Mr Beer - Read all about it and ask questions

I got my FREE bottling bucket by ordering an extract kit for a 5 gallon batch. (Of course I already had a short auto-siphon.)

Quick question. Does anyone have a Mr. Beer laying around that they would like to get rid of? I would gladly buy it from them. I have a traditional brew kit, but would like to also try a Mr. Beer kit.

Try classifieds.

If you have a MB going all grain would be sweet. the batch size is small enough that you would not need a lot of equipment. get away from the
injgredients as quick as possible.

Justibone said:

Try classifieds.

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actually, Mr. Beer had the kegs on sale for 10.00 a piece, so I bought 2 of them :rockin: Along with 2 air locks, as I plan to retrofit them with the air locks, instead of using the slots in the lids. Also bought 2 kits from AustinHomeBrew. A franziskaner copy, and there belgian wheat beer. Cant wait to brew up the Franziskaner copy, and toss it in the 2 Mr. Beer kegs

These will fit perfectly on the top shelf in the coat closet, where its dark, and a constant 65* temperature. YEAH BUDDY

Ok, so I plan on doing my first batch this weekend witha Mr Beer Kit I bought almost 2 years ago.
I had one question, will the ingredients in the box still be usable after sitting for so long?

elwask0 said:

Ok, so I plan on doing my first batch this weekend witha Mr Beer Kit I bought almost 2 years ago.
I had one question, will the ingredients in the box still be usable after sitting for so long?

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Useable, yes. Good? Maybe...

I would at the very least replace the yeast, depending on how they were stored. US-05 from your homebrew store would be good for most beer types.

i thought so, thanks! I just found a Brew Supply store about 5 mins from my work, i know where im going on my lunch break.

Ask the store guy which dry yeast would be best for the beer style. Be sure to get dry yeast, don't get talked into something else. If he is super-snotty about Mr. Beer then just get US-05 and go on your merry way.

What kind of beer is the kit?

I believe its the West Coast Pale Ale, but i gotta check, im 99% sure it is tho.

There should be date stamps on the bottom of the cans - check those.

The yeast should be replaced for sure.

If it's the West Coast Pale Ale + Booster you're not going to get a great beer. It's a good beer, but the Booster tends to thin out the beer and require a minimum of a month of conditioning at room temp before you lose the cidery taste it imparts.

What you WILL get:
A decent, drinkable beer
Experience with brewing (sanitizing, etc.)

I would spend the money to order a new refill from them personally - or check out Amazon, Bed Bath and Beyond or other places that carry them. Find one that has two cans (one UME and one LME) and try that.

Given the age of the cans (assumed) and the "low end" recipe I think you'll be much happier spending a few bucks to get a better end result.

Just one guy's opinion, mind you.

shunoshi said:

If I ever see you in a dark alley kicking Mr. Beer's ass, I'm going to step in and help.

p.s. Sorry Orfy.

Back on topic (to those with the new Mr. Beer Gear):
Mr. Beer will get you started on the road to a great and rewarding hobby. After you've given your best with Mr. Beer I suggest heading online to Austin Homebrew, Midwest Homebrew, Northern Brewer, or any other well respected homebrew supply shops and pick up a 5 gallon starter kit. Your increased level of beer quality will be astounding.

Good luck on the new hobby, you'll love it.

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haha yah dont mess with mr beer. lol

US-05 is good for a pale ale. That or Nottingham should be fine (but Notty is more particular about temperatures, IMO.)

well, my 2 kegs should be here tomorrow, and the hefe should be here friday from AHB. Looks like im making a batch saturday? Sounds good to me!

Enjoy!

elwask0 said:

I believe its the West Coast Pale Ale, but i gotta check, im 99% sure it is tho.

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I'm not if any made this suggestion to you yet - replace the dextrose with 1lbs of LME. Pale ale should be good. Boil it for 15 minutes then continue with the rest of the directions. You'll end up with better beer.

E

well, the kegs arrived thursday, the beer kits from Austin Home Brew friday, and today they came together

AHS Bavarian Hefeweizen almost to a boil:


And then to its home in my 2 Mr. Beer kegs (modded with airlocks):

Looks good, what's your temperature control plan for your little kegs-o-goodness?

(Not that it matters as much for a hefeweizen, but still...)

rodneypierce said:

And then to its home in my 2 Mr. Beer kegs (modded with airlocks)

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Did you modify the lids on your Mr. Beer kegs?
If not your airlocks will be kind of pointless.

Justibone said:

Looks good, what's your temperature control plan for your little kegs-o-goodness?

(Not that it matters as much for a hefeweizen, but still...)

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They are currently setting in the location in the picture. They stay right around 68-69 degrees there. The thermostat for the house is right outside that room, so its a pretty constant temperature. They were going nuts last night, the krausen was up touching the lids. I used some yeast fuel, so im interested to see how that turns out.

Tombstone0 said:

Did you modify the lids on your Mr. Beer kegs?
If not your airlocks will be kind of pointless.

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and no I did not, so the air locks are completely pointless at this point. I realized that when there was no bubbles yesterday morning, but when i opened up the lids, it was going crazy in there. I will modify the lids before the next batch. Now I just need to find out how to seal them. Call me crazy, but I think these air locks are better then just letting it seap out of the lid...

The more active the yeast are, the higher they push their own temps. You should consider at some point how you want to control your fermentation temperatures (basement, water bath, fermentation chamber, etc.), or just stick strictly to beers that taste good when brewed hot -- like hefeweizen.

Justibone said:

The more active the yeast are, the higher they push their own temps. You should consider at some point how you want to control your fermentation temperatures (basement, water bath, fermentation chamber, etc.), or just stick strictly to beers that taste good when brewed hot -- like hefeweizen.

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my basement is about 64. perfectly viable option.

Add 5-7 degrees, and that's your true fermentation range. At 64F, you're good.

Please tell me how much corn sugar to use per liter with my Mr Beer?

Most people work with gallons on this board.

That being said:
http://www.calculateme.com/Volume/Liters/ToGallons.htm

1L = .26417 gallons

Then, typing into my trusty carbonation calculator...

http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator/carbonation.html

I get ~.24 oz per liter of corn sugar, to obtain 2.5 volumes of carbonation at 72F bottling temperature. (That's 6.8 grams of sugar.)

2.5 volumes is a pretty safe carbonation level that's within style (or close) for pretty much every type of beer. Play with the calculator - you can learn a lot doing that.

Thanks. I just got started and I want to do this right.

No prob!

Keep in mind, every batch will get better as long as you improve 1) sanitation, 2) fermentation temperature and 3) technique, in that order.

well, just checked the gravity of my Bavarian Hefe tonight. Its right at 1.013 (FG should be at 1.012 according to AHS). Figure i will check it again here tomorrow and friday to see if fermentation is over. Then let set one more week, and its on to the bottles

For fermentation temp control, I used to stick my MrBeer kegs in a camping cooler, fill up part way with water, and use frozen bottles of water to keep the temps down. If you have the stick on fermometers, be careful not to keep them soaking in water or they will be ruined.

Keep reading this site, but a great site dedicated to MrBeer is http://www.mrbeerfans.com.

Popped open a beer last night from my first homebrew batch - a Mr. Beer West Coast Pale Ale. Very, very nice I'm impressed. Has anyone tried to brew all grain batches with a Mr. Beer fermenter?? Could you tell me the steps or point me to a quick link? Just look up a recipe, proportion and buy the yeast, hops and malt from a local homebrew store? I would like to try brewing without a kit mix and I only want to do 2-gallon batches, no need for a 5-gallon carboys yet This was my first batch so knowledge is very limited at this point...

Since you can fit 2.5Gallons in the MrBeer keg, you could pick any 5-Gallon recipe and cut it in half, then follow https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-stovetop-all-grain-brewing-pics-90132/ for some stovetop all-grain.

TonyR said:

Since you can fit 2.5Gallons in the MrBeer keg, you could pick any 5-Gallon recipe and cut it in half, then follow https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-stovetop-all-grain-brewing-pics-90132/ for some stovetop all-grain.

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Oh, nice thanks! Exactly what I need...I knew I wouldn't have to stray far from this forum

sailWickedFast said:

Oh, nice thanks! Exactly what I need...I knew I wouldn't have to stray far from this forum

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If you cut the 5-gallon recipes in half you'll end up with stronger beer than the recipe calls for. Filling to the line on the keg is 2.13 gallons. Filling it to the bottom of the "Q" is 2.4 gallons. Going that high on high gravity beers can be touchy since it doesn't leave a lot of headspace.

I've brewed a number of AG recipes in the MrB keg - at the end of the day, it's just a fermenting vessel.

BTW, there are great forums on the MrB site as well - just an FYI.

Kealia said:

If you cut the 5-gallon recipes in half you'll end up with stronger beer than the recipe calls for. Filling to the line on the keg is 2.13 gallons. Filling it to the bottom of the "Q" is 2.4 gallons. Going that high on high gravity beers can be touchy since it doesn't leave a lot of headspace.

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If you cut it in half and only use 2.13 gallons, you'll have much stronger beer, but if you fill to 2.5 you'll be fine. Here's a discussion on fitting the 2.5G in -- http://community.mrbeer.com/index.php?option=com_kunena&Itemid=58&func=view&catid=11&id=32817 Seems like for 1.060 and lower beers you will be fine.

I got my mrbeer kit yesterday and couldnt resist but starting it instead of studying for finals, but i did it anyways and now im worried because i think the temperature when i pitched the yeast was to cold, it felt cold and i didnt sanitize a thermometer, so i couldnt check...(my kit was suppose to come with a temp gage and a sugar dispenser and another malt extract....but mrbeer "forgot" to ship it)...but i pitched it anyways and i put it in a closet with a space heater with a digital gage that is sitting at 72 degrees, is that final or if i pitched it to cold am i screwed, im worried and leaving for mexico for ten days in three, so i want to redo it if i need to before i leave so it will be ready for me when i get home to bottle

Don't worry. If you pitched it too cold the worst that happens is that yeast was dormant for a while. As the temp gets into the right range, they will awaken and make beer for you.

thank you so much, ive read places that pitching is one of the most important parts and i was like crap

It is in the sense that the right amount of yeast, pitched at the right temp makes a huge difference for things like lag-time and the production of esters (which you may/may not want as you get more knowledge and experience).

For the MrB kits, they are focused on simplicity. They make the process easy to get you used to the process of sanitizing, pitching yeast, fermentation, bottling, etc. The yeast they use is pretty forgiving as well so you're going to be just fine for your first batch.

Yeah, I would even keep it a bit colder than 72F, for the first week anyways.

Also, let it ferment longer than Mr. Beer says. I'd say let it go as long as you can before you leave, or, if you are going to be back soon let it stay in the fermenter while you're gone. If you bottle it before you leave, be sure to give it 3 weeks before you drink it all.

(A sample bottle or two at 1 week and 2 weeks will teach you a lot, but they probably won't taste their best.)