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i bottled my WCPA about a week 4 days ago, i bottled them into 12oz glass bottles. when i pulled one out today to have a look, it looked fairly clear with a layer of yeast on the bottom, but on the sides of the bottle, towards the middle, there is some small chunks or dots of stuff. when i swirled the bottle they went off the side of the bottle and swirled around in the middle. could this just be some yeast that hasnt fallen yet? or even some hop particles?(even though i made no hop additions, and theres hardly any hops in the WCPA mix) this is my first batch and i pretty much followed everything by the rules as far as brewing goes, but i used coopers carbonation drops as well as 12 oz bottles. ill prolly drink one this saturday. if even has ever expierienced this or has any idea what might be going on, i would appreciate your help. thanx
 
dogfishandi said:
i bottled my WCPA about a week 4 days ago, i bottled them into 12oz glass bottles. when i pulled one out today to have a look, it looked fairly clear with a layer of yeast on the bottom, but on the sides of the bottle, towards the middle, there is some small chunks or dots of stuff. when i swirled the bottle they went off the side of the bottle and swirled around in the middle. could this just be some yeast that hasnt fallen yet? or even some hop particles?(even though i made no hop additions, and theres hardly any hops in the WCPA mix) this is my first batch and i pretty much followed everything by the rules as far as brewing goes, but i used coopers carbonation drops as well as 12 oz bottles. ill prolly drink one this saturday. if even has ever expierienced this or has any idea what might be going on, i would appreciate your help. thanx
Click to expand...


Just leave them alone for 3 weeks at 70...don't shake, don't stare at them...just walk away for three weeks...the yeast knows what it needs to do. :D
 
Revvy said:
Just leave them alone for 3 weeks at 70...don't shake, don't stare at them...just walk away for three weeks...the yeast knows what it needs to do. :D
Click to expand...

i second that, unless you are curious about the carbonation process and green beer. i tried one after a 12 day fermentation and 8 day carb. it was not good at all, very stong cider taste. im trying 1 a week just to taste the process of carbonation but at this point im not impressed!
 
+3 to Revvy's comment. Almost every homebrewer will tell you that they were a bit restless when they made their first batch. Its kind of like a first date, you're nervous in the beginning and by the end of the night you know whether or not you're gonna call them again...

Just my 2 cents...
 
Has anyone tried one of the Cider kits for the Mr. Beer? I just bottled my Canadian draft and it seems to have turned out. i was just wondering if anyone has any experience with the cider kits or any other ideas that would work with the mr. Beer sized keg...
 
Currently brewing High Country. My first time brewing.

After 7 days it looked done so I sampled a teaspoon. It tasted super sweet. Not done.

After 13 days it had what appeared to be skin on top. I don't know what this "foam" and "floating colonies" are supposed to look like. I took the best picture I could. It smelled like beer and tasted like beer (still slightly sweet). Is this a bacterial infection?
img1851wd3.jpg
 
It's kind of hard to tell from your pic, but I'm guessing clumps of protein or yeast. It's not at all uncommon to see them floating around in your beer in the fermentor.
 
I'm not one to scare monger but the way those things are wanting to join up looks like the I word.
​

Draw a sample and taste it.

All may not be lost.
Some people like a beer to be funky.
303641437_043a985be2.jpg


IMG_2769.jpg
 
My Mr. Beer is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow, and I am already using what I learned on this forum to get a head start. So far, I bought yeast from my local grocery store, having read that the Mr. Beer yeast is mediocre at best. Also, I ordered some corn sugar online, having read that cane sugar is no good. I also now know to use Mr. Beer instructions as a minimum guideline, rather than a hard and fast rule. But here is my question: there is nowhere near where I live that has a LHBS, so if I want a carboy, airlock or hydrometer, where should I look, other than the Internet?

Can't wait for my first batch, and my 2nd batch will be St. Patrick's Irish Stout!
 
this is great. i've made a couple batches with mr. beer (i'm pretty new to the trade) and went out and got 5 gal fermenters this week.

and i'm not ashamed to say i used mr. beer
 
Orfy said:
If you have no LHBS then the internet is the easiest.

What is your location?
Click to expand...

Montgomery, AL and to my knowledge, nothing in the surrounding area that would have a LHBS, but I would love to be wrong...

I am also having a hard time finding corn sugar at any grocery or Fresh Market stores. Also, I bought a 3-pack of yeast packets from a grocery store. Should I assume each packet is roughly the same amount of yeast as the Mr. Beer yeast?

I know, lots of questions but I hoping to avoid some beginner mistakes before ever making them.
 
Okay.

1. really try to use all malt instead of sugar if you can. If you are using sugar and can't get corn sugar don't worry use table sugar. Just don't expect great beer and don't be put off.
2. I presume(hope) it's beer yeast not bread yeast.
3. you want 7-11g of yeast for a MR beer kit.

keep asking the questions.
 
1. I have a refill on the way that is Linebacker Doppel Bock with Creamy Brown UME. I was thinking ferment for 14 days, then bottle and wait...how long? I know some people have said they will wait 2-3 weeks, try a bottle, then keep trying one each week to see how much better they get with time.

2. Good question on the yeast, but it was inexpensive so if it's wrong, I can easily replace it.
 
Irishman78 -

I don't know much about Montgomery, but I'm betting that a town that size will have at least one LHBS, start asking around.

The packets of yeast from the supermarket are bakers yeast, not brewers yeast. Most frown on this subsitution.

Some health food stores carry dextrose (corn sugar), but are usually much higher priced than LHBS's.

You can cobble together 2, 3, 4, and 5 gallon fermentors by ferreting out suitable glass and plastic buckets and/or carboys, and fashion airlocks with rubber grommets, plastic tubing, and bottles partially filled with water.

But, brewing yeast, hydrometers, gravity test jars, drilled tapered stoppers (bungs), and commercial airlocks will only be found at LHBS's or on the internet.

NOTE: The capsules of Brewer's Yeast found in health food stores and pharmacies is the spent dregs from the fermentation process, and is not what you are looking for!

Pogo
 
Pogo said:
Irishman78 -

I don't know much about Montgomery, but I'm betting that a town that size will have at least one LHBS, start asking around.

The packets of yeast from the supermarket are bakers yeast, not brewers yeast. Most frown on this subsitution.

Some health food stores carry dextrose (corn sugar), but are usually much higher priced than LHBS's.

You can cobble together 2, 3, 4, and 5 gallon fermentors by ferreting out suitable glass and plastic buckets and/or carboys, and fashion airlocks with rubber grommets, plastic tubing, and bottles partially filled with water.

But, brewing yeast, hydrometers, gravity test jars, drilled tapered stoppers (bungs), and commercial airlocks will only be found at LHBS's or on the internet.

NOTE: The capsules of Brewer's Yeast found in health food stores and pharmacies is the spent dregs from the fermentation process, and is not what you are looking for!

Pogo
Click to expand...

Well the good thing about the Internet is that it's available no matter where you live, as unfortunately, Montgomery, while decent in size and a capital city, does not have a LHBS. Hell we have only had draft beer for 5-6 years!

I have already ditched the yeast I bought - no big loss there. Also, I ordered some corn sugar off the net so it will be available for my next batch.

Question: When I added the wort to the fermenter and then added cold wate r to get to the 8.5 quart mark, it foamed up quite a bit. Normal?
 
i just opened one of my WCPA after it was in the bottle for 2 weeks, fermented for 12 days and carbonated with coopers drops, and to be honest, it pretty much sucks. very little carbonation, almost no head, and it tastes more like apples and champagne. not too much different than how it tasted right out of the fermentor. there is a little bit of a beer taste, and the color is that of beer. i was going to wait atleast 3 weeks to drink, but i think maybe 4. if i wait longer will that apple tast go away? how has anyone elses WCPA tasted and looked after 2 weeks?
 
Irishman78: The foaming is good, you want good aeration of the wort before pitching the yeast.

dogfishandi: My first batch with Mr. Beer was the West Coast Pale Ale, made exactly per directions with the booster. I carbonated with sugar as they told me and it got nice and fizzy, but definitely had a cidery taste and a light beer taste at best. It got a little bit better after a couple of weeks, but the cider taste did not go away. It's a combination of too little malt extract and too much simpole sugars (the booster).

On subsequent batches I used 1 lb of extra light dry malt extract instead of the booster at Revvy's suggestion - the beer had much better flavor. Their deluxe recipes include 2 cans of extract instead of booster and those were better as well.
 
i will be bottling my porter tommorow, i used 2 cans of malt extract, and 1/2 cup brown sugar, as well as 1/2 oz of goldings hops. i have much higher hopes for this one. however, back to the WCPA, i used one coopers carb drop per 12oz. bottle, and after 2 weeks the carbonation was very minimal. will carbonation improve after another week or so? also, with my porter should i prime with something else or use 2 drops?
 
I have never used carb drops before, but it seems that what I have read about them it would take more than one? Was one the recommend amount?. My first batch of WCPA has been bottled for one week. I haven't tried it yet. Like ifishsum I ditched the booster pack and used 1 lb of extra light DME. I also used nottingham yeast instead of what came with the MB kit. Waiting can not hurt and you beer should get better with time.

Good Luck.
 
i just sampled my first and only mr beer brew today. not too bad...

i used it for a batch of hard cider first.

originally got a deluxe kit, and three refill kit.

i used a can of the canadian high country, and a can of cowboy lager along with the pack of booster. i hopped it with .25 oz of left over willamette and EKG dry hopped it with the same of each.
ya know, 4 weeks in the mr beer, one week in the fridge (in the keg), and 2 weeks in the bottle now, it's not too bad!
for some dumb reason i never took an og or fg, at least i cannot find my notes if i did...

as for yeast, i picthed three bottles of homebrew yeast i had in bottles i just opened while i was brewin it, and the pack of mrbeer yeast...the bottle yeast was s05.
 
yes thumper, 1 drop was the recommend dose for a 12oz. bottle. im getting a little worried because im bottleing my porter tommorow and im wondering if i should run out and get some corn sugar or something.
 
i just read in another thread that coopers drops take a long time to dissolve. it was recommended that you roll the bottles around every couple of days. this would explain why i seen some small chunks of stuff on the side. i think ill still use the drops tommorow for bottling, ill just have to swirl them around every so often. ill also do the same with my WCPA, which has another week or so to go before i can drink them.
 
Me and my buddy's first batch, the WCPA, definitely had a somewhat cidery, low carbonated, "champagne" quality that was described earlier, but my outlook on that batch was optimistic. From what I am reading (all 99 pages worth), that will probably be the "worst" batch we will make.

Better recipes (I already ordered the St. Patrick's Irish Stout and the Linebacker Doppel Bock w/ Creamy Brown UME), corn sugar, better yeast, and more patience will yield much better results.

Long story short, if that WCPA is the worst batch, then I am going to really enjoy Mr. Beer brews. At least until I upgrade and use my Mr. Beer for a secondary fermenter.
 
My Mr.Beer kit does not have an airlock so when I close the top, it's completely sealed. To me that seems a little scary, as fermenting looks like it gives off a lot of gases. Do I have to worry about this? They said do not open it during fermenting so I trust they know what they are talking about. Thoughts?
 
Th Mr. Beer Keg is vented at the top. They mention this on the page about sanitizing the keg. Something to the effect of:"Do this(sanitize) over the sink as there are vent's in the top of the keg, which could cause a mess." Have no fear, Mr Beer will not explode on you.
 
i just bottled my porter today made with mr beer ingredients. now i want to brew an ipa using products other than the mr.beer, cause there way to over priced. i was thinking about buying a 3.3 lb can of malt extract that can be boiled. these cans are usually for a 5 gallon batch, would it be too much for a mr beer 2 gallon batch?
also packets of dry yeast made for a 5 gallon batch(11grams), can i only use half of this?
 
dogfishandi said:
i just bottled my porter today made with mr beer ingredients. now i want to brew an ipa using products other than the mr.beer, cause there way to over priced. i was thinking about buying a 3.3 lb can of malt extract that can be boiled. these cans are usually for a 5 gallon batch, would it be too much for a mr beer 2 gallon batch?
also packets of dry yeast made for a 5 gallon batch(11grams), can i only use half of this?
Click to expand...

It is too soon to tell, but yesterday I tried my first 5 gallon recipe that I halved for the MB. I simply cut every thing in half for the ingredients except for the yeast. I used a whole vial of WL400. I made a Easy Belgian White. I would use the entire package of dry yeast. Time will tell, but from what I understand you can halve the 5 gallon recipes with sucess for the 2.5 gallon MB.
 
I would like to use a secondary fermenter like I have read about on this forum, but I have a few questions:

1) If I am fermenting in the Mr. Beer fermenter, what should I use as a secondary?
2) What is the best method of transferring from primary to secondary?
3) Should I ferment 1 week for primary and 1 week for secondary?
 
Irishman78 said:
I would like to use a secondary fermenter like I have read about on this forum, but I have a few questions:

1) If I am fermenting in the Mr. Beer fermenter, what should I use as a secondary?
2) What is the best method of transferring from primary to secondary?
3) Should I ferment 1 week for primary and 1 week for secondary?
Click to expand...

1. While I have not done anything in secondary I have a 3 gallon carboy (Culligan water bottle) that I plan to use someday.
2. Tranfer with an racking cane via siphon. An autosiphon is what I use.
3. IMHO I would do 2 weeks in primay then either 1 or 2 weeks in secondary. It would depend on the beer style. Many do not use secondaries unless, dry hopping or racking onto fruit for fruit flavored beers.

Cheers,
Stan
 
Well when me and my buddy served our 1st batch (WCPA), one person made the comment that it was a bit cloudy and had some sediment in one some of the 1 liter bottles, so I thought secondary? Anyway, maybe I do not need one after all. I am just trying to stay ahead of the game when to comes to making mistakes versus avoiding mistakes.
 
hi there , i'm new to Mr. Beer , and new to the forum , a friend of mine gave me the Mr beer as a christmas present , i already make my first batch of pale ale , it's in the bottles right now , for my next batch i would like to put the priming sugar in the keg instead of bottle by bottle , i know that i have to boiled in water and then add it to the wort , but how much sugar shoul i used ? i know i read it in the forum somewhere but i can't find it , thanks for your help.
 
mambitigre,

I am a bit of a n00b, but even so, I would suggest taking the 2 1/2 teaspoons per 1 litre bottle, multiplying by 8 bottles, and using that amount to prime your fermenter before bottling.
 
Irishman78 said:
mambitigre,

I am a bit of a n00b, but even so, I would suggest taking the 2 1/2 teaspoons per 1 litre bottle, multiplying by 8 bottles, and using that amount to prime your fermenter before bottling.
Click to expand...

The problem with that is you need to stir in the sugar and that will mix up the trub (yeast)
 
Gotcha. I used corn sugar when priming the bottles for my last batch, and I am hoping it will take some of the cidery taste out.
 
Irishman78 said:
Well when me and my buddy served our 1st batch (WCPA), one person made the comment that it was a bit cloudy and had some sediment in one some of the 1 liter bottles, so I thought secondary? Anyway, maybe I do not need one after all. I am just trying to stay ahead of the game when to comes to making mistakes versus avoiding mistakes.
Click to expand...

From what I am gathering, the use of the secondary is a personal choice. Some sediment in the on the bottom of the bottle is normal. It is the yeast falling out of solution after carbinating your beer. I haven't opened a bottle of my WCPA yet and have not seen it in a glass. I bottled one in a soda bottle and it looks a little cloudy yet. It has only been bottled for 9 days. Time will tell.
 
Hi all, first post here. I, too, received a Mr. Beer kit for Christmas and have a few questions.

This is not my first experience with homebrewing beer. I brewed a 5 gallon batch of muntons IPA bitter that didnt come out so well(not sure why). Anyways, I am fermenting a batch of the Mr. Beer Octoberfest, and I added some ground up toasted barley flakes during the boil. I now know that I shouldnt have ground them up, and maybe shouldnt have added them at all. After the boil was done, I poured the wort, ground up barley and all into the fermenter. Its been 5 days and it appeared to be fermenting as it should.

So, after all that, my question is, did I screw it up by putting the ground up barley in the fermenter and leaving it there? Is there any way to remove it without harming the beer, or should I just let it sit? Thanks in advance for the help.

Eric
 
thanks for your prompt answer , the problem is that I noticed that some bottles are rock hard and some are not , so I I’m looking for a more even result , I will try to stir it as careful as possible , irisman I will follow your advice on the amount of sugar! Thanks again.
 

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