Starting my first batch, bit nervous, advice?

Hey, I posted this on the Mr. Beer forums too, but I'd really like to hear what you guys have to say about this.

I know Mr. Beer is a really basic way to brew, that's okay, I don't mind a simple start for now... However, almost everywhere people say to not follow the Mr Beer instructions that come with. Apparently there are MUCH better ways to brew Mr Beer batches than what the directions say. This is my biggest curiosity at the moment. For example, I heard to NOT add regular sugar to your wort (Contains no Free Amino Nitrogen, FANs, resulting in off-flavors, says my John Palmer book). Another example is the fermentation time, almost everywhere people say to ferment much longer than what Mr Beer says. This is fine, I'm willing to wait a few extra weeks if I have must, to enjoy the end result more. is 2-2-2 an alright timetable? I heard to let sit in a bottle for even longer.

How do I know the most... uh... recommended way to brew a Mr Beer batch? I read here to use Dry Malt Extract instead of sugar for brewing. I think I might pick some of that up tomorrow at the local homebrew shop. While I'm there I'm going to check out some better equipment too and see if I can pick anything else up.

Regular sugar will not do much but up the alcohol in your brew. It provides no flavor and is a quickly digestable meal for your yeast. To get a more complete ferment and the added flavor of malt use dry or liquid malt extract. General rule of thumb is 1-2-3 but leaving it to ferment and clear for a month will help. Carbing and bottle conditioning will take at least 3 weeks. Depending on the type of beer it can be quick or take months. If there is one tool you buy at the Home brew store make it a hydrometer. This is how you will know your beer is done fermenting. Hope this helps

Hey Jmart,
I live in Neenah. I haven't read the Mr. Beer thread (101 pages is a lot). Can you post a link to your kit and tell us what equipment you have outside of the kit?

jescholler said:

Hey Jmart,
I live in Neenah. I haven't read the Mr. Beer thread (101 pages is a lot). Can you post a link to your kit and tell us what equipment you have outside of the kit?

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My kit is the Premium Gold kit https://www.mrbeer.com/product-exec/product_id/753/nm/MR_BEER_Premium_Gold_Edition_Beer_Kit
Right now, the other tools I have are: A funnel with built-in strainer, thermometer on the side of my fermentor (55-85 degrees I think), adjustable measuring spoon, hop scale, priming sugar measure, and some sanitizer.

The beers I bought to try are:
-Spiced Lemon Wheat
-The Velvet Velociraptor
-Bewitched Red Ale w/Booster
-Classic American Blonde Ale w/Booster (Came with my kit)
-Cowboy Golden Lager w/Booster (Also came with my kit)

I kind of want to get an auto siphon too, which I had forgotten to order initially.

PS: what is 'Booster' exactly?

Jmart said:

The beers I bought to try are:
-Spiced Lemon Wheat
-The Velvet Velociraptor
-Bewitched Red Ale w/Booster
-Classic American Blonde Ale w/Booster (Came with my kit)
-Cowboy Golden Lager w/Booster (Also came with my kit)

I kind of want to get an auto siphon too, which I had forgotten to order initially.

PS: what is 'Booster' exactly?

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In a nutshell; for the single can beer recipes. Add a pound of light DME per can of Mr.Beer extract - you can still throw in the booster for some more kick(depends why you are brewing). The longer you can resist drinking it the better it will likely taste, so anything more than 2-2-2 will help as that is more of a minimum. Read some recipes here and see what matches up to the style you are making and maybe you'd want to add some of those hops to freshen up the taste of your beer. This is not award winning beer, but should come out pretty decent and it's a good stepping stone to get you into the hobby.

Booster is maltodextrin.

-OCD

I don't think you'll have too much trouble.

I did my first brew last night (all-grain) and it wasn't too bad. And since it's a brew kit that you're using, I'm guessing that dramatically cuts down on the potential complications.




The key is to read and semi-understand what you're doing before you start. It'll make the process go a lot more smoothly.

coryforsenate said:

I don't think you'll have too much trouble.

I did my first brew last night (all-grain) and it wasn't too bad. And since it's a brew kit that you're using, I'm guessing that dramatically cuts down on the potential complications.


The key is to read and semi-understand what you're doing before you start. It'll make the process go a lot more smoothly.

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That's what I'm really trying to do beforehand. I've been watching youtube videos, reading my books, rereading the process-overviews, rereading the definitions... I'm trying to learn some small stuff to better my first batch (not to overcomplicate or anything, just small stuff), like replacing the cane sugar with DME.

Also, I happened to visit my father today as he was gardening, and apparently, he grows hops! I didn't know that. He grows them because he likes the way they look, covering an unused metal rectangle arch (for stringing clotheslines from, we never used that thing). It isn't a special strain or anything, but I think they're more along the lines of aroma hops. He said he'd harvest them for me when they mature. All of my Malt extracts I have on me are pre-hopped, but it wouldn't hurt to add a little extra fresh hops, would it?

Jmart said:

That's what I'm really trying to do beforehand. I've been watching youtube videos, reading my books, rereading the process-overviews, rereading the definitions... I'm trying to learn some small stuff to better my first batch (not to overcomplicate or anything, just small stuff), like replacing the cane sugar with DME.

Also, I happened to visit my father today as he was gardening, and apparently, he grows hops! I didn't know that. He grows them because he likes the way they look, covering an unused metal rectangle arch (for stringing clotheslines from, we never used that thing). It isn't a special strain or anything, but I think they're more along the lines of aroma hops. He said he'd harvest them for me when they mature. All of my Malt extracts I have on me are pre-hopped, but it wouldn't hurt to add a little extra fresh hops, would it?

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Fresh hops are always good, you just have to remember if you want added bitterness from them you have to boil them longer then the Mr Beer kit says. You can also dry hop, just let it ferment for a week and then throw in the hops and let it go another week. 2-2-2 is a decent schedule but leave a few for longer so you can taste how it changes. There was a Mr Beer kit I made subbing in DME a few months ago that tastes way better now. I drank almost all of it when it was young though. If you like a good pale ale then by all means add more hops, because the prehopped cans from Mr Beer are pretty weak in that regard. One piece of equipment you should buy is a hydrometer, it is not difficult to use and then you can take your measurements to figure out your %abv and know when fermentation is complete. I'm sure in a month or two you will buy some equipment for 5 gal batches, I know it didn't take me long. :rockin:

Sounds like you are on your way to a great hobby.

I was given a Mr Beer kit for Father's Day, and I am on my second batch of beer. The first beer came out great, and I experimented with times to see how it went.

As far as fermenting, I went ahead and left it in there for two weeks, because after a week, it wasn't as good. I drew samples from time to time to see how it was going. I think once it gets clear, then it should be ready for the next step, but again, I would recommend at least two weeks.

As far as bottling, I put it in the bottle and as soon as the bottle was hard with carbonation, I put it in the fridge. I think it was about a week. I guess I should have tested for two weeks.

As far as consuming, as soon as it was cold, I cracked one open. It was pretty good!

I think my times were about 2-1-<1!

I am definately wanting to get another Mr Beer fermenter, and try to stagger the brews so I will always have one to drink. Two gallons per month may sound like a lot, but when you have good beer that you made yourself, it goes alot faster!

RScottyL said:

Two gallons per month may sound like a lot...

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You're new around here, aren't you?


-OCD

WOOO!! have fun dont stress it!

The key to decent beer making can be summed up here: RDWHAHB

I took you guy's advice and bought myself a hydrometer.
I also bought 3 airlocks (2 regular, 1 s-type, for some other brew projects), some DME, some cooper's carbonation drops (dunno if I will use them since my bottles are larger than 12oz, does it really matter?).

Are your bottles 500 mL or 22 oz? What style of beer are you brewing? What kind of carbonation do you like?

Everyone, including me, is going to give you advise, but I've found that the best thing to do is experiment. I did a pale lager with some enzyme, and way too much hops -- as my first non-kit brew. Everyone here has made a beer that they didn't like, but I can tell you this... they've learned from it, and they still drank it. And to be perfectly honest, it still tastes okay, and I've been drooling all day about a beer that I'm going to be making as my first all grain. You've now gotten a bug that can only be cured by getting either more of the Mr. Beer mixes (and I'll tell you right now, IT'S OKAY!), or by getting a Munton's / Black Rock / Coopers beer mix, or further down the road going to partial grain, or even all grain.

As for the carbonation. One drop for either the 12 oz or 500 ml (16 oz), or 2 drops for a 22 oz bottle. I seem to have read that on the Cooper's website, but it's not verbatim.

Vuarra said:

Are your bottles 500 mL or 22 oz? What style of beer are you brewing? What kind of carbonation do you like?

Everyone, including me, is going to give you advise, but I've found that the best thing to do is experiment. I did a pale lager with some enzyme, and way too much hops -- as my first non-kit brew. Everyone here has made a beer that they didn't like, but I can tell you this... they've learned from it, and they still drank it. And to be perfectly honest, it still tastes okay, and I've been drooling all day about a beer that I'm going to be making as my first all grain. You've now gotten a bug that can only be cured by getting either more of the Mr. Beer mixes (and I'll tell you right now, IT'S OKAY!), or by getting a Munton's / Black Rock / Coopers beer mix, or further down the road going to partial grain, or even all grain.

As for the carbonation. One drop for either the 12 oz or 500 ml (16 oz), or 2 drops for a 22 oz bottle. I seem to have read that on the Cooper's website, but it's not verbatim.

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My kit says I have 8 1-liter bottles (~33oz?), so maybe 3 drops? Or I could just use some sugar and save the droplets for when I get some standard sized bottles. I think my first batch will be a Red Ale, as for carbonation, I never really gave it a thought honestly. If I had to guess, probably a medium-low carbonation level.

Also, I have a question. At my local home brew shop, the only Dried Malt Extract I could find that was in stock was "LD Carlson: Bavarian Wheat (65%wheat/35%barley)" and "LD Carlson: Pilsen Light", both of which are 1 pound. Will either of these be okay for a red ale? I wasn't sure but I got them anyway, since I'll use them for something down the road either way. Bottom line, will either of this stuff be better than the kane sugar that I'm told to use by the MrBeer instructions?
And then, if I use these, how should I properly store the leftover extract that I didn't use for the batch?

Jmart said:

My kit says I have 8 1-liter bottles (~33oz?), so maybe 3 drops? Or I could just use some sugar and save the droplets for when I get some standard sized bottles. I think my first batch will be a Red Ale, as for carbonation, I never really gave it a thought honestly. If I had to guess, probably a medium-low carbonation level.

Also, I have a question. At my local home brew shop, the only Dried Malt Extract I could find that was in stock was "LD Carlson: Bavarian Wheat (65%wheat/35%barley)" and "LD Carlson: Pilsen Light", both of which are 1 pound. Will either of these be okay for a red ale? I wasn't sure but I got them anyway, since I'll use them for something down the road either way. Bottom line, will either of this stuff be better than the kane sugar that I'm told to use by the MrBeer instructions?
And then, if I use these, how should I properly store the leftover extract that I didn't use for the batch?

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Hooray for Mr. Beer! I make "big" five gallon batches more these days, but am still using my Mr. Beer.

Between those two choices of DME, I'd go for the Pilsen Light. The wheat extract is not going to be a good choice for a lot of the Mr. Beer recipes. You're on the right track adding a pound of DME in place of the booster. I leave mine two weeks in the Mr. Beer fermenter and then bottle right out of the spigot and into the one liter bottles.

I normally prime the Mr. Beer batches with cane sugar, because I'm priming right into the bottles. I let the bottles sit for three weeks before sampling. I've found the optional Mr. Beer locking spigot and bottling wand setup makes the bottling process a lot easier, something to consider for the future.

Also, I try to cool my Mr. Beer brews at least 48 hours in the fridge before sampling. Otherwise, they really like to foam up. I'm having a small sample of the Mr. Beer Vienna Lager as I type this. Oh, one other thing, the Mr. Beer yeast is okay, but you might want to try some of the other dry yeast out there, depending on the style of beer you are brewing.

I have another question... Boiling Mr Beer and the Cold Break.
In a lot of stuff I see, you boil for an hour or so, then preform the cold break. In my instructions, it doesn't mention anything about either.
It says to let the booster (i'll be using DME) dissolve into the water, then boil. Once it reaches a boil, to turn off the heat, add and stir in the HME into the pot, and then add straight to the 2gal fermenter. After that, add cold water to the right mark on the back, stir well, sprinkle in yeast, let sit 5 minutes, stir well again, and then put on the cap and let ferment.

What happened to the hour long boil? Do I NEED to cold break? Or does adding cold water act as a cold break since it's a smaller batch? I think getting 2 gallons to ~75 degrees would be easier than a standard 5 gallon batch, right? I have a floating thermometer and a thermometer on the side of the fermenter to check my temperatures either way. My basement sits pretty steadily at 71 degrees, so I'll probably keep it in there to ferment.

Any comments on this?

Jmart said:

It says to let the booster (i'll be using DME) dissolve into the water, then boil. Once it reaches a boil, to turn off the heat, add and stir in the HME into the pot, and then add straight to the 2gal fermenter. After that, add cold water to the right mark on the back, stir well, sprinkle in yeast, let sit 5 minutes, stir well again, and then put on the cap and let ferment.
Any comments on this?

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HME has already been boiled when they made the original wort. Then condensed it for you.
Follow the directions, you'll be fine.

-OCD

beerocd said:

HME has already been boiled when they made the original wort. Then condensed it for you.
Follow the directions, you'll be fine.

-OCD

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+1 to OCD for what he wrote.

Cold break is about the same for when you use liquid extracts as when you do an All-Grain for 2.6 US Gallons. I generally use three complete changes of water for the pot to cool off, then use water that's been in my freezer as a backup, just so that I'm not pitching yeast into water that's too hot.

Just as a side note, my first all grain is going into my The Beer Machine! setup, mostly so that I'm not throwing away $$$ should I have messed up.

My advice is, if you haven't even made your first Mr. Beer batch yet, is to just go with flow, follow their instructions, and get your feet wet.

You won't make the best beer in the world, but it will be drinkable and decent, no worries. You have the West Coast Pale Ale to start?

That's great that you're already interested in moving on, but Mr Beer is actually good for getting a quick intro in the real basics without getting overwhelmed by all of the advanced stuff...it's alot. Baby steps.

I started with Mr Beer too, and after the 3rd batch I was out buying a gallon fermentor, etc. I was picking up books and stuff after each batch, and I came close to my head exploding....it's all good....

I was actually quite impressed with the West Coast Pale Ale, as I was expecting it to have a light beer taste....hardly anything at all. When I finally tasted the finished product, it was pretty good!

As I mentioned earlier, I have made two batches of beer with my Mr Beer and they were both pretty good. The toughest thing, is being patient and waiting for it to finish. Once you get your first one done, you might consider getting you a couple of extra Mr Beer fermenters and have a couple of batches staggering, so you will always have brew to drink.

I am going to bite the bullet and move up to ~5 gallon batches now also. My step-dad was able to get me some 5 gallon buckets from a place they eat alot. I need to add the spigots and the airlocks to the buckets. I went to also pick up a can of the Coopers "Real Ale" for my first big batch and plan to start that soon. These actually run the same price as the Mr Beer mixes (~$17) and you are making twice as much.

I made of batch Bewitched red ale yesterday, in lue of the Booster + Yeast I used Light Pils DME, and Muntuns Gold ale yeast, Got Fermentation within 12 hours... Smelled and looks great this was my third batch of beer since 8/21/11.