough to figure your additions.

Hey gang,

So my fermentation seems to be going pretty fast so far. I pitched WPL720 at 1:00 on Sunday afternoon with an OG of 1.114, 7:00 Tuesday morning it's down to approx 1.060, that 54 points in just under 48 hours.

The krausen dropped down Monday night so the blow off tube is no longer needed.

I don't want this to be dry
It needs more strawberries for sure, so I will rack onto more here shortly

What should I be concerned about?

Thanks in advance
Toy4Rick