Would it be wrong of me if I bought...

A second Mr. Beer barrel vs a 5 gallon bucket?

I seem to be leaning towards 2 Mr. Beer barrels so I can ferment 2 recipes at the same time.

Yes, because two five gallon recipes are superior to one five gallon and one 2.5 gallon.

If it is for experimental purposes we will let you slide.

A 5 gallon bucket at Home Depot is under $5, how much is a mr. beer kit?

A lot of people pick them up from craigslist and garage sales. Sometimes even cheaper than HD buckets.
They're perfect fermenters for 2.5 gallon batches. I use mine quite regularly for 2.5 gallon stovetop AG batches.


You can also lager in your fridge with them if you want since they're low profile.

Ignore the snobs. Use what you want, brew what you want, brew what size you want. Lots of us do small batch brewing along side 5 gallon batches. Even 1 gallon batches. Noone sneers at a wine or mead maker making a 1 gallon batch.....

I ruined my Mr beer with boiling wort. Still wish I had that little guy around for inexpensive experiments. Why not get both?!

if someone gave me one or I found one cheap enough, I'd use it for small batches.

I've started using mine for test batches and have since picked up some 2.5 gallon fermenter buckets because I missed the ones I was thinking of getting on CL.

I started with a Mr Beer and then bought a second one to keep the pipeline going. I do 10 gallon now but I lend out my Mr Beer kit to anyone that wants to use them. I may do a small batch one day and use the kit again.

I ferment a 2 1/2 gallon batch in a 6 1/2 gallon fermenter and it works fine. Now lets see you put a 5 gallon batch in your Mr. Beer fermeter. The bigger fermenter gives you more options and does a fine job of it.

When my fermenter buckets are empty (it happens) I slide one inside the other to stack them into a smaller space. Try that with your Mr. Beer too.

Another option is a small, three gallon carboy. I have some cider in one of those now.

The LBK's do work well for up to 2.5 gallon batches and they are pretty cheap at 10 bucks and that includes a spigot. The new ones come with a redesigned spigot thats way better than the original.

I have had one problem though... Recently a batch had a lot of kraussen that plugged up the vents in the lid. Luckilly I noticed the bulging LBK and was able to release pressure before something bad happened. Since then I started using a 5 gallon better bottle instead. It costs a lot more but it gives me more options.

RM-MN said:

I ferment a 2 1/2 gallon batch in a 6 1/2 gallon fermenter and it works fine. Now lets see you put a 5 gallon batch in your Mr. Beer fermeter. The bigger fermenter gives you more options and does a fine job of it.

When my fermenter buckets are empty (it happens) I slide one inside the other to stack them into a smaller space. Try that with your Mr. Beer too.

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Great points!

I wasnt sure if it was okay to brew 2.5 gallons in a 5 lb bucket with all the extra space.

ryno1ryno said:

Great points!

I wasnt sure if it was okay to brew 2.5 gallons in a 5 lb bucket with all the extra space.

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Head space during ferment is not an issue.. it is/can be in a secondary if the secondary is not purged with CO2 first..

Also, FWIW.. you can purchase, last time I checked, Mr Beer Fermenters for $10 shipped.. you don't have to buy the whole kit with ingredients and bottles. That's not bad at all....

Come on, dude. Seriously. It's time to take off your training wheels and learn to ride a bike. Next year you can earn your Harley and do 10 gallon batches AG style!

Ok, now for reelz. Just do what you want! If you really like the MB fermenter, then that's fine. But, most recipes are for 5 gallons and fermenter buckets are very cheap too. Then you have the option to ferment a 5 gallon OR a 2.5 gallon batch. Headspace is not an issue for the primary, except you might actually want MORE headspace to allow for the krausen.

I vote for the bucket, but not because it makes you look cool (that would be a conical...), but because it is more diverse. I brew half batches sometimes and primary in a bucket (I usually skip the secondary, but if I really wanted to secondary something like a big beer I can rack into a small carboy for that purpose). The primary fermentation will push the O2 out of the container, so no worries.

So consider if you want to brew larger batches in the future. The bucket will be ready for you. MB, not so much.

Eh? Homer.. I already have my Harley.. but, It's by choice that some of us do 2.5-3 gallon batches. I'm using my big buckets for wine that I can do only once a year.