bzwyatt said:3/4 teaspoon. You have measuring spoons?
3/4 teaspoon. You have measuring spoons?
Ditto.I have plenty of measuring spoons. I don't like the double-sized measurer with the slots I ordered from Mr. Beer, but I do like the one with the adjustable slider.
One way to find hops you like is to read about commercial beers you like and check what hops they use.I. Read. The. Whole. Thing.
It took several weeks, but I did it! 485 pages! Worth it - I learned a ton of information about brewing in general, getting the most out of my Mr. Beer kits, using both the Mr. Beer refills and other ingredients, etc.
I have 3 LBKs and I bought a ton of other Mr Beer stuff off a guy on Craigslist so I have a lot to work with. Some thoughts:
I did the American Light first. Just the HME, no adjuncts or changes. Fermented 11 days in the LBK, bottled in 12 oz glass bottles with individual priming with corn sugar. Bottle conditioned for 3 weeks, put 6 in the fridge and left them there for a week. Decent carbonation, inoffensive flavor, not a lot of interest. But hey, I made beer and I didn't **** it up! Woohoo!
I then did the Northwest Pale Ale, with one softpack of the pale UME. It was in the LBK for 15 days, bottled in 12 oz glass bottles, individually primed with table sugar. It's carbonating now, I'll taste it in 2 weeks.
In my LBKs now is the Czech Pilsner with a softpack of UME, the Chocolate Covered Cherries recipe (Oktoberfest, Robust UME softpack, can of cherries), and a batch of Apfelwein. Looking forward to tasting all of these too, when they're done.
Coming up soon - Patriot Lager, Blue Patriot recipe, more Northwest Pale Ale, and Boysenberry Tart recipe (with UME instead of booster probably).
The Apfelwein is something I have done 1 gallon batches of before several times (I also do 1 gallon cider, mead, and fruit wines), and I will probably keep one LBK fermenting that for the foreseeable future.
I have not yet tried doing any of my own hops - this is the next thing I want to try. I don't even know what kinds of hops I like yet, so choosing which ones to learn with is kind of my sticking point. I think I understand how to use them just fine but how do I choose what hops to use? Anyone who has suggestions on how to experiment with hops in the most sensible possible way let me know!
I would also like to try some of the Brew Demon products. The prices are fairly attractive there, but I will definitely use more extract instead of their "brew enhancer" which seems to be the new version of the old Booster.
Thanks to all of you for helping me learn how to get the most out of my Mr Beer gear. I look forward to making more beer! I will participate here too, as I learn more and get more experience.
One way to find hops you like is to read about commercial beers you like and check what hops they use.
There are also descriptions of what different hops contribute.
But the only way to really know is to try some and see what they do. I'd suggest trying one variety at a time so you can identify what you like and dislike from each. If you use two at a time, you don't know which contributes which flavors you get.
One way to find hops you like is to read about commercial beers you like and check what hops they use.
There are also descriptions of what different hops contribute.
But the only way to really know is to try some and see what they do. I'd suggest trying one variety at a time so you can identify what you like and dislike from each. If you use two at a time, you don't know which contributes which flavors you get.
You should probably be OK. If necessary, give it longer conditioning time.I'm sure this is a multi-time-asked question, sorry...
I brewed my first batches in winter and even in Los Angeles it got chilly for my wort, I was surprised. My new batches are in the LBK now, and yesterday it got warm enough the hot/red square on my indicator was showing. It was only for an hour maybe before I got it cooled back down to green.
Is that usually long enough to produce off-flavors?
skidoo2003 said:Fermenting issue.
I started a st pats irish stout on 3/14 with an OG of 1.033. On 4/4 I got 1.015. Today I got 1.017. How is that possible? I thought SG could only go down. It still has a sweet taste so I'm assuming if needs more time....or I had bad yeast? Package wasn't too old. It's been fermenting around 68 degrees. It had great activity in the first few days, tons of krausen. Any ideas?
Also, is it common to get way less abv than what mr beer calls out? I'm not having much luck with my first few batches of mr beer.
Are you correcting for temperature? Are you sure you're checking it correctly?I just checked my SG reading after it sat and its rising still. Over 1.02 now. It's very bubbly. What's going on?!?
bpgreen said:Are you correcting for temperature? Are you sure you're checking it correctly?
You mentioned lots of bubbles. Is it possible that some bubbles are sticking to the hydrometer and making it float higher? Try spinning the hydrometer to make sure there are no bubbles sticking to it.
If your OG was 1.033, your FG should be around 1.008 or 1.009.
The Mr beer estimates tend to be a little on the high side for the ABV.
Yes, correcting .001 for temp.
I have used the hydrometer for my last beer and it seemed to work. I fill the tube with enough beer to make the hydrometer float. I then spin it around some and let it settle. I lifted it out and tried again to be sure. Getting 1.024 corrected. When I checked it a couple days ago, i may have took the reading before letting it settle. But .024 after 3 weeks seems high still doesn't it? I guess I will let it sit another week and see what happens.
I've been getting a sweet off taste in all of my first three beers. I'm thinking my fermenting temps might be low? Or bad yeast?
bpgreen said:I don't understand how the gravity keeps rising. But if your OG was 1.033, it's not done whether the reading is 1.015, 1.020 or 1.024.
How old was the yeast? If you still have the package, it has a lot number. The date the yeast was packaged can be determined from that. Is this the new yeast (5 g) or the old yeast (2g)?
How was the yeast stored? If it was in a hot place, it may have died. Unfortunately, you don't know how it was stored before you bought it. If you bought it directly from Mr beer, you know it was stored properly, but if you bought it somewhere else, they may have had it sitting in a hot warehouse somewhere (less likely this time of year if it's new).
Are you aerating the wort before adding the yeast?
I believe the 1.015 was a mistake and I said it was rising about 1.020. It finally settled at 1.024.
I do not still have the yeast packet. It was bought from mr beer a couple months ago. I have been storing my refills in the same closet as my fermenter. So 68 degrees. Should I not be?
I pour the hme/water into the lbk and add more water to the 2 gallons. I use a whisk and stir it up. I then wait til it reaches room temp and pitch the yeast. Then move the lbk to my closet.
If I have dead yeast, what can I do?
You do realize that this is a thread about Mr beer, don't you? You're asking about the beer machine, which is a different fermenter and uses different ingredients.Well initial tasting is in on my Black Butte Porter clone(s) using BM. I'm rather disappointed with grain and extract attempt and would like some feedback as where it may have gone wrong. My BM extract mix with added grains however is far closer I think, its certainly pretty darn good and its still young. To refresh the thread I tried to cutdown the recipe from several Black Butte Porter recipe versions I found for the BMs 2.5 gallons. After that was bottled I had several BM mixes so I took one of them and added the same grains from my BBP recipe and then once cooled added in the BM mix and BM yeast.
So for my Black Butte Porter clone recipe I had:
English Chocolate Malt 350L 3.4oz
Pale Chocolate Malt 200L 3.4oz
Carapils 3.4oz
Crsytal 80L 5.6oz
Light Malt Syrup 3lbs
Mutons Wheat DME - .7lbs
Galena - .25oz 90mins
Cascade - .15oz 30mins
Tettnag - .1oz 5mins
Safale S-04 Ale Yeast
Grains were seeped at 155 for 25 mins. Extracts were low boiled for 90. Primary (BM) for two weeks then bottled. Fermentation Temp was a steady 68, bottle temps 68-70. In the frig for 3-4 days. Results: not bad but a miss. There is an off taste that I cant say is from the hops but its a rather strong citrus hit. Carbonation is good but head doesnt linger and beer is thin in the mouth.
On the other hand where I didnt expect much at all the BM mix and added grains has turned out rather nice:
English Chocolate Malt 350L 3.4oz
Pale Chocolate Malt 200L 3.4oz
Carapils 3.4oz
Crsytal 80L 5.6oz
Beer Machine Golden Ale mix and included yeast.
Again I seeped the grains for 25 mins at 155. Cooled that down in order to add extract but not completely cool so when I stirred it in I would get a good mix. I did stir it in trying to get some air in there. Once cooled to 65 I placed in the BM and added the yeast. In the primary (BM) for two weeks at 68-70, bottled for two weeks, few days in the frig. Results: I like it. No off flavor as I have in my own recipe however again its thin and leaves no head. Fermentation is fine already, if anything maybe a bit high for a porter attempt. Fully plan on ordering another Golden Ale mix and trying to tweak this one out with maybe a touch more hops before the mix goes in and something to give it more body. Its as good as 90% of the Porters I can get around here other than Rogue and Im not at all embarrassed to share it with others.
So the questions are:
1. Where the head?
2. Wheres the beef, why so thin?
3. Any ideas on the BBP clone off taste I am seeing, its still young, 5 weeks now maybe so Im putting it away for another two weeks before I try another.
You do realize that this is a thread about Mr beer, don't you? You're asking about the beer machine, which is a different fermenter and uses different ingredients.
Extract batches tend not to have a lot of head. Steeping grains can help to some extent.
TBM mixes are all malt, so they shouldn't be particularly thin, but they're not likely to be as full bodied as a stout.
If your beer is still young and you have of flavors, give it time.
I hadn't noticed we were being exclusionist in this thread. Both are starter kits, small batch and shaped like a key on it's side. They are both aimed at the same market. As both can be used with either vendors mix or any personal recipe I see little difference in the two.
The initial mix I used was a lager as I figured I would screw up something and since I don't care for lagers it wouldn't matter. I found that run to also be very thin and have no head retention although I did undercarb it when bottling. I've had a few mainly just to empty the bottles, probably should make some beer bread or chili so I can use it up vs. tossing it. The Golden Ale w/ dark grains turned out nicely and I'm certainly going to drink the Extract/Grain BBP once it gets a little older. I just wish both had more body to them and better head for presentation. I've got a Brown Ale (BM) mix in now which needs to be bottled so before I reload with another batch I'd like ot iron out what's missing.
bpgreen said:I always take the yeast packet out and stick it in the fridge, but 68 shouldn't be hot enough to kill the yeast.
Do you have a brew store nearby? If so, pick up a packet of yeast there. In a pinch, you can use bread yeast, but I wouldn't recommend it.
Hello friends,
I just brewed mr beers northwest ipa refill, but I began with 1.5 lbs of dme and boiled 1 oz of fuggle and 1 oz of liberty hops for 13 minutes.
Then I removed from heat, added the nwipa hme and finished up with the yeast. I think I followed all steps correctly. Question is this.
Combining NW IPA, fuggle, liberty, and extra dme, am I looking at something with the potential to taste friggin awesome? Or am I screwed?
Nothing wrong with trying one around Memorial Day! But, if it tastes rough & bitter, just sit on it until Fourth of July. By then it should be coming around. Heck, you may even see fireworks! Try to save some for next Thanksgiving - it should be really smooth by then.I suppose I'll wait until July fourth instead. That should be about enough time to let them age properly
I just bought a second keg and bottling wand from mr beer and am thinking about racking to the second keg after 2 weeks to clear and then bottle a week or so after that. Thoughts? Or should i just keep in primary for 3 weeks and then straight to bottle.
I just bought a second keg and bottling wand from mr beer and am thinking about racking to the second keg after 2 weeks to clear and then bottle a week or so after that. Thoughts? Or should i just keep in primary for 3 weeks and then straight to bottle.
stevehardt said:You could pitch a packet of yeast into the old batch.
Good luck!
I've left a few batches in for 4 weeks, usually because I had a stuck fermentation. You might not have problems if you went 5 or 6 weeks, but if I were you, I'd try to get more bottles and bottle sooner than that.Question - how long is too long in the LBK, if there is such a thing?
Reason I ask - I have two LBKs, one has had patriot lager deluxe refill in for a week, 2nd one is empty, never used. I have the porter deluxe refill and was going to wait to brew it, mainly because I have enough grolsch bottles for 2 gallons and I like using them, not the plastic bottles from MrB. But the weather is perfect right now, so I am thinking of brewing it and waiting until I have drank my grolsch bottles empty again. Can I leave it in there like 4 or 5 or 6 weeks?
I ended up pitching another packet of yeast. How long should I let it sit before I take another SG reading?
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