Mr. Beer Home brew kit

Any thoughts on this kit? I got one for xmas, and I plan on doing my first brew ever with it, so I think it's a decent start for a first time brewer.

I have sen them but to me that's not really brewing. Try it out see if you like it and then if your still interested in brewing upgrade to a starter kit you can buy online or at your local home brew store.

Many people here started out with Mr beer and still have them, I generally keep mine for experimental stuff. Have fun with it, don't be afraid to try new stuff beyond the basic instructions, after all its just brewing and as long as it ferments,,,,its beer.

I started using a Mr Beer kit. Sadly, it came out so bad that I didn't brew again for 5 years. There is nothing wrong with the Mr Beer system, but the ingredients that they provide are horrible.

I also started out with MB kits. I think it's a good, fairly fool proof way to get into brewing. Do yourself a favor though, and get a free recipe generator. I can't remember which one it is off the top of my head right now, but there is one you can download that has the MB extracts listed as ingredients.

Play around with it a bit, get yourself some Dry malt extract too. It helps a good bit with their liquid extract kits.

I also started with Mr. Beer and brewed every kit I could think of with them in my first year. Last year I went all grain and I am now building a two tier electric RIMS system (yes, the hobby is that addictive). I agree that Mr. Beer is a great way to learn the ropes and see if you want to invest more time and energy (and money) into the hobby.
A few recommendations for the best Mr. Beer possible:
• Read John Palmer’s How To Brew introduction and extract chapters first: http://www.howtobrew.com/
• Remember clean everything first, then sanitize ANYTHING your finished wort will come into contact with.
• The One-step oxygen cleaner/sanitizer is OK, but I would suggest a small bottle of iodophor OR Starsan sanitizer. ** Use distilled water to mix an ideal solution and store some in a spray bottle**
• Don’t use the "Booster". Use more dried or liquid malt extract (DME or LME) to increase fermentables and alcohol. Either buy the un-hopped LME from Mr. Beer or, better yet, your Local Home Brew Shop (LHBS). If you get more that 20% of your alcohol from booster/sugar/honey your beer will taste cidery.
• Ditch the no-name brewer’s yeast under the caps and invest the $3 on a pack of Safale or $6 on a vial of liquid yeast. It is a noticeable difference especially if you are going for a certain style
• Rehydrate dry yeast in boiled and chilled water before pitching into your wort
• Keep fermentation at a constant temperature (within 2 degrees of target temp for your yeast) and free from light
Brewing is like cooking; quality ingredients and thoughtful processes will lead to a better end product. Just experiment, have fun, and remember that there are no mistakes… just more and less drinkable experiments.

Mr. Beer kits are great. They are like home brewer population control. The beer inevitably comes out terrible and the people that aren't all that into the hobby move on. The ones that are destined to brew keep going. My wife bought me a Mr Beer for xmas. It turned out terrible so I tried again twice. All equally bad. Went out, bought a real kit. Fantastic. I've used the jugs a few times for small and/or split batches.

I appreciate all the feedback. I have a few friends who brew but I wasn't sure if I am. I do think I will eventually upgrade and do "real" brewing in the future, and I like the idea of making it a test kit. I'll have to see in a few weeks when this batch is done. Thanks all.

A few day back I said mr beer wasn't real brewing. I just read some following posts and decided I came off sounding like a giant dick. Sorry about I am new to brewing as well, and I've seen mr beer kits and the first time I saw one I wanted it. After a little research I heard people say the recipes didn't turn out very well and decided I'd spend the extra 90$ on a "real" starter kit my LHBS had with bottle caps, two eight gallon fermenter buckets, a mash spoon, a fermi meter,a hydrometer, a milk thermometer, and a disposable grain bag. For a total of $140.00 I bought 24 twenty-two oz. bottles to carbonate in. Recipes for a 5 gallon brew are around 50$ and I just tasted my first batch yesterday and it tastes great! If you think you would like to brew your own beer please please please go buy a starter kit and give it a shot. You honestly will be hooked. The satisfaction of knowing I'm making a one of a kind beer every time I light up my propane is awesome. When my friends come over to my house for a party and I can give them beer that I created I'm going to have a huge brewers hard on!!! Lol. Keep on brewing!!!