How long do you boil mr. beer recipes? New brewer here

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maddawg4

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Every mr. beer recipe says bring to a boil then remove from heat. Well i followed this to a T and i fear i made a mistake because everything online says boil for 60 to 90 minutes. What do i do? here is an example of instructions from a mr. beer recipe. actually this one says boil for 5 minutes the others say boil then remove from heat.



Mad Dog IPA

RECIPE INCLUDES:
1 Can Cowboy Golden Lager HME
1 Can Mellow Amber UME
1 Pouch Booster?
1 Packet Dry Brewing Yeast (under lid of HME)
1 Packet Northern Brewer Pellet Hops
1 Packet Columbus Pellet Hops
1 Packet Cascade Pellet Hops
2 Muslin Hop Sacks
1 Packet One-Step? Sanitizing Cleanser

YOU PR0VIDE:
1 Cup Dark Brown Sugar



Step 1: Sanitizing
blah blah blah anyways...


Step 2: Brewing
2.1. Fill keg with cold water to the 4-quart mark on the back.

2.2. Remove yeast packet from under lid of HME, then place unopened cans of mix and UME in hot water to make the liquid easier to pour.

2.3. Place 1 packet (1/2 oz.) of Northern Brewer and 1 packet (1/2 oz.) of Columbus pellet hops into first hop sack tying it closed, then trim away excess material. Repeat with 1 packet (1/2 oz.) of Cascade pellet hops into the second hop sack.

2.4. Using the sanitized measuring cup, place 4 cups of water into a clean 3-quart pot, then SLOWLY sprinkle in Booster? while continually stirring to avoid clumping.

2.5. Once the Booster? is fully dissolved bring to a boil. Add Northern Brewer and Columbus hops (in hop sack). Boil for 5 minutes (stir occasionally), then remove from heat. Add 1 cup of dark brown sugar, stir to mix well.

2.6. Stir HME and UME into mixture. This mixture is called the wort.

NOTE: HOPS MAY APPEAR AS GREEN LEAF PARTICLES AND WILL NOT DISSOLVE. KEEP HOPS IN FERMENTER THE ENTIRE FERMENTATION PERIOD.

2.7. Pour wort into keg. Bring the volume of the keg to the 8.5-quart mark by adding more cold water. Add Cascade hops (in hop sack) Stir vigorously to mix well.

2.8. Sprinkle yeast into keg and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Stir vigorously again, then screw on lid.

2.9. Ferment by placing the keg out of direct sunlight and in a location with a consistent temperature. Allow beer to FERMENT A MINIMUM OF TWO WEEKS at room temperature (between 68?-76?F).



Step 3: Bottling & Carbonating
Follow the steps outlined in your MR.BEER? BEER KIT INSTRUCTIONS.

TIP: FOR BEST RESULTS ALLOW TO LAGER FOR AT LEAST 2 TO 3 MONTHS.
 
maddawg4, I would stick to the directions... mostly. I would let it sit for 3-4 weeks in the keg and at least 3 months in the bottle. Time is your friend (at least as far as beer is concerned). They try and make it fool proof, but fall way short with their directions sometimes.
 
maddawg4, I would stick to the directions... mostly. I would let it sit for 3-4 weeks in the keg and at least 3 months in the bottle. Time is your friend (at least as far as beer is concerned). They try and make it fool proof, but fall way short with their directions sometimes.

I'm all for telling people to be patient with their beer, but 3+ MONTHS? That's a little bit of overkill, especially for the first few batches. Give it 3-4 weeks in the fermenter and another 3-4 weeks in the bottles. Unless you're doing a very high gravity batch, or doing a lot of stuff wrong with your fermentation, there's no reason it should take 3+ months for the yeast to clean up after themselves or carbonate.
 
Thanks for your help now i understand. So for bottling it says i add 1 LITER/QUART BOTTLE* . . . . . . . 2 1/2 TSP. of sugar. Got it.

Also one other newbie question. How do you up the alcohol content a bit without spoiling the taste?
 
welcome! the 60-90 min. boil your seeing is for a larger scale boil with hop additions. your mr. beer kit comes with a pre hopped can of extract where the hops have already been added. check out this sticky for more info
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/mr-beer-read-all-about-ask-questions-46360/

This is what i thought at first as well, but this recipe states that he has "packets" of hops.. These must be boiled at least 60 mintues to get any bittering from them. Unless they are for aroma only...:drunk:
 
This is what i thought at first as well, but this recipe states that he has "packets" of hops.. These must be boiled at least 60 mintues to get any bittering from them. Unless they are for aroma only...:drunk:

I have only made 1 batch of another recipe that had pellets does that make a difference? what the difference of packets and pellets?
 
I have only made 1 batch of another recipe that had pellets does that make a difference? what the difference of packets and pellets?

"packet" is undefined. Pellet hops are just hops that have been processed to be in little pellets. They last longer than whole/leaf hops, so if the mr beer kits contains any packages of hops, they are likely packages of pellet hops.

Most home brew stores sell pellet hops in 1oz packages.

Likely the hops in the mr beer kit in question are solely for flavor and aroma. The cans of extract in the kit likely have been prehopped, so the bittering has been done for you.
 
You can add some more malt extract or corn sugar. But this will alter the taste if you don't adjust your hops. I would brew it as is, and perhaps use a kit from your local home brew shop next time. If you're really interested in getting into brewing check out How To Brew. It is a wonderful resource for up and coming brewers!
 
This is a neat recipe for a Mr Beer kit. You are basically doing flavor and aroma hop editions and then dry hopping with cascades. Pretty cool for Mr Beer...
 
Right on you guys are very helpful. A week ago i couldn't even tell you what a home brewing kit was. So thanks for taking the time to answer my dumb questions. I look forward to learning this stuff more so i can upgrade someday and start coming up with my own recipes. Can't wait to taste my first beer hope it doesn't taste like Sh#t.
 
stageseven, Sorry, I mis-typed. I meant weeks, 3+ weeks. My "Little Tykes" train of thought got derailed. This why I don't chew gum and type at the same time.
 
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