What are the best Mr. Beer add ons?

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ryno1ryno

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Who has the best Mr. Beer add ons that really enhance the Mr. Beer LMEs/cans?

I found a store that sells the cans for $10 a piece, 3 for $30 to be exact.

I figure that that is a decent price for the can and the yeast.

So now I wonder, what are some killer add ons for home made boosters that can really take these kits to the next level... the simpler the better.
 
Oh... I meant ingredients wise... in other words, home made boosters for the pre-made cans of Mr. Beer LME et al.
 
Most would say that the best way to improve a Mr beer kit is not to use a Mr Beer kit, and I'm guessing that was Gear's point.
When I first started I used 2 cooper's kits (same thing hopped LME) and got ok results, better than the can and sugar but no where near using unhopped extract and boiling it with hops.
 
I figured the Mr. Beer is a cheapy... probably because it is not air tight.

But also because the pre-made cans might not be that good either... Mr. Beer wants to save on the malt et al.

But my point was, is there anyone out there that has successfully altered a Mr. Beer premade can and significantly improved the flavor?

If so, that would be good to know... as the Mr. Beer premade cans are extremely easy to use.
 


Haters gonna hate on the Mr. Beer. That being said:

First thing you can do is to ditch the "booster" pack and use un-hopped extract.
Second thing is to add hops during the boil.
Third would be to ditch the Mr. Beer cans
 
Last edited by a moderator:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDqnFPgpb-0

Haters gonna hate on the Mr. Beer. That being said:

First thing you can do is to ditch the "booster" pack and use un-hopped extract.
Second thing is to add hops during the boil.
Third would be to ditch the Mr. Beer cans

Awesome reply Punx. Thanks.

For all the Mr. Beer haters... has there ever been a brew off with same exact ingredients using a Mr. Beer barrel, a bucket and a carboy and then a taste test of the bottles later?

That would be a nice experiment to perhaps eliminate urban legands.
 
Although... the way that is used... may as well just buy Briess's LME vs the Mr. Brew can... which, is a recipe I have up next... I'm gonna use the Amber LME from Briess but use the Mr. Beer barrel.
 
Although... the way that is used... may as well just buy Briess's LME vs the Mr. Brew can... which, is a recipe I have up next... I'm gonna use the Amber LME from Briess but use the Mr. Beer barrel.

IMO, best way to 'improve' the mr. beer ingredients is to not use them at all. The hardware could be ok, but that's also the luck of the draw. The thing is mass produced (cheaply) so that people won't be too pissed off when they toss it out.

Personally, I skipped right over the mr. beer stuff and went to a normal starter kit and recipe bundles from the LHBS for my first few brews. Quickly progressed to all grain brewing and haven't looked back. Only thing I use DME/extract for (these days) is to make my yeast starters. :D
 
IMO, best way to 'improve' the mr. beer ingredients is to not use them at all. The hardware could be ok, but that's also the luck of the draw. The thing is mass produced (cheaply) so that people won't be too pissed off when they toss it out.

Personally, I skipped right over the mr. beer stuff and went to a normal starter kit and recipe bundles from the LHBS for my first few brews. Quickly progressed to all grain brewing and haven't looked back. Only thing I use DME/extract for (these days) is to make my yeast starters. :D

While I wish I would have just jumped straight to all grain and kegging from the start myself as well...

One thing I have noticed on this forum is that you hear a lot about $2000 brew sculptures, $300 Blichman kettles, and Perlick faucets. So much so that you'd think that's what everyone uses. But I find the vast majority of people I encounter in the home brew world use cinderblocks, aluminum turkey pots, and regular faucets if not just picnic taps.

Point is, sure, there's better equipment out there... but you can make just as good of beer with less expensive stuff. The Mr. Beer fermenter actually works quite well. But you wouldn't know that, seeing as you've never used one.
 
Self made keggles here man... Well, at least now I have those. Selling my only 10 gallon BoilerMaker since I'm not really using it. Got a keggle mash tun, keggle BK and making a keggle HLT. :rockin: I do use the Blichmann burners (one with longer legs) but that's because they really do kick ass. I did make my first kettle with an aluminum pot base (8 gallon) but soon moved to the 10 gallon BoilerMaker. Once I located a decent priced keg (and read up on making a keggle) I did so. First for my mash tun, then for the BK. :ban:

A great many of us make a good amount of our brewing gear.
 
Nothing wrong with the mr beer kit, its how i started into this whole mess. Make sure the cans of mr beer you buy arent expired and instead of using the booster the next best thing you can do to improve your kit is add 1 pound of DME with 1 can of mr beer HME.

PS One batch of mr beer i made (West coast pale ale) was one of the best beers i can remember having, combination of a fresh can and the DME i guess, not really sure why. Also nothing wrong with the fermenter, its supposed to leak out the lid instead of having an airlock.

DME is KEY
 
Oh... I meant ingredients wise... in other words, home made boosters for the pre-made cans of Mr. Beer LME et al.

Honestly, that's like asking what the best booster for premade canned spaghetti sauce is. Sure, you can add some fresh herbs, but it's still canned spaghetti sauce. Not much you can about it, really.

Haters gonna hate on the Mr. Beer.

I'm no hater, because I think it's a decent way to decide if making beer is for you. And a few people love the results. My best friend loves her Mr. Beer beer. While I rarely turn it down, it's just, well, quite frankly not that good. It's not terrible, but it's just not that good. I'd rather have just about any commercial beer rather than her Mr. Beer stuff.

Going back to the spaghetti sauce analogy, think of it this way.

Mr Beer= canned Hunt's spaghetti sauce (not too terrible)
Extract kit with steeping grains= jarred Prego sauce (better)
Partial mash kit with extract= "homemade" sauce with tomato sauce, seasonings, fresh ingredients, tomato paste (can be excellent)
All grain= homemade sauce with fresh tomatoes (can be good to excellent, but more can go wrong!)

It really depends on the person. Some people are satisfied with the Mr. Beer or Cooper's kits, but most think, "It's ok" at best. Adding sugar/booster/hops to something that is just "ok" at best isn't really going to take it to the next level.

If someone makes their Mr. Beer kit and loves it, like my friend, I would never criticize it. But it was never for me. I started with a Beer Machine 2000, and still have packages of the mixes downstairs. It never made something I wanted to drink, but I know many others enjoyed it so I would not disparage it.

I just want to give my opinion on the quality you can expect from certain products.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDqnFPgpb-0

Haters gonna hate on the Mr. Beer. That being said:

First thing you can do is to ditch the "booster" pack and use un-hopped extract.
Second thing is to add hops during the boil.
Third would be to ditch the Mr. Beer cans

Annnddddd..... here are the results of the Mr. Beer alteration:

http://www.basicbrewing.com/index.php?page=january-30-2012-first-brew

They loved it. Even with the table sugar primer during botteling.

Okay, looks like a Mr. Beer setup will work just fine.

Ingredients do matter, as they added more malt and hops.
 
Going back to the spaghetti sauce analogy, think of it this way.

Mr Beer= canned Hunt's spaghetti sauce (not too terrible)

You are absolutely right to a certain point. If all we were talking about is ditching the "beer in a can" ingredients then the conversation is pretty simple and the Basic Brewing video I linked covered what can be done to improve it.

Where I get lost on some of the comments is when, all of a sudden, the Mr. Beer keg needs to be burned at the stake for crimes against god. For all intents and purposes it's the same as the "Better Bottles" that people swear by. Hell, even comes with the spigot in the bottom to make it easy. It's a good bit of kit for not a lot of coin.

Comparing the comments on Mr. Beer to spaghetti sauce would be more like saying that you need to toss your stock pot because it once was used to heat the Hunt's sauce and, by god, Prego should never be put in it lest it be tainted.
 
Has anyone ever done a controlled (by an alcoholic) experiment testing the results of:

1) Mr. Beer barrel, table sugar to bottle
2) A 5 gallon bucket made for brewing
3) A Carboy

Use the same ingredients, from the same boiled mash. Fill all 3 at one time and bottle when ready.

Then have a blind taste test to see if there is a difference in taste.
 
Has anyone ever done a controlled (by an alcoholic) experiment testing the results of:

1) Mr. Beer barrel, table sugar to bottle
2) A 5 gallon bucket made for brewing
3) A Carboy

Use the same ingredients, from the same boiled mash. Fill all 3 at one time and bottle when ready.

Then have a blind taste test to see if there is a difference in taste.

There is absolutely no difference in the containers. The container itself does not matter. Using the same ingredients from the same mash would give you the same beer.

The Mr. Beer keg is a handy little fermenter and I'd use it for any batch of beer. It's the canned prehopped "beer kit" and the "boosters" that are poor quality. The container itself is irrelevant.
 
Another experiement I would like to see is if sparging really makes a difference.

And perhaps, sanitizing every thing in site vs being sloppy.

Also, using too much yeast.

I think comparing different brews while tinkering with the process doesnt prove much of anything unless you use the same exact boiled brew against various ways to achieve the beer.
 
My first batch ever was an octoberfest where i added molasses and brown sugar. It ended up really good. Ive moved on to better methods, but the mr. Beer kits hold a place in the casual homebrewer community. Check out the mr. Beer website and search recipes by LME type...it'll list combinations of malts to use and other "you supply" ingredients.

Basically, anything fermentable will work and anything one might add to traditional brew processes
 
Another experiement I would like to see is if sparging really makes a difference.

And perhaps, sanitizing every thing in site vs being sloppy.

Also, using too much yeast.

I think comparing different brews while tinkering with the process doesnt prove much of anything unless you use the same exact boiled brew against various ways to achieve the beer.

Yes, sparging makes a difference. Try a no-sparge wort vs a traditionally sparged wort (or look at all the threads here on the forum about it) and see what you think.

Sanitizing isn't important, unless you want to prevent possible infections in the beer. You may or may not end up with drinkable beer.

"Too much yeast" is very hard to do on a homebrew level, but theoretically possible. The results aren't that bad, though, compared to underpitching.
 
Another experiement I would like to see is if sparging really makes a difference.

And perhaps, sanitizing every thing in site vs being sloppy.

Also, using too much yeast.

I think comparing different brews while tinkering with the process doesnt prove much of anything unless you use the same exact boiled brew against various ways to achieve the beer.

Um, uh, are you trying to convince yourself that Mr Beer is the equal to all grain brewing?

Also, I think it's a mistake to talk yourself out of proper sanitation.

Just sayin....

Rick:drunk:
 
Um, uh, are you trying to convince yourself that Mr Beer is the equal to all grain brewing?

Also, I think it's a mistake to talk yourself out of proper sanitation.

Just sayin....

Rick:drunk:

Never said that. I was talking about the barrel.

In fact, Mr. Beer premade cans are boring and I have already bought grains, hops, Briess LME and yeast outside of Mr. Beer stuff.
 
Your beating a dead horse here. It seems your trying to reinvent the wheel. Many of the people on here are very experienced. They pretty much invented the home brewing we know today,and have pioneered many of the methods used. Your best bet is to listen to people like yooper and be glad they answered your questions. I know I am.
That being said yes the fermenter is a fermenter. The cans of beer are cans of beer, and if you go grains good, if you go all grain even better. Good luck on your brewing adventures
 
I already got good info from Punx and Yooper... I enjoy when someone provides constructive feedback.
 
I don't care what anyone says, I've made some really good beer with mr. Beer kits. I brew all grain now but im still proud of my mr. Beer ipas. I did 2 of them. I did the high court canadian draft with 1 lb of dme and 1 oz of cascade. Turned out great. I did another one with the west coast pale ale, 1 lb dme, and 1oz of cascade. While not as good as my all grain now beers, they were really good. I also used us-05 for the yeast.
 
I don't care what anyone says, I've made some really good beer with mr. Beer kits. I brew all grain now but im still proud of my mr. Beer ipas. I did 2 of them. I did the high court canadian draft with 1 lb of dme and 1 oz of cascade. Turned out great. I did another one with the west coast pale ale, 1 lb dme, and 1oz of cascade. While not as good as my all grain now beers, they were really good. I also used us-05 for the yeast.

1 oz in an IPA? what size batch was this, IBUs?
 
1 ounce of Cascade in a 2 gallon Mr. Beer batch would be like 2 1/2 to 3 ounces in a 5 1/4 gallon batch. It should add a lot to that small batch.

Just thinking also that the extract is already hopped so that would be 1 oz + whatever is in the kit already in 2 gallons. Didn't realise that Mr. Beer was only 2 gallons, the Cooper's starter kit which is similar but different they sell over here starts you off at 6 gallons!
 
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