Upgraded. Goodbye Mr Beer

Got this:

http://www.heartshomebrew.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=14_70_89&products_id=408

This:

http://www.heartshomebrew.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=14_75_290&products_id=790


This:

http://www.heartshomebrew.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=15_112_122&products_id=575

I have a spare fridge in the garage not being used.

Plus a thermometer and an air lock.

Hope you arent planning on fermenting in the bottling bucket!
Cheers.

ryno1ryno said:

Got this:

http://www.heartshomebrew.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=14_70_89&products_id=408

This:

http://www.heartshomebrew.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=14_75_290&products_id=790

This:

http://www.heartshomebrew.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=15_112_122&products_id=575

I have a spare fridge in the garage not being used.

Plus a thermometer and an air lock.

Click to expand...

Congrats. Will be fun.

Keep your Mr. beer keg fermenter. They work great for experimental test batches. I often rack some of my large batches in them to try new secondary infusions while I keg or bottle the rest.

Fletcher21 said:

Keep your Mr. beer keg fermenter. They work great for experimental test batches. I often rack some of my large batches in them to try new secondary infusions while I keg or bottle the rest.

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I plan to. She is busy fermenting right, which is why I had to go with the bucket so I could get started on a second batch.

I like the easiness of the Mr. Beer fermenter. Good design for its intended purpose.

I have a second batch in the works for her... probably by next week.

Fletcher21 said:

Keep your Mr. beer keg fermenter. They work great for experimental test batches. I often rack some of my large batches in them to try new secondary infusions while I keg or bottle the rest.

Click to expand...

Or sell it or give it to some homebrewer on here who wants it, a lot of small batch brewers are looking to pick up a few more for experimental batches. I use mine quite regularly. It's a perfect little fermenter for stove top ag batches.

Wow.. When I saw these kits offered by Mr. Beer I was completely shocked. Seriously, this is embarrassing. Let me ask everyone out there a question and maybe I'm an idiot. But how many people actually start out using these Mr. Beer kits as to say a Brewers Best kit? Personally when I started I chose the Brewers Best kit because of all the great supplies included with the great price. How does everyone else compare or should I ask, what should the first time home brewer look for in a kit?

I started with a Mr Beer kit that I got off CL of 10usd.

BrewKid said:

Wow.. When I saw these kits offered by Mr. Beer I was completely shocked. Seriously, this is embarrassing. Let me ask everyone out there a question and maybe I'm an idiot. But how many people actually start out using these Mr. Beer kits as to say a Brewers Best kit? Personally when I started I chose the Brewers Best kit because of all the great supplies included with the great price. How does everyone else compare or should I ask, what should the first time home brewer look for in a kit?

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I started with a Brewer's Best kit too. I think the appeal of Mr. Beer is that it's fairly small, and simple, and cheap. After Christmas, they are like $20 on the shelves at Wal-greens!

Actually, the very first "beer kit" I ever bought was a Beer Machine 2000. It was small, simple, and seemed like it would be good. I never actually made a drinkable beer in it after a couple of tries, and I think it's still in my basement with the powdered mixes. It was years later that I got a Brewer's Best kit.

BrewKid said:

Wow.. When I saw these kits offered by Mr. Beer I was completely shocked. Seriously, this is embarrassing. Let me ask everyone out there a question and maybe I'm an idiot. But how many people actually start out using these Mr. Beer kits as to say a Brewers Best kit? Personally when I started I chose the Brewers Best kit because of all the great supplies included with the great price. How does everyone else compare or should I ask, what should the first time home brewer look for in a kit?

Click to expand...

They are cheap/low cost.
They are given as gifts in a lot of cases. (Me)
They are sold in many mainstream stores.
They probably introduce more people to brewing than any website on the internet.
Once involved, if the user wants to continue, he/she will upgrade the equipment.

I see no negatives.

Oh yeah, the kits are easy to use and the beer is not bad. Great starter kit. Every beer outlet and forum should be estatic about these starter kits.

It got me hooked for now.

ryno1ryno said:

T
Oh yeah, the kits are easy to use and the beer is not bad. Great starter kit. Every beer outlet and forum should be estatic about these starter kits.

It got me hooked for now.

Click to expand...

I think it's a good thing that people can get hooked on brewing. But I didn't think the beer was decent (my best friend has a mr. Beer and uses it often) so it would have made me quit if I started with it. The Beer Machine (very similar to Mr. Beer) came with the mixes and yeast. It was not too terrible, but I didn't drink much of the beer that came out of it.

My friend loves her beer, though. She thinks it's good "for homemade beer" and uses it frequently.

Each person is different, and some (like my friend) will use Mr. Beer long term. Most won't, but people do have fun with it even if they don't really continue with it.

Yooper said:

I think it's a good thing that people can get hooked on brewing. But I didn't think the beer was decent (my best friend has a mr. Beer and uses it often) so it would have made me quit if I started with it. The Beer Machine (very similar to Mr. Beer) came with the mixes and yeast. It was not too terrible, but I didn't drink much of the beer that came out of it.

My friend loves her beer, though. She thinks it's good "for homemade beer" and uses it frequently.

Each person is different, and some (like my friend) will use Mr. Beer long term. Most won't, but people do have fun with it even if they don't really continue with it.

Click to expand...

Well, I wasn't estatic about the taste... but it was better than Bud Lite. And it was neat that you could drink your own concoction. I did realize after reading up on it and asking a ton of questions, that I was probably fermenting at too high of a temperature.

Hopefully fermenting at lower temps will show improvement in results... that an patientce, something I do not have much of.

Yooper said:

I think it's a good thing that people can get hooked on brewing. But I didn't think the beer was decent (my best friend has a mr. Beer and uses it often) so it would have made me quit if I started with it. The Beer Machine (very similar to Mr. Beer) came with the mixes and yeast. It was not too terrible, but I didn't drink much of the beer that came out of it.

My friend loves her beer, though. She thinks it's good "for homemade beer" and uses it frequently.

Each person is different, and some (like my friend) will use Mr. Beer long term. Most won't, but people do have fun with it even if they don't really continue with it.

Click to expand...

I completely agree with you. Those kits are indeed good for promoting the homebrew community. And that's only a plus for all of us. I'm glad to see simple cheap ways to introduce people into the joy of homebrewing. But I can't really see the Mr. Beer kits actually tasting that great. Every batch that I made with Brewers Best turned out amazing. My friends now beg for me to turn out more and more batches. I've got to hold them off with a pitchfork! Greedy lil bastards lol.

I have the mr beer...brewed my first batch with the kit that came with it. Just bottled those on the 6th so I have yet to taste one. Here is a FACT - If not for Mr. Beer, I would not have found a hobby that I have fallen in love with. I am using the keg to ferment a partial mash that I created as soon as the first batch was bottled. I am doing an oatmeal stout now. Im also going to upgrade to buckets this week for my next brew. Here is another FACT...I wouldnt be upgrading if I had not started with something. Mr. Beer put me on a path.

Like I said, I have yet to taste anything that I have brewed...but to be honest, I love the process as much as I will love the beer. If my first batch tastes like gnat piss, who cares? I found something that I will do now for years to come and will strive to get better at...all because of Mr. Beer.

Well said. I couldn't agree more with you.


Cheers to Mr. Beer!

I started with a MrBeer kit. It introduced me to brewing and I actually made some pretty good beers with it using the HME's with additions. I've since moved on to AG 5 gal batches. But I still use the MrBeer fermentor for smaller batches to try out new recipes. It's just a smaller fermentor that works just as well as any out there. It annoys me when people say you can't make great beer with a MrBeer kit. If you follow the directions that come with the kit, you'll make beer. Not good beer. But beer mind you. It can be made better by fermenting for 3 weeks and letting the bottles sit for 4 weeks minimum.

I can make a MrBeer seasonal that will rival most people's extract recipes. Are they better than my AG? No. Not even close. AG allows full control of the process and the freshest ingredients. But good beer can still be made with the LBK. It's just that most HME included with the kits are on the light side to cater to the BMC drinkers. But MrBeer makes plenty of other HMEs for those looking for that craft brew taste. Add a little DME and some hops and the possibilities open up even more.

I started with Mr. Beer, and made about 4 or 5 batches.
It's a great way to brew the first batch simply, which takes away the anxiety or fear which can be overwhelming for a newbie. After a Mr. Beer batch, this noob said, "Wow, that wasn't bad at all; Yes, I can do this."