Mr Beer - Read all about it and ask questions

6894Kevin said:

Thanks for the info. I drank the trub on the bottom with no issues. Should I use the same amount of sugar for the stout? I assume the sugar is measured for the bottle and not the beer but I just want to make sure.

One last thing any tips on sanitizing all the bottles I used for the pilsner. I rinsed each bottle with hot water after emptied but what else should I FO the the bottles.

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I'm not a big fan of stouts, but my understanding is that they're generally carbonated a bit less than other beers. The are priming calculators that can tell you appropriate amounts to use.

Always clean bottles first (sounds like you did this), then sanitize according to directions.

Think three weeks fermenting is long enough for defibrillator Dopplebock?

muleskinner90 said:

Think three weeks fermenting is long enough for defibrillator Dopplebock?

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Yes.

bpgreen said:

Yes.

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But be sure to let it bottle condition at least as long as the directions suggest

muleskinner90 said:

Think three weeks fermenting is long enough for defibrillator Dopplebock?

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I am also brewing the Defibrillator Dopplebock. It is my 2nd Mr.Beer batch. I let it ferment for 19 days. It has been bottle conditioning for 2 weeks. Going to stick 1 bottle in the fridge for a week cause I can't wait.

The rest, I might wait another 2-2 conditioning & getting cold

hillburger said:

I am also brewing the Defibrillator Dopplebock. It is my 2nd Mr.Beer batch. I let it ferment for 19 days. It has been bottle conditioning for 2 weeks. Going to stick 1 bottle in the fridge for a week cause I can't wait.

The rest, I might wait another 2-2 conditioning & getting cold

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It too is my second Mr. beer batch. Because of my work schedule, my plan is to let it ferment for three weeks and bottle condition for two. I'm going to open one of the bottles at one week out to see how it has carbed. If it is good, I will put some in the fridge and try some around St. Patrick's Day.

Hi there, first post here. I'm on my 3rd batch and have noticed a ring of hops around the inside of the plastic bucket fermenter a few inches high each time, where the bubbles form above the brew line. I've been checking the gravity generally on the 3rd day and am curious, should I, with the sterilized ladle I use to pour into my test tube, push the hops back down into the brew? I haven't yet in fear of contamination, what do you all do?

Noooob fears :cross:

devo2002 said:

Hi there, first post here. I'm on my 3rd batch and have noticed a ring of hops around the inside of the plastic bucket fermenter a few inches high each time, where the bubbles form above the brew line. I've been checking the gravity generally on the 3rd day and am curious, should I, with the sterilized ladle I use to pour into my test tube, push the hops back down into the brew? I haven't yet in fear of contamination, what do you all do?

Noooob fears :cross:

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That's not a ring of hops. It's krausen. It's normal and nothing to worry about. Don't try to push it back down.

I think there is more to it than corn sugar. I had this problem with a few batches while dialing in my scaled up system. Incomplete fermentation is the prime candidate and then oxidation. Oxidation can make the beer taste like dirt and wet cardboard and convert some ethyl alcohol back to aa because i believe it is a precursor to e alcohol. No amount of aging will fix it. I dumped 12 gallons of a cal common, and i was sad..I attributed it to poor wort oxygenation and a lid seal leak on the conical. Stressed yeast plus o2 = bad.
I hope this is not the case for you. A little aa is ok sometimes and is normal for young beer and will go away, so an extended secondary fermentation/conditioning is key. The dirt taste you mention screams oxidation. Again hope i am wrong.
Last bit and i will shut up. If you use dry yeast , properly rehydrate and use go-ferm, it gives those yeasties a great head start. Its all about yeast health. I cannot stress that more.

devo2002 said:

Hi there, first post here. I'm on my 3rd batch and have noticed a ring of hops around the inside of the plastic bucket fermenter a few inches high each time, where the bubbles form above the brew line. I've been checking the gravity generally on the 3rd day and am curious, should I, with the sterilized ladle I use to pour into my test tube, push the hops back down into the brew? I haven't yet in fear of contamination, what do you all do?

Noooob fears :cross:

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Don't bother to check gravity for at least a week or so. Take a flashlight and shine it through the LBK (little brown keg) and see if the beer is clear and with no bubbles raising to the top. By this time the Krausen will have most likely fallen back down into the beer! Then you will want to take readings at least two days apart. When they are stable then bottle!

jbguzzi said:

I think there is more to it than corn sugar. I had this problem with a few batches while dialing in my scaled up system. Incomplete fermentation is the prime candidate and then oxidation. Oxidation can make the beer taste like dirt and wet cardboard and convert some ethyl alcohol back to aa because i believe it is a precursor to e alcohol. No amount of aging will fix it. I dumped 12 gallons of a cal common, and i was sad..I attributed it to poor wort oxygenation and a lid seal leak on the conical. Stressed yeast plus o2 = bad.
I hope this is not the case for you. A little aa is ok sometimes and is normal for young beer and will go away, so an extended secondary fermentation/conditioning is key. The dirt taste you mention screams oxidation. Again hope i am wrong.
Last bit and i will shut up. If you use dry yeast , properly rehydrate and use go-ferm, it gives those yeasties a great head start. Its all about yeast health. I cannot stress that more.

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It looks like you're responding to a specific post, but this thread has 4650, so if you don't quote the post, is tough to know which one.

I just got a Mr. Beer for Christmas and I really like it, I can't wait to buy stuff for all grain brewing though. I already have a few recipes in mind

Hey all!
I have started a new Brewing website and a forum. Looking to get the discussion started as soon as I get some people to check it out and start posting. Any Help would be greatly appreciated.
Happy Brewing
http://www.d1139064.cp.blacknight.com/joeysite/wordpress/?page_id=141

Also, any advice welcome!

http://www.d1139064.cp.blacknight.com/joeysite/wordpress/?page_id=141

I heard Coopers just bought out Mr. Beer..... Interesting

froidy said:

I heard Coopers just bought out Mr. Beer..... Interesting

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Its been awhile since that happened. Theyve made some changes to the kits.

Ostomo517 said:

Its been awhile since that happened. Theyve made some changes to the kits.

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Cool I live in Australia and have brewed quite a few Coopers kits and with a little more added hops have found them to be great! Never tried a Mr. Beer kit, maybe one day

I havent used a Mr Beer since the change but from what I hear its all been pretty good improvements

I used to make beer with my mr. beer kit a few years ago. Since they were purchased and changed their recipes I havent touched it. Their prices jumped way up and reduced the number of recipes you can make.

Well I bottled 8 liters of st Patrick's Irish stout yesterday. I had added more malt extract on top of the Mr Beer HME mix. Had a taste in the middle of bottling, and HOLY CRAP was it tasty. I bottled six liters in the pet bottles and I had a two liter glass bottle with the swing top that I used also. I know I should wait longer, but with paddys day coming I'm going to let them set for 15 days and then fridge them for 5 so we can have them for the parade.
I've already ordered four more cans of HME, and I'm jacked to do it all over and give them more time to set and get really funkdafied....

This is a great board and I'm
Looking forward to learning more and getting bigger.

Bottled Defibrillator Dopplebock last night and got 23 12oz bottles. Batch primed for the first time. Boiled 1.58oz of priming sugar in 1.5 cups of water. Racked the beer onto the sugar water in my 8qt brew pot. I didn't pour all of the beer into the brew pot though because it was getting to the top. Stopped and filled about 6 bottles then poured the remainder of beer from LBK into brew pot. Is this going to mess up the carbonation because not all of the beer was racked onto sugar water at once? BTW, tasted it and it was GOOD!

muleskinner90 said:

Bottled Defibrillator Dopplebock last night and got 23 12oz bottles. Batch primed for the first time. Boiled 1.58oz of priming sugar in 1.5 cups of water. Racked the beer onto the sugar water in my 8qt brew pot. I didn't pour all of the beer into the brew pot though because it was getting to the top. Stopped and filled about 6 bottles then poured the remainder of beer from LBK into brew pot. Is this going to mess up the carbonation because not all of the beer was racked onto sugar water at once? BTW, tasted it and it was GOOD!

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This could cause 2 problems:

First, there will be a little extra priming sugar in those first 6 bottles. They might be a little overcarbed but if it was only a quart or so that wouldn't fit into the pot I wouldn't be very concerned with bottle bombs. The rest will be slightly undercarbed because of the little extra in those first 6 bottles.

Second, you might have introduced some oxygen when you poured the rest of beer into the brewpot. That really depends on how violently it was poured over.

Tombstone0 said:

Second, you might have introduced some oxygen when you poured the rest of beer into the brewpot. That really depends on how violently it was poured over.

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Will I have bottle bombs if too much oxygen was introduced? I placed my brewpot on a stool slightly lower than the counter the LBK was on and opened the spigot and let it pour into brewpot. I did notice some bubbles on top of beer in brewpot.

Unless I am mistaken, bottle bombs are a function of too much priming sugar and not oxygen.
Oxygen affects flavor.

abandonhope16 said:

Unless I am mistaken, bottle bombs are a function of too much priming sugar and not oxygen.
Oxygen affects flavor.

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Exactly, bottle bombs are caused by too much Co2 pressure in the bottle, which is created when the yeast eat the priming sugar. Extra oxygen after fermentation has completed causes oxidation, which basically makes the beer go stale faster.

SulBruin3 said:

Have just starting brewing using Mr. Beer and have 2 questions. Brewed and bottled the Lager and it is carbonating at 55 degrees for 2 weeks. Is this finished and when should i put in fridge? 2nd brewed Blonde Ale and it has bee carbonating at 65 degrees for 1 week plus. When is this ready to go into fridge? Lastly if there is still a bit of sediment in bottles does that mean priming sugar is still in bottle.

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Was the "lager" brewed with actual lager yeast? If not, 55F is way too cold for carbing. MrB uses the term "Lager" pretty loosely. Unless it's a special yeast with one of the recipes (like a liquid lager yeast smack pack) then it's brewed with ale yeast and is technically an ale.

Carb and condition ales at room temperature.

Octoberfest plus booster


I started this on 2/12. OG was 1.046.
I tested SG tonight and its 1.018. Seems way off still!! Also tastes awfully sweet. Is my fermenting temp too low? Will more time help bring down the SG if it is a little cool?

skidoo2003 said:

Octoberfest plus booster

I started this on 2/12. OG was 1.046.
I tested SG tonight and its 1.018. Seems way off still!! Also tastes awfully sweet. Is my fermenting temp too low? Will more time help bring down the SG if it is a little cool?

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I usually find my beers are "too sweet" even at bottling, it seems to undergo biggest changes after bottling and they end up fine after time.

skidoo2003 said:

Octoberfest plus booster


I started this on 2/12. OG was 1.046.
I tested SG tonight and its 1.018. Seems way off still!! Also tastes awfully sweet. Is my fermenting temp too low? Will more time help bring down the SG if it is a little cool?

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What are your fermentation temperatures and what yeast are you using? Without those two boys of information, there's no way to know whether the yeast will continue to ferment or not.

Have quick question on priming sugar. I have used white cane sugar to prime a MB Blonde Ale and it sat carbing for 4 weeks and put some in fridge and had a couple last night and there was still a sweetness to them. Is this due to using table sugar or should i just let them sit at room temp for another week or so?

SulBruin3 said:

Have quick question on priming sugar. I have used white cane sugar to prime a MB Blonde Ale and it sat carbing for 4 weeks and put some in fridge and had a couple last night and there was still a sweetness to them. Is this due to using table sugar or should i just let them sit at room temp for another week or so?

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I've never used anything but plain white sugar to prime. It should be done carbonating if it sat for 4 weeks at room temperature. It could be that the beer is just sweeter than you expected and you may want to use something with higher IBUs. Malt adds sweetness and hops add bitterness to offset the sweetness of the hops. IBUs are how the bitterness is measured.

So I ended up finding my last Mr. Beer kit (one of the older ones) and the last one I will buy.

It's the Belgian Whit which I had planned to brew last summer so I already bought the dried orange peel and coriander seed for it.

I was wondering, given the reservoir at the bottom of the Mr. Beer fermentor, if I could just place them in the container without the need for a muslim cloth.

Also would dry hopping Centennial whole hops prove a detriment?

I also have Galena, Northern Brewer, Nugget, Zeus, and Millennium...however, those are pellitized and I'm not sure how well they would do aroma-wise for dry hopping.

bpgreen said:

What are your fermentation temperatures and what yeast are you using? Without those two boys of information, there's no way to know whether the yeast will continue to ferment or not.

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I would say around 67. I have the fermometer and its not a green check mark, a yellowish one so its a little on the low side I think. Yeast that came with the kit.

The issue i am having is the MB Blonde ale has a cidery taste after drinking. This is why i am wondering if plain sugar is causing the cider flavor. Going to try corn sugar with next batch to see if there is a difference.

SulBruin3 said:

The issue i am having is the MB Blonde ale has a cidery taste after drinking. This is why i am wondering if plain sugar is causing the cider flavor. Going to try corn sugar with next batch to see if there is a difference.

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I can tell you with 100% certainty that it will not make a difference. The minute amount of priming sugar is not causing a sweet taste. It's either the beer style (style-wise, a Blonde isn't very hoppy), a poor attenuation issue (leaving too many unfermented sugars in the final beer), or a process issue.

It's not the priming sugar.

Going to try a beer this coming Monday that has been bottle conditioning at room temperature for one week. It's the defibrillator dopplebock. Think that is too soon?

skidoo2003 said:

I would say around 67. I have the fermometer and its not a green check mark, a yellowish one so its a little on the low side I think. Yeast that came with the kit.

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I'd think that should be warm enough and it should have been enough time, but the gravity should have dropped more than it has. I'd give it another week.

Hey all. Got a Mr. Beer kit for my 40th last August, 15 years after getting Homebrewing for Dummies. Brewed the kit that came with it (American Blonde) and it was actually good. Went to my LHBS and bought a start up 5 gallon kit and am currently enjoying a bottle of my second batch (first original recipe.) The book gave me the bug, Mr. Beer gave me confidence.

muleskinner90 said:

Going to try a beer this coming Monday that has been bottle conditioning at room temperature for one week. It's the defibrillator dopplebock. Think that is too soon?

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Probably is to early, it may be carbed but still not peaking flavorwise.

ok so I'm not going to go through over 100 pages to find this so excuse me up front.

Somewhere I read that you will get a much better beer out of the kit beer packs if you don't do as instructed and just toss the dry kit, yeast and water but go ahead and boil as you would with a normal DME/Mash recipe. Yes, no? If yes do you have a preferred boil time?

Like some others that have posted I'm just starting out although I stopped using the prepacked kits that came with this thing after the first batch of basically dullwiser. I'm about to bottle my Black Butte clone and have several more kits and thought I would go ahead and give it another shot vs. wasting them. Was hoping to bottle tomorrow but looks like I'm still fermenting after 3 weeks and I've keep the temp near perfect the entire time. Other than not drinking more than a few bottles a week so not needing 50 bottles or more taking up space aging the Mr. Beer and clones will fit inside a large cooler allowing you to really keep that temp where you want it no matter if the wife turns up the hear because she is cold plus if you have leakage it's contained.