Reason #45 why not to use Mr Beer stuff

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iamjonsharp

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(Those are shattered pieces of the lid.) I shall call this beer: Cranberry Explosions In the Sky.
 
I used my Mr. Beer to make some limeade for SWMBO, and checked on it every 4 hours for the first 48 to make sure this didn't happen.

It was just limeade, so it didn't.
 
Wow! That's some really volatile stuff your brewing there! Hey, how about this name for your brew? "Cranberry Volcano"
 
Wow. Can you repair it? Seems like it would be a shame to lose your equipment. I was looking at picking up one of those, but now I think I'll stick to my trusty glass carboys w/ airlocks.
 
I received one in a raffle last August and haven't used it yet. Thought about something a little less violent like a mead, maybe.

Wild
 
orfy said:
If you knew then what you knew then, do you think you'd of gone for a 3 gallon pail and airlock instead for lest than half the price?

haha, yeah. I've got a few of these mr beer pails left over from when I first started brewing and I'll use them every now and again if I do a small batch.

Eye8oneu812 said:
Wow. Can you repair it? Seems like it would be a shame to lose your equipment. I was looking at picking up one of those, but now I think I'll stick to my trusty glass carboys w/ airlocks.

Only the lid blew up, the rest of the pail was fine. I had an extra lid from another old mr beer keg I have, so I just cleaned it all up and put the other lid on. I do most of my brewing in 5 gallon batches, so it's not that big of a loss. And I can always buy just a new lid if need be.

I'm really glad I had the mr beer pail in the fridge....it only took about 30 minutes to clean up. I can't imagine how long it would have taken if I had beer and little pieces of cranberry coating an entire room...
 
Evan! said:
Dude, jon...if you need to borrow a fermenter, just let me know. I usually have some open.
Thanks, Evan. I should be fine, I've got an extra lid and an open 6.5 gallon pail if need be. How's the cider going?

rdwj said:
What a mess - good thing it wasn't sitting in the kitchen or a bedroom

Tell me about it! I'm very thankful for this.
 
iamjonsharp said:
Thanks, Evan. I should be fine, I've got an extra lid and an open 6.5 gallon pail if need be. How's the cider going?

Added the pectic this morning, and the apple juice starter is fizzing away. Should pitch tonight.
 
Evan! said:
Added the pectic this morning, and the apple juice starter is fizzing away. Should pitch tonight.

Sounds great. I'm really glad the weather's finally got out of the 90's here....

grasshopper1917 said:
It sucks that the lid blew - but it sure does make for some cool pictures :)

Yeah it does. Hmm, maybe MrBeer will send me a new lid for free....
 
Could you drill a hole in one of those lids and slap an airlock in there?

It think they say the fermentation gases are supposed to escape out the threads of the lid with the Mr. Beer kits. Looks like this one was on a little tight.
 
Liquidicem said:
Could you drill a hole in one of those lids and slap an airlock in there?

It think they say the fermentation gases are supposed to escape out the threads of the lid with the Mr. Beer kits. Looks like this one was on a little tight.

I wasn't that the lid was too tight, the krausen raised up and clogged the lid...and the BOOM! The no airlock/cap set up seems to work alright, although with a 6.5 gallon pail and airlock clogging, the top usually just pops off instead shattering. (Hence why I should have used a fermentor with blow off tube.)

ohiobrewtus said:
holy shniekies! How big are those Mr. Beer contraptions anyway? 2.5 Gal?

About that, they might be around 3...you only put about 2 gallons of wort in and leave the rest for headspace.

I enjoy doing a Mr Beer kit every couple months...with 2-3 gallon jugs of water in the fridge, you can get 2 gallons fermenting in about 30 minutes. Its actually a nice contrast to spending 4-5 hours doing an all grain batch. I'll usually do the small batches to experiment with fruit or other things like that. If a batch turns out good, I'll incorporate it into a 5 gallon all grain batch. If it turns out bad, I'll have lost $10-20 bucks and only 30 minutes to 1 hr of brewing.

MrBeer is shipping me a new lid for free. Sweet.
 
I have a MRB keg fermenter. It seen its last days as a fementor. Now its only job is a bottleing bucket.

I use a 3 gal water bottles from Lowes. $4.99 w/ excellent brewing water.

I snap a carboy cap on it, w/ an "s" style air lock and call it good.

I never had problems with MRB keg like yours but I like havinging the extra space for active ferments and not to mention a way of checking the fermentation progress. So I alway use a 3 gal PET water bottle. Its as good as a better bottle.

S-style air lock are the best for monitoring slow ferments and the caps are easily equiped with a blow off.

Try pickin' one up... :tank:
 
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