Can You Close Up Beer Mix Once Opened?

Hi folks,

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I've got me one of the Mr. Beer kits. Yes, I know -- but I'm a little low on the cash needed to purchase one of the "real" kits. It is in the cards though! Brewing is turning out to be a great hobby.

So I'm done with my first Mr. Brew batch and I live in Canada. It's hard to order the Mr. Brew re-fills here. However, down the street I can buy a bunch of other re-fills including Cooper's Beer and BeerHouse beer. These kits come with everything the Mr. Brew kit did.

The problem is that they are three times the size of what the Mr. Brew keg will hold. That means I have to open up the beer mix, use a third of it, and re-seal the container.

The guy selling the kits isn't sure, but he can't see I reason why the mix would spoil as long as I re-seal it well (maybe in a mason jar?). It shouldn't be a problem to make a batch of beer, bottle it, then go back to the mix to make a second batch, and eventually a third -- all with the same kit.

Does anyone see a problem with this? Will the mix spoil?

Thanks!

You're literally a used 5 gallon bucket away from brewing a full batch. Hit up a restaurant or bakery and ask if they have any buckets they're getting rid of.

If you use any leftover within a couple of weeks, it should be fine. LME shouldn't really spoil, but quality can degrade after a while. Someone else suggested putting a little vodka on top to reduce the chance of mold. I definitely would not store it in the can once opened.

I would try using half a can instead of 1/3, and adding an extra pint or so of top off water. All the Mr. Beer recipes I tried seem a little weak and watery to me, I like full flavor beer.

I did what Bobby_M suggests - I picked up a couple of icing buckets from a bakery and made fermenters out of them. The Mr. Beer keg can still be used as a bottling bucket or secondary.

Hi guys. Thanks for the quick response.

The five-gallon bucket sounds great, but I don't understand. I'm not too familiar with brewing yet, hence the Mr. Beer package. Doesn't Mr. Brew eliminate the need for an air stopper? Wouldn't the five gallon bucket....ummm...not work in some way?

Yes, I know I need to learn about brewing and I will. But the Mr. Brew was a gift. It's fun! And just for now it will be all I use...unless a big bucket is the only other thing I need to purchase.

Maybe I'm about to get hit with something obvious to you all like "this is exactly why the Mr. Brew kit doesn't really do anything". Oh well, I'll take my chances! Gotta learn sometime.

Thanks again!

I don't see any reason why you couldn't store it in mason jars as you suggested. Just make sure they are sanitized and sealed well and store them in the fridge and you should be fine.

BTW, there isn't anything wrong with using a Mr. Beer so long as you are happy with the results.

The Mr. Beer has slots in the top of the opening to let out gas even when the lid is on. A bucket won't have those so you just drill a hole and use a stopper and airlock (together about $2.50-3.00). It doesn't have to be a 5 gallon bucket either, I started with one 3 gallon bucket for my Mr. Beer batches, and used the brown jug for bottling. Now I do 5 gallon batches in two 3 gallon buckets.

There's nothing wrong with using the Mr. Beer. By using different mixes as you suggest you will learn even more about making beer, so by all means try it. If you continue to enjoy brewing I guarantee you will upgrade sooner than you think.

Welcome to the forum and to the hobby!

Thanks very much ifishsum and everyone. I'll try out the Cooper's Wheat beer mix I just purchased (along with some orange and coriander) in the Mr. Beer kit and report back in a little while!

-WW

Just wanted to update this thread, which I started a few months ago.

Since, oh, October or so I've been brewing in the Mr. Beer keg with 1/3 cans of Cooper mix. I take the remaining amount, pop it in a mason jar, and then store it in the fridge.

And my final report.......................

It works. It's not so cool, not so pretty, but it works. The malt just waits until I can free up space in the keg and has not gone bad.

One caveat: the malt is very sluggish after being in the fridge and should be warmed up before the brewing process begins.

You know it's true: it's very important to understand the basics of brewing. But what's fun is to experiment with things that seem a little screwy, just to see if you can get away with them.

One day, when I'm extolling the benefits of AG I'll be laughing at this.

-WW

WriterWriter said:

One day, when I'm extolling the benefits of AG I'll be laughing at this.

-WW

Click to expand...

Nah, you'll probably have 2.5 gallons of Apfelwine in your Mr Beer keg. It's an easy and cheap way to get into brewing, plus it's a piece of equipment that most of us still use for various purposes.

+1 to getting a few food-grade plastic buckets.

okay im just going to throw this out there..... low on cash?

a 5gal pail and lid is like $7. and think of all the money you are not spending buying retail beer!

Nah, no space but more importantly I'm setting up to move. At that point the Mr. Beer goes to a friend and I get me a few Better Bottles to really get things going.

At my LHBS pails with lids are about $12, and airlocks are a whopping $1.25. You might find a cheaper bucket option elsewhere, but it's still not gonna break the bank.