Flat beer

I brewed my first batch of beer in my Mr Beer, it was in the barrel for 8 days and looked clear and stopped bubbling so I bottled the beer using the amount of sugar recommended in the instructions. After 9 days in the bottle I decided to try one and it taste yeasty and has a little fizz but no head at all. What went wrong?

vanman250

If you used the right amount of sugar the #1 problem would be the temp are you conditioning your beer.

If it's under 70F then it can take several weeks to a month to ferment.

Are lagered brews bottle-conditioned at 70F as well or should they be conditioned at the primary fermentation temperature range for that particular yeast?

Good question.

My lagers sit in the secondary for 2-3 months then I warm them up to the 70s.

I condition my lagers in the 70s (like the ales) until they are carbonated enough (1-2 weeks) then I send them back to the cold.

If you're using Mr. Beer plastic bottles, chinch up the twist on top real good, otherwise gas will escape and you will get no carbonation. Twist tops aren't my favorite bottles.

I tightened the caps and I'm going to let them sit for another week or so and see what happens.

vanmam250

Well, the last time I messed with a mr. beer, was almost 10 years ago. As I remember, most mr. beer extracts recommend table sugar, and that takes along time to carbonate, and to my taste buds give an off flavor. We had better success using corn sugar from the local home brew shop. And those PET bottles are nearly worthless for beer. The caps on ours were leaking after one or two batches, and we just moved up to regular bottles.

Hopefully, the seal problem with the bottles will work. I prefer the flippy top bottles like Grolsch makes. Usually gives a nice 'pop' upon opening.

I would recommend buying some light DME from a local brew shop and use that in stead of sugar. Mr. Beer is generally better with a good three pounds of extract. But using entirely Mr. Beer can get expensive real fast, that extract isn't cheap. I think you want a target ABV of better than 6% to have a good tasting beer. Stay away from the Booster as well, that is corn sugar and won't add much for flavor. Remember you're not just locked into Mr Beer ingredients. Moutons and several other alternatives exist. I recommend getting a 3 or 5 gallon carboy and airlock for a secondary fermenter. That way you can at least have two batches going at once. 2 or 2-1/2 gallons isn't much. By the time your beginning to like it, it's all gone. Maybe consider getting a second Mr Beer brewkeg (about $10) and then you can brew up standard 5 gallon batches, and save money.

I do like the small batch's. I love beer but don't drink a lot of it. I usually by a 12 pack and have trouble drinking it before it goes bad. I'm not home a lot so that limits my home beer drinking time. I travel so I do get to try a lot of different beers, the best beer I ever had was in Austria and Germany, after returning to the US I had a hard time drinking what we call beer. I give your suggestion a try. If I could brew the beer I had in Europe I would be in heaven.

vanman250