Mr Beer - Read all about it and ask questions

ok, should be bottling my west coast ale this weekend...

1) on Saturday it will be 14 days, if my bottles do not come by then, will it harm the beer to sit for another couple days before the bottles come?

2) instead of 12 oz bottles, i bought 22 oz ones instead. nuts! anyway, how much sugar do i put in each bottle now? VERY CONFUSED ON ADDING SUGAR. how do i put the sugar in?

Will21 said:

ok, should be bottling my west coast ale this weekend...

1) on Saturday it will be 14 days, if my bottles do not come by then, will it harm the beer to sit for another couple days before the bottles come?

2) instead of 12 oz bottles, i bought 22 oz ones instead. nuts! anyway, how much sugar do i put in each bottle now? VERY CONFUSED ON ADDING SUGAR. how do i put the sugar in?

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your Mr.Beer kit should come with all the necessary directions for boiling, and bottling.

make sure you sanitize your new bottles... they will require 1 1/2 tsp. of sugar, the best method is to use a funnel (buy a cheap one at the grocery store, or make one out of paper)

www.mrbeer.com has a lot of info available to view right on the site... they have PDFs of everything.

Instructions:
http://www.mrbeer.com/images/pdf/complete07-inst.pdf

oh and if the mixture sits for longer than 14 days, you have nothing to worry about.... the longer it sits, the more refine the taste will be. (so i've gathered)

It is beer. i finally bottled my WCPA today. I started the process on New Years day and finally tasted and bottled my brew today. Now comes what is going to be the hard part for me waiting the two weeks recommended for priming. The beer has a nice golden color and a mild flavor. i can't wait to chill and drink it.

Hello all,
I just joined the board today when I got to work, (I love my job) but before I left home I tasted my very first HB. Yep made from a Mr. Beer kit I bought myself when I was Christmas shopping for my wife at BBB. I have wanted to get into this for as long as I can remember and now I'm up-grading to 5 gal batch brewing as soon as my wifes valentines present arrives from Midwest supply!

Dodgedawg

GloHoppa said:

effin EAC

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Oh, you're gonna fit in around here just fine

Will21 said:

ok, should be bottling my west coast ale this weekend...

1) on Saturday it will be 14 days, if my bottles do not come by then, will it harm the beer to sit for another couple days before the bottles come?

2) instead of 12 oz bottles, i bought 22 oz ones instead. nuts! anyway, how much sugar do i put in each bottle now? VERY CONFUSED ON ADDING SUGAR. how do i put the sugar in?

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1) NO!! As you read posts around here, you'll find that some of the best brewers leave their beers in primary for over a month!

2)follow the Mr Beer instructions for priming like braehaus says. Once you step up to 5 gallon batches, you'll find that adding priming sugar to the bottling bucket is better(easier) than adding sugar into individual bottles, but don't worry about that now.

dodgedawg said:

Hello all,
I just joined the board today when I got to work, (I love my job) but before I left home I tasted my very first HB. Yep made from a Mr. Beer kit I bought myself when I was Christmas shopping for my wife at BBB. I have wanted to get into this for as long as I can remember and now I'm up-grading to 5 gal batch brewing as soon as my wifes valentines present arrives from Midwest supply!

Dodgedawg

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Sounds like a good plan.... BUT you have some serious homework to do!!

Start here and read EVERYTHING then start over and read it again and again till it makes sense:

www.howtobrew.com

Then check back in and start asking questions about what you need to get started with 5 gallon batches. Some people will groan about hearing the questions for the umpteen billionth time, but don't worry, there are still those of us who will help ya out

shafferpilot said:

Oh, you're gonna fit in around here just fine

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haha considering ive racked up over 100 posts since christmas

would it be possible to use a "Beer Machine keg" instead of bottles for priming & storage?

I have my very first batch of mr beer going right now. I've been reading through this thread and have a few questions.

someone mentioned an alternative use for the mr beer fermenter keg and suggested to use it as a "cask curer." Won't that not work well because the top of the mr beer fermenter has notches to release the air pressure?

Also someone else mentioned buying some equipment from home depot and only using the mr beer keg for bottling. If you transfer from one container to another, isnt that going to stir up sediment?

lastly I liked the idea of buying the ingredients for a 5 gal setup and using half of it for a mr beer, but does that mean i'm gonna waste the second unused half if i don't have a second fermenter? or can it be stored and used at a later time? (do extracts preserve well after they've been opened?)?

I'm real excited to get my mr beer batch out of the way and get my hands on a 5 gal setup.

I have an old Beer Machine 2000, and I only used it once- but I think you can store/serve from it. It has those small co2 chargers, right? As long as you have the co2 to carbonate, that should work. I think you have to buy bottles separately (and it's different than Mr. Beer in that way) but they instruct you to carbonate and serve out of the keg.

As far as keeping ingredients, they don't store particulary well for a long length of time, but for short term it's ok. Keep them cool and dry (refrigerate extract if it's liquid) and keep the hops closed and in the freezer. However, use one whole package of yeast in each 1/2 batch. That is, don't cut the yeast in half when you cut the other ingredients.

sflcowboy78 said:

It is beer. i finally bottled my WCPA today. I started the process on New Years day and finally tasted and bottled my brew today. Now comes what is going to be the hard part for me waiting the two weeks recommended for priming. The beer has a nice golden color and a mild flavor. i can't wait to chill and drink it.

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the best advise is to let is sit for a while... i let the mix ferment in the keg for 14 days, then bottled, primed and ready to go...

then i let it still for 2 weeks outside of the fridge and just for kicks put one in the fridge last week... tasted it last night and we have SUCCESS! now the rest of the beer can go in the fridge and can be shared!

so it's been a good 4 weeks and it's ready....

BraeHaus just a quick question about the priming process. i have my brew bottled and added the priming sugar following the destructions that came with the kit. should i be seeing any activity in the bottle or not really.

sflcowboy78 said:

BraeHaus just a quick question about the priming process. i have my brew bottled and added the priming sugar following the destructions that came with the kit. should i be seeing any activity in the bottle or not really.

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The only thing you'll see is after a while a little bit of sediment (flocculated yeast) building in the bottom of the bottle. The fermentation happening in there is so minimal, you won't see anything else.

thank you for the answer i was worried because i could not see anything but i already felt the preassure starting to build in the bottle

sflcowboy78 said:

BraeHaus just a quick question about the priming process. i have my brew bottled and added the priming sugar following the destructions that came with the kit. should i be seeing any activity in the bottle or not really.

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sorry, i shut ye olde computer down this weekend after one long week at work... but you shouldn't really "see" anything going on...

after i had primed the bottles they did swell up with pressure, but other than that, that's about it...

shafferpilot said:

The only thing you'll see is after a while a little bit of sediment (flocculated yeast) building in the bottom of the bottle. The fermentation happening in there is so minimal, you won't see anything else.

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+1

sflcowboy78 said:

thank you for the answer i was worried because i could not see anything but i already felt the preassure starting to build in the bottle

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just set the bottles aside and forget about them for 2 weeks or so, I weekly checked one bottle and sampled it once a week, and the first week it was super sugary, the second week the sweetness was toned down... and by the third week i was def sampling beer :rockin:

Couple things

WCPA has been fermenting for 15 days in keg, will try and bottle sometime this week, might wait till 21 days actually.

tried some, had a flat taste but kind of cloudy. normal?

:rockin:

I purchased one of these from BBB and asked the forum if I should keep it. Most of them told me no, but I did it anyway.

My kit came with Canadian High Country Draft and it is yeasting it up (did I make up a term) in our cupboard closet. Late Friday night, I played the part of the mad scientist with the wife humouring me as I loomed about our tiny apartment kitchen boiling extract and cackling like an idiot. We'll see how it turns out.

We went back to BBB and found their 3-pack of Mr. Beer mixes for 15 dollars. I bought two of them. I figure if I get 12 gallons of beer for 30 dollars, I did OK. Even if I count the 25 or so dollars for the Mr. Beer kit with one batch included, I think I did ok for 55 bucks.

ghostofdavid said:

I purchased one of these from BBB and asked the forum if I should keep it. Most of them told me no, but I did it anyway.

My kit came with Canadian High Country Draft and it is yeasting it up (did I make up a term) in our cupboard closet. Late Friday night, I played the part of the mad scientist with the wife humouring me as I loomed about our tiny apartment kitchen boiling extract and cackling like an idiot. We'll see how it turns out.

We went back to BBB and found their 3-pack of Mr. Beer mixes for 15 dollars. I bought two of them. I figure if I get 12 gallons of beer for 30 dollars, I did OK. Even if I count the 25 or so dollars for the Mr. Beer kit with one batch included, I think I did ok for 55 bucks.

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For your next 55 bucks buy a real brew kit, and then use the Mr Beer for Apfelwein. I did that this weekend and couldn't be happier!

I actually already did.

Will21 said:

Couple things

WCPA has been fermenting for 15 days in keg, will try and bottle sometime this week, might wait till 21 days actually.

tried some, had a flat taste but kind of cloudy. normal?

:rockin:

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green beer is rarely yummy. It'll be flat because it hasn't carbonated yet. That happens after you add the priming sugar when you bottle or keg it. The cloudiness will clear up after it conditions several weeks. I usually wait at least 4 weeks after bottling it before I open it.

ghostofdavid said:

I actually already did.

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then kudos! any plans for what youre going to make next?

Yes. I purchased an extract kit from Listermans. Belgian White. I cannot wait!

Braehaus...I made my first batch of West Coast Pale Ale and being patient was definitely the key.

I left it in the keg for about 10 to 14 days, then bottled. I put the bottled beer in a kitchen base cabinet and left it there for about a week, then chilled one beer. It tasted ok, but had the yeasty smell.

I waited a couple more days and chilled one more. It tasted much better. I waited a few more days, chilled one and it was great. So, I chilled the rest and have almost drank them all.

I think it was Yezzo that earlier said to double the time the instructions give. That is the key. On the net, I have read where alot of people did not like the West Coast Pale Ale that came with the kit. I loved it.....after I gave it some time to ripen!


Refill question for the brew vets.....

The shipping for a refill is almost as expensive as the refill (if buying one can) from Mr. Bill.com, so I bought a three-pack which ships for almost the same price as a single refill. All I wanted was one West Coast Pale Ale, but didn't want to pay $9 shipping for the $12 ingredients. So, I paid like $9.60 shipping and bought a three-pack, which did NOT have the WCPA in it, so that I could at least be busy for awhile.

At this point in my new hobby, I am happy with the simplicity of the Mr. Beer and the two-gallon batches....just not the shipping charges. Instead of using the refills from the website, are 5-gal kits available that I can buy, cut in half, and brew just as I did with the Mr. Beer kit......or maybe another brand of 2-gal kits? Looking for the same concept as the MB kits, just don't want to pay as much for shipping as I am for the ingredients.

Thanks.

Suggestion for the Mr. Beer folks...

Post a style you like...say WCPA.

Let me run a Beersmith program for you at 2.5 gallons.

Watch the total ost some to $15 er batch. That is how I graduated from MRB. Or even better, buy the Beersmith program and do it yourself. It is really fun. Here is an easy and fun one I used to make in my Mr. Beer keg/fermenter for example:


Type: Extract
Date: 9/15/2007
Batch Size: 2.50 gal
Brewer: Jake
Boil Size: -1.26 gal Asst Brewer: BK
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: Brew Pot (2 Gallon)
Taste Rating(out of 50): 40.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: -
Taste Notes:

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
3.00 lb Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM) Extract 85.71 %
0.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 14.29 %
1.00 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (60 min) Hops 29.1 IBU
0.75 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (30 min) Hops 16.7 IBU
0.75 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (10 min) Hops 7.9 IBU



Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.044 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.053 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.012 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.014 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.23 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 5.08 %
Bitterness: 53.7 IBU Calories: 237 cal/pint
Est Color: 7.2 SRM Color: Color





Just boil for n hour and cool, then dump in the keg and add the yeast. This recipe costs $13.75 total. Kind of like a midway from overpriced Mr. beer to big boy brewing. If steeping is too scary, you can even leave out the carapils.

Lemme know if I can be of service.

431brew said:

At this point in my new hobby, I am happy with the simplicity of the Mr. Beer and the two-gallon batches....just not the shipping charges. Instead of using the refills from the website, are 5-gal kits available that I can buy, cut in half, and brew just as I did with the Mr. Beer kit......or maybe another brand of 2-gal kits? Looking for the same concept as the MB kits, just don't want to pay as much for shipping as I am for the ingredients.

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There are tons of 5 gallon kits out there. I use Brewer's Best myself when I don't have the time to do an all grain recipe. Anyways, the trick to splitting it up into two batches is with the liquid extract. Problem 1 is how on earth can you tell when you've poured out have of it. Problem 2 how do you store the remainder without it spoiling. You'll have to figure out the first one, 'cause I don't have any great ideas for you. The second, however, I can answer. sanitize the can before you open it, and once you get half of the syrup out, cover it with saran wrap and use a rubber band to keep it tight. Then put it in the fridge till your next brew day. Also, most of their kits involve steeping some specialty grains. In the kit is one steeping bag, so you'll have to get extras, or just use one of swmbo's used (clean) stockings for the second brew. The kits are around $30 a piece at my local brew shop.

I bottled my High County Canadian Ale after 10 days. It tasted okay, but had a peculiar smell. I am hoping that is just the yeast? Kind of a sour smell? I am going to leave it in the bottles for 14 days before chilling.

Jason

Sunstealer73 said:

I bottled my High County Canadian Ale after 10 days. It tasted okay, but had a peculiar smell. I am hoping that is just the yeast? Kind of a sour smell? I am going to leave it in the bottles for 14 days before chilling.

Jason

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Time is your friend here.... let is sit and let the brew have a chance to carbonate and age a little more.

431brew said:

Braehaus...I made my first batch of West Coast Pale Ale and being patient was definitely the key.

I left it in the keg for about 10 to 14 days, then bottled. I put the bottled beer in a kitchen base cabinet and left it there for about a week, then chilled one beer. It tasted ok, but had the yeasty smell.

I waited a couple more days and chilled one more. It tasted much better. I waited a few more days, chilled one and it was great. So, I chilled the rest and have almost drank them all.

I think it was Yezzo that earlier said to double the time the instructions give. That is the key. On the net, I have read where alot of people did not like the West Coast Pale Ale that came with the kit. I loved it.....after I gave it some time to ripen!

Click to expand...

Awesome NEWS! I still have a lot of beer left over from my Mr.Beer, I'm going to transfer the 22oz. Mr.Beer bottles into just regular (sanatized) beer bottles. I'm thinking about giving a few six packs to co-workers.

I think the West Coast Pale Ale is rather good, for being my first brew, it's pretty damn good...

I'm excited to try a few more Mr.Beer recipes.

Thanks, guys, for the tips on the 5 gal ingredients, and Kayos, for the formula for converting to 2 gal.

I received my 3 pack today and am going to start brewing one of them tomorrow.

Braehaus, I am with you on that WCPA...it's good!

More tips on downsizing a 5 gal recipe to 2 gal are appreciated.

Thanks for this thread for those of us who are just starting and using MRB. It looks like most of the ppl here are real brewers, but at least you are helpful to us newbies. I once asked for some help with my inline muzzleloader on a muzzleloader board and got hammered. I didn't realize that I had posted it on a "traditional" muzzleloader board instead of a "modern" board. Glad that didn't happen here!

Well we are all brewers of differing experience levels. We all have different processes and ideas for improving our brews. Sometimes the discussions get frustrating, but one of the best parts about HBT is that we ALL learn something new with every log-in

Woke up this morning and our apartment furnace did not kick on all the way. Check the temperature of our main front room... 59 degrees. Ran to the closet opened up the door and noticed that the temperature in the closest was noticeably warmed but still felt cool. Beer isn't supposed to go below 59 degrees is it? How worried should I be? I got the heat kicked back on and we'll be toasty in a few... argh! I hope the brew will turn out ok...

ghostofdavid said:

Woke up this morning and our apartment furnace did not kick on all the way. Check the temperature of our main front room... 59 degrees. Ran to the closet opened up the door and noticed that the temperature in the closest was noticeably warmed but still felt cool. Beer isn't supposed to go below 59 degrees is it? How worried should I be? I got the heat kicked back on and we'll be toasty in a few... argh! I hope the brew will turn out ok...

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No problems, RWDAHB.

Beer isn't supposed to go below 59 degrees is it? How worried should I be?

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If you are in the early stages of fermentation the actual beer temperature will be 5 or more degrees higher.

I just got a mr beer and made my first batch. It was ok, but I'm trying to branch out a bit for my next batch. The question I have is, will buying a second mr. beer keg and using that as a secondary fermentor for now, help me cut down on the amount of yeast in the final product? If it does, is that a good thing or a bad thing? I know I need to get some yeast into the bottles to make it carbonate. Will doing this allow enogh to get through?

RWDAHB? What is that?

The beer has been sitting for a week at a semi constant room temperature.

jester22151 said:

I just got a mr beer and made my first batch. It was ok, but I'm trying to branch out a bit for my next batch. The question I have is, will buying a second mr. beer keg and using that as a secondary fermentor for now, help me cut down on the amount of yeast in the final product? If it does, is that a good thing or a bad thing? I know I need to get some yeast into the bottles to make it carbonate. Will doing this allow enogh to get through?

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I don't know if you followed the directions or have read anything on brewing, but in order for your beer to carbonate in the bottle, you do not add yeast, you add some form of sugar...

Tell us about your first batch? Did you properly sanitize everything? how long did you leave your Mr.Beer to ferment? How long did you let the beer bottle-condition?

From my experiences with the Mr.Beer, the best results are from patience... I let my beer ferment for 14 days, bottled, primed with sugar and then sat for a good 4 weeks... I have only drank 1 of the 22oz bottles that came with the kit and I'm more than pleased with the results.

The long you let you beer age, the better it will be.

I suggest reading up on homebrew, perhaps check out the online brewing manual (search the beginners section for this).

ghostofdavid said:

RWDAHB? What is that?

The beer has been sitting for a week at a semi constant room temperature.

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Basically it means, Relax and Have a Home Brew.

BraeHaus said:

I don't know if you followed the directions or have read anything on brewing, but in order for your beer to carbonate in the bottle, you do not add yeast, you add some form of sugar...

Tell us about your first batch? Did you properly sanitize everything? how long did you leave your Mr.Beer to ferment? How long did you let the beer bottle-condition?

From my experiences with the Mr.Beer, the best results are from patience... I let my beer ferment for 14 days, bottled, primed with sugar and then sat for a good 4 weeks... I have only drank 1 of the 22oz bottles that came with the kit and I'm more than pleased with the results.

The long you let you beer age, the better it will be.

I suggest reading up on homebrew, perhaps check out the online brewing manual (search the beginners section for this).

Click to expand...

I know you don't add yeast to the bottle, but some yeast has to still be in it to eat the suger to carbonate the beer.

My first batch was a pale ale, it was ok but it was a little sweeter than i liked. I followed the directions to the letter, because I just wanted to make sure i could do it right before i started messing with it. I let it ferment for about 11 days before bottling it. i will tell you that i was pretty eager so i didn't let it condition for long. The one big problem i had was that by the time I got to filling the last bottle, I had stirred up the yeast on the bottom of the fermenter a little. I was wondering if I got a secondary fermenter would that help cut the cloudiness of the beer.


All of this is in preperation for the next batch which will be and Irish red that i am going to put raspburries in. As an aside, should I put the raspburries in the primary or secondary fermentor?

Ok, back here again.

Haven't ordered my new gear yet, but will be getting it in the next few weeks hopefully.

I got myself some of the Mr. Beer kits to use in my keg before I get the stuff, but I'm thinking that I'll get the new gear, and transfer what I have in the keg now into a secondary for more aging.

Question for the experienced ppl here, though: since the Mr. Beer kit is only 8.5 qts, and the secondary carboy is going to be 5 gal, is that too much headspace in the carboy? Should I just forget about going to a secondary for this batch and just do that moving forward when I go to 5 gal batches?