Mr. Beer Cider Mixes?

Hey Cidermeisters! I got ahold of 4 Mr. Beer cider mixes for super cheap and would like to use them soon. Has anyone used these?
The Mr. Beer recipe is for ~2 gallons and says to use the can of cider concentrate, 1.5-3 cups of cane sugar, and the cider yeast. Sound okay to you all?
It also says that one should bottle immediately after fermentation finishes and stir the fermentor before bottling. I suppose this is because cider yeast falls out of suspension quickly? And is 5-6 weeks normal for carbonation?

Wow. That's a lot of questions! Sorry to dump on you all. If you can answer just a couple I'd be very grateful. Cheers,

monk

So no info on this, huh? Bummer. I thought the Mr. Beer stuff might be a little obscure. Anyone have any general advice for me? How long to condition, ferment, etc.? Thanks.

Monk said:

Hey Cidermeisters! I got ahold of 4 Mr. Beer cider mixes for super cheap and would like to use them soon. Has anyone used these?
The Mr. Beer recipe is for ~2 gallons and says to use the can of cider concentrate, 1.5-3 cups of cane sugar, and the cider yeast. Sound okay to you all?
It also says that one should bottle immediately after fermentation finishes and stir the fermentor before bottling. I suppose this is because cider yeast falls out of suspension quickly? And is 5-6 weeks normal for carbonation?

Wow. That's a lot of questions! Sorry to dump on you all. If you can answer just a couple I'd be very grateful. Cheers,

monk

Click to expand...

Hi Monk,
I made my first batch of Mr. Beer Cider about 10 days ago. I used 1.5 cups of sugar. It takes 5 days to ferment then i bottled it. It didn't turn out the greatest, tasted watery to me. I drank about 10 of them and felt nothing. I didn't stir mine before bottling though. Wouldn't that just put the trub in your bottle? I did not carbonate mine either. 5 weeks is too long for me to wait.

I made another batch 5 days ago, this time i put in the full amount of sugar, 3 cups. It should be ready to bottle today. If your waiting for the bubbles to disappear before bottling,good luck. I was told by others to just bottle in 5 days because the bubbles will stay there. Who knows, maybe they will go away when stirring? I will try that today and let you know ok. Hard cider sounded good in this 115 F heat today in AZ. The cider is on sale right now, 2 for $10.

I thought the 2 for ten bucks kit came with everthing you need? Do you still have to add sugar to it?

yeah, you've gotta add some table sugar to it. I'm gonna try this recipe soon. Maybe I'll use two cans of cider mix, if it turned out watery...the more I find out about this mr. beer cider thing, the less excited I am. But maybe it'll suprise me.


On another Mr. Beer note, however...I made an APA in it that turned out stupendous! I was trying it just to have some quick turn-around ale, but it turned out great with 2 weeks in the kegermentor and bottling straight from the container. Perfectly clear after 1 week in the bottles and malty sweet/hoppy bitter. Ah dang, dog.

Monk said:

yeah, you've gotta add some table sugar to it. I'm gonna try this recipe soon. Maybe I'll use two cans of cider mix, if it turned out watery...the more I find out about this mr. beer cider thing, the less excited I am. But maybe it'll suprise me.


On another Mr. Beer note, however...I made an APA in it that turned out stupendous! I was trying it just to have some quick turn-around ale, but it turned out great with 2 weeks in the kegermentor and bottling straight from the container. Perfectly clear after 1 week in the bottles and malty sweet/hoppy bitter. Ah dang, dog.

Click to expand...

Hi Monk,
I did get my second batch of cider bottled, only have one left actually, was told to let it age for 2 weeks, ya right, my stuff don't last a week. I just need to make more, more often Ha Ha. The second batch came out better for me adding the full amount of sugar. I didn't care if it had apple taste or not, just as long the alcohol was in it. It was very refreshing though, and clear. Made me feel warm and fuzzy. I have a regular 6 gallon set up primary etc.and the Mr. Beer. Just made my first batch that came with the Mr.Beer kit. I was also impressed with how clear it was after a week.

Going to make a 6 gallon batch of cider this weekend. Hope this helped, see ya.

So you feel like the cider was worth it? I don't actually have a Mr. Beer, but I thought I could buy like 6 cans of that stuff on sale for $30 and then do 3 cans at a time to get my 6 gal. Did you just try the table sugar? I see they have recipes for other ciders with brown sugar, fruit, etc-not sure how that'd be. I was going to forget trying this in my primary, but if it turned out well for you, I may try it. I think I'd toss in some Cooper's or Munton's carb drops in the bottles though to get a more sparkling cider-I think it's more refreshing.
Thanks!
:fro:

veggiess said:

So you feel like the cider was worth it? I don't actually have a Mr. Beer, but I thought I could buy like 6 cans of that stuff on sale for $30 and then do 3 cans at a time to get my 6 gal. Did you just try the table sugar? I see they have recipes for other ciders with brown sugar, fruit, etc-not sure how that'd be. I was going to forget trying this in my primary, but if it turned out well for you, I may try it. I think I'd toss in some Cooper's or Munton's carb drops in the bottles though to get a more sparkling cider-I think it's more refreshing.
Thanks!
:fro:

Click to expand...

Hello,
Just so you know, i might have confused you. I did not make the 5 gallons in my primary with the Mr.Beer kit cider. I am planning on buying 6 gallons of apple juice to make that. But you rasie a good question though, i never thought of using the cider kit in my primary,that could happen. It would be cheaper. The cheapest i found for non preservative apple juice for 6 gallons is $24. But then again, with the shipping etc. from Mr.Beer it would work out the same.

All i added was regular table sugar, granular it says to use. Only takes 5 days to ferment. I also think sparkling is better tasting, but impatient to wait that long! Like i said in another post today, i need to make more,more often. Mr. Beer ships their products from Wisconsin, so with you in MN, shipping will be cheaper, at least it should be. Thanks.

If you join their "brew club", any order of $30 or more is free, so I will do that then quit immediately so the shipping is free. Pretty cheap that way, I guess, cheaper than buying the cider and yeast.

Monk said:

On another Mr. Beer note, however...I made an APA in it that turned out stupendous! I was trying it just to have some quick turn-around ale, but it turned out great with 2 weeks in the kegermentor and bottling straight from the container. Perfectly clear after 1 week in the bottles and malty sweet/hoppy bitter. Ah dang, dog.

Click to expand...

Sorry for being a little long winded....

I had the same experience! I made the APA that came with the Mr Beer kit. I let it sit for one month before tasting. It wasn't bad, it had a sweet after taste. I didn't know if that was because of the fact that its an ale or that something wasn't done fermenting. I let it sit another month. Wow, what a difference!! Much much better. No sweet aftertaste at all.

Around the first tasting I also had a very young MrB Vienna Lager (made w/ ale yeast). Much heavier & malty. Two weeks in the bottle, two days in the fridge. It was awesome, better than the APA. I was hooked. It was a little heavier so I couldn't taste the subtle unmelded flavors. 2 months later after mowing the grass, dam did it taste great.

I have since moved on to 5 gallon recipes for house/session beers but use the Mr Beer for the seasonal favorites or a special brew. Such as Cider. I don't want 5 gallons of pumpkin ale sitting around. I don't drink much at one time & I don't want to drink pumpkin ale in Feburary when I should be tossing back a Bock or a Wit.

I bought two cans of cider too. I will probably make one this weekend. Probably the standard recipe, but sparkling. I will also stir prior to bottling and wait the required 5 weeks. I may even shake it every two days during condition to perk up the yeast. I bet it clears quickly.

I would have say that waiting definately is worth it for me. (Regardless of the system used) I think its the difference between disappointment & satifaction. I have taken to better planning on my brewing. What I brew in June is what I will drink in September, etc. Its the classic ugly duckling to swan senario.

FYI - I'm not after cheap alcohol. - Its taste. - If my stuff isn't ready, I go buy some primo beer at the liquor store. If I was, I wouldn't be home brewing. The trick is to brew often enough so as not to buy the commercial stuff.

PhoenixCoyote said:

Hi Monk,
It didn't turn out the greatest, tasted watery to me. I drank about 10 of them and felt nothing.

Click to expand...

Hey PhoenixCoyote.

I was looking the Mr Beer instructions.... ....specifically with regards to the water addition or top off. I can't tell if this is a typo or intentional.

Shipping Instructions stated, "top-off to the 8 quart mark. " There's no 8 qrt mark, only 4, 6, & 8.5

The owners manual says after adding cider wort/must top-off with 2 quarts, and 3 cups

Do the math for water additions; 1 gal + 2 qrts + 3 cups. = 6.75 qrts

The cider concentrate is 16 oz. = .5 qrt

The sugar; 3 cups = .75 qrt.

Water + concentrate + sugar = 6.75 + .5 + .75 = 8 qrts

If this is correct I added too much water, because I topped off to 8.5 qrts.

Did you do the same?????

I wonder if mine will be watery. Nearly every recipe has you top off to 8.5qrts

Hello,
Just so you know, i might have confused you. I did not make the 5 gallons in my primary with the Mr.Beer kit cider. I am planning on buying 6 gallons of apple juice to make that. But you rasie a good question though, i never thought of using the cider kit in my primary,that could happen. It would be cheaper. The cheapest i found for non preservative apple juice for 6 gallons is $24. But then again, with the shipping etc. from Mr.Beer it would work out the same.

All i added was regular table sugar, granular it says to use. Only takes 5 days to ferment. I also think sparkling is better tasting, but impatient to wait that long! Like i said in another post today, i need to make more,more often. Mr. Beer ships their products from Wisconsin, so with you in MN, shipping will be cheaper, at least it should be. Thanks

Click to expand...

No, no confusion-I was just thinking of making a 5 gallon of it. I assume you made the batch (2 gal) in your Mr. Beer. But you said this batch turned out better, so I wondering how you did it. I thought I'd try the same thing, just at a larger scale so I have more. Thanks!

Schlenkerla said:

Hey PhoenixCoyote.

I was looking the Mr Beer instructions.... ....specifically with regards to the water addition or top off. I can't tell if this is a typo or intentional.

Shipping Instructions stated, "top-off to the 8 quart mark. " There's no 8 qrt mark, only 4, 6, & 8.5

The owners manual says after adding cider wort/must top-off with 2 quarts, and 3 cups

Do the math for water additions; 1 gal + 2 qrts + 3 cups. = 6.75 qrts

The cider concentrate is 16 oz. = .5 qrt

The sugar; 3 cups = .75 qrt.

Water + concentrate + sugar = 6.75 + .5 + .75 = 8 qrts

If this is correct I added too much water, because I topped off to 8.5 qrts.

Did you do the same?????

I wonder if mine will be watery. Nearly every recipe has you top off to 8.5qrts

Click to expand...

Hello,
Yes, i topped off to the 8.5 line as well. So i guess on my second batch i had more sugar and less water since i used 3 cups of sugar. But the second batch did taste better. I saw those instructions but didn't pay attention to them either. That might explain why i got 23 bottles out of the batch instead of 20 ha ha. Thanks.

An extra .5 quart isn't really too much-shouldn't be enough to make your cider "watery". Will be a little less concentrated, but not much, so if you added the full sugar you should be fine.

Good! I was a little concerned after reading coyotes' post then my after the fact aknowledgement of the water addition. I also added three cups of sugar.

I'll be waiting the 5 weeks. I'll sample a shot glass full on Friday. I let you know how it fairs... Thanks!!

With Mr. Beer mixes, I usually use 2 cans instead of adding boost or just some more unhopped LME to the one can. Maybe that pumps up the hop flavor too much, but it seems to come out nicely. ? I might try that with the cider...

Well, I made my first batch of Mr. Beer Cider last night. However, it had a slight hitch. I used 2 cups of my "morena" cane sugar. It looked pretty white, but when it hit the hot water it turned it a little brown and smelled more like a brown sugar. Oh well, we'll see how that little distinction turns out in the end product.

I tasted my cider last night before bottling....

It tasted a little yeasty but its to be expected. It seemed pretty good. It had the apple taste, not too sweet or bitter, w/ the alcohol as well. I figure a little time (~5 weeks) I will be drinking the stuff. The yeast will drop out, carbonate and then refrigerate.

The whole process seemed pretty simple! The results decent. Worth the $5 for two gallons.

Did you ever notice the this banana is a lame ass dancer?

Bamberg-Style Wheat Rauchbier is up next!!!!!