Mr Beer - Read all about it and ask questions

martinfan30 said:

So for the more advanced guys, am I going to be good using 2.5 gallons of water, 3.3 lb of LME or 3 lb of DME as a baseline for my MRB kegs?

I would just like to try different styles of yeasts, extracts and hops. I think this is a good way to transition myself into 5 gallon "true" extract brewing.

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Absolutely. That's how I worked out the Simple Wheat... see, how simple is that? I made a Simple Stout that way as well, but it didn't turn out quite as good as the wheat... I added simple sugars (brown sugar) but didn't add hops. It's just tough to do a good brown sugar stout. Recipes are experiments, you know.

You'll really learn a lot about brewing by keeping it simple and experimenting with yeast and hops, but also experiment with water. It is the biggest ingredient in your beer!

Justibone said:

Absolutely. That's how I worked out the Simple Wheat... see, how simple is that? I made a Simple Stout that way as well, but it didn't turn out quite as good as the wheat... I added simple sugars (brown sugar) but didn't add hops. It's just tough to do a good brown sugar stout. Recipes are experiments, you know.

You'll really learn a lot about brewing by keeping it simple and experimenting with yeast and hops, but also experiment with water. It is the biggest ingredient in your beer!

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NICE! Thanks man, I think I'm well on my way!!!

I love the calculator over at tasty brew.com. I tried to copy and paste the results of this beer, but didn't work.

IBU's 16
ABV 5.3
FG 1.017

Thats what I remember before I closed it.

martinfan30 said:

Well.... A few changes to the simple wheat i'm trying. I screwed up and burned 1 lb of the wheat extract(liquid). So I restarted with fresh water, the remaining 2 lbs of LME wheat and added 1 lb. of amber DME and is now boiling away with the 1/4 oz of Hallertau hops in a muslin sack. I plan the boil for an hour, then at 15 min to go, add another 1/4 of Hallertau. Then cool the wort and dry hop a 1/2 oz of cascade hops. With the Munich yeast.

Guess it's sort of a hybrid? LOL

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It's going to be pretty close. The wheat extract is already (I believe) 40% barley, so you substituted out .66 lbs of wheat sugars out for barley ones.

It should be plenty good!

BTW: traditional German wheat beers don't tend to have much in the way of hops aroma. The flavor should come from the yeast. Your beer should be good -- just not totally traditional, which is not a problem. Brew what you like!

Thanks for the info, 7 to 10 days from now I'll be able to bottle then a month or two till it's time to try it.

delete

I had a couple leftover mrb ingredients that i wanted to use up before I can get really cooking.

Here is what I did....

1 can HME Vienna lager
1 can UME Mellow Amber
1 lb amber DME

1/4 oz. cascade pellet @ 25 min.
1/4 oz. perle pellet @ 10 min.

50 min. boil time

5.5 oz Nottingham dry yeast


Boiled 2 qt water with DME, HME and UME. 45 min total boil.

Added wort to fill keg up to the "Q" mark.

OG= 1.090 !!!



My estimated results thru tastybrew's calculator.

Color Dark Brown

Stats
OG 1.050
FG 1.013
IBU 17
ABV 4.8 %
SRM 19
Specifics
Boil Volume 2.5 gallons
Batch Size 2.125 gallons
Yeast 75% AA
Style Comparison
Low High
OG 1.046 1.050 1.052
FG 1.010 1.013 1.014
IBU 18 17 30
SRM 8 19 12
ABV 4.6 4.8 5.5
Fermentables
% Weight Weight (lbs) Grain Gravity Points Color
33.3 % 1.00 Vienna 14.1 1.9
33.3 % 1.00 British Brown 15.1 32.9
33.3 % 1.00 Amber Dry Malt Extract 21.2 5.9
3.00 50.4
Hops
% Wt Weight (oz) Hop Form AA% AAU Boil Time Utilization IBU
50.0 % 0.25 Cascade Pellet 5.7 1.4 25 0.189 9.5
50.0 % 0.25 Perle Pellet 8.8 2.2 10 0.098 7.6
0.50 17.1

What style is this beer going to end up as? A brown ale?

martinfan30 said:

I had a couple leftover mrb ingredients that i wanted to use up before I can get really cooking.

Here is what I did....

1 can HME Vienna lager
1 can UME Mellow Amber
1 lb amber DME

1/4 oz. cascade pellet @ 25 min.
1/4 oz. perle pellet @ 10 min.

50 min. boil time

5.5 oz Nottingham dry yeast


Boiled 2 qt water with DME, HME and UME. 45 min total boil.

Added wort to fill keg up to the "Q" mark.

OG= 1.090 !!!



My estimated results thru tastybrew's calculator.

Color Dark Brown

Stats
OG 1.050
FG 1.013
IBU 17
ABV 4.8 %
SRM 19
Specifics
Boil Volume 2.5 gallons
Batch Size 2.125 gallons
Yeast 75% AA
Style Comparison
Low High
OG 1.046 1.050 1.052
FG 1.010 1.013 1.014
IBU 18 17 30
SRM 8 19 12
ABV 4.6 4.8 5.5
Fermentables
% Weight Weight (lbs) Grain Gravity Points Color
33.3 % 1.00 Vienna 14.1 1.9
33.3 % 1.00 British Brown 15.1 32.9
33.3 % 1.00 Amber Dry Malt Extract 21.2 5.9
3.00 50.4
Hops
% Wt Weight (oz) Hop Form AA% AAU Boil Time Utilization IBU
50.0 % 0.25 Cascade Pellet 5.7 1.4 25 0.189 9.5
50.0 % 0.25 Perle Pellet 8.8 2.2 10 0.098 7.6
0.50 17.1

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I don't know how you came up with an OG of 1.090. It should be closer to about 1.055. Did you stir the wort before taking the OG? Did you take the OG after adding all the water?

The IBUs are also off. OVL by itself has 23 IBUs. Your IBUs can't be lower than that. And you boiled hops for some period of time, so the IBUs would have to go up.

I'm very confused about your boil times. You say that you had a total boil time of 50 minutes, but you also show it as 45. Did you boil the Cascades for 25 minutes and the Perle for 10 minutes?

Also, did you boil the HME? The hops in the HME have already been boiled for appropriate aroma, flavor and bitterness. Further boiling will change the flavor profile and make the hops from the HME more bitter.

bpgreen said:

Also, did you boil the HME? The hops in the HME have already been boiled for appropriate aroma, flavor and bitterness. Further boiling will change the flavor profile and make the hops from the HME more bitter.

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I wish I'd read this yesterday. I just did my batch with Cowboy Golden Lager by starting with some Muntons Hopped Dark DME, boiling it up and adding my Cowboy HME at the start of the boil and let it go for an hour, stiring the whole time.

Wasn't really shooting for any specific taste, it's more of a "Let's see what this does" and hoping for the best.

So if I understand correctly, I should have boiled the DME for a length of time, adding the HME at the end, getting it mixed in thuroughly, then immediatly dumping into my keg?

And look at me using abbreviations like a pro! :rockin:

Alleydude said:

I wish I'd read this yesterday. I just did my batch with Cowboy Golden Lager by starting with some Muntons Hopped Dark DME, boiling it up and adding my Cowboy HME at the start of the boil and let it go for an hour, stiring the whole time.

Wasn't really shooting for any specific taste, it's more of a "Let's see what this does" and hoping for the best.

So if I understand correctly, I should have boiled the DME for a length of time, adding the HME at the end, getting it mixed in thuroughly, then immediatly dumping into my keg?

And look at me using abbreviations like a pro! :rockin:

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Yes boiling the HME will make the beer more bitter then it is supost to be.

bpgreen said:

I don't know how you came up with an OG of 1.090. It should be closer to about 1.055. Did you stir the wort before taking the OG? Did you take the OG after adding all the water?

The IBUs are also off. OVL by itself has 23 IBUs. Your IBUs can't be lower than that. And you boiled hops for some period of time, so the IBUs would have to go up.

I'm very confused about your boil times. You say that you had a total boil time of 50 minutes, but you also show it as 45. Did you boil the Cascades for 25 minutes and the Perle for 10 minutes?

Also, did you boil the HME? The hops in the HME have already been boiled for appropriate aroma, flavor and bitterness. Further boiling will change the flavor profile and make the hops from the HME more bitter.

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I did take the OG after adding the wort into the water that I put in the keg.

OVL?

Boil time was 50 minutes total. Yes, I boiled the cascades with 25 minutes to go, and perles at 10 min to go.

I did boil the HME, but hey, thats how you learn by making mistakes right?


PS: Will extra time in the keg and in warm conditioning cure any extra bitterness?

martinfan30 said:

I did take the OG after adding the wort into the water that I put in the keg.

OVL?

Boil time was 50 minutes total. Yes, I boiled the cascades with 25 minutes to go, and perles at 10 min to go.

I did boil the HME, but hey, thats how you learn by making mistakes right?


PS: Will extra time in the keg and in warm conditioning cure any extra bitterness?

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OVL=Octoberfest Vienna Lager.

Really long conditioning will reduce the bitterness to some extent, but I'm not sure how much or how long it will take. I'd suggest trying it as is. You may like it. If not, give it an extra month and try it again. Eventually, it will either taste good or you'll have gone through all of it testing it.

Thanks bpgreen!

I drank my first proper glass of my first beer (can't count all the warm "tastings") and it is delicious. I used Mr Beer Canadian draft with DME instead of booster and an extra oz of chinook hops. It's been bottled for two weeks. Next weekend a couple of buddies and I are getting together for a tasting. Can't wait to show off my handiwork! I was hooked from the get go but now it's official. I've got some Bewitched red ale going. I think I'm going to graduate to 5 gal batches soon. Thanks HBT!

jb721 said:

...I've got some Bewitched red ale going. I think I'm going to graduate to 5 gal batches soon. Thanks HBT!

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Did you do anything special to the Bewitched Red Ale? I just popped some of my B.R.A. that were done as per the recipe and they are a bit lacking in body. They tasted rather watered down. Color was great, lots of nice bubbles, but not big on the flavor. I have sinced started brewing with some DME instead of Booster, but haven't tasted the batch yet, other than samples out of the fermenting keg.

jb721 said:

...I used Mr Beer Canadian draft with DME instead of booster and an extra oz of chinook hops.

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How and when did you add the hops?

I did the same thing with the BRA I did with the Canadian. I boiled the water, took off heat, added DME and LME, boiled about 30 min, shut off heat and added 1 oz hops. Except on BRA I added half oz of cascade hops with 15 min left on boil and added second half right when I shut off stove. Canadian came out real good. Hoping BRA will be good too.

Alleydude said:

Did you do anything special to the Bewitched Red Ale? I just popped some of my B.R.A. that were done as per the recipe and they are a bit lacking in body. They tasted rather watered down. Color was great, lots of nice bubbles, but not big on the flavor. I have sinced started brewing with some DME instead of Booster, but haven't tasted the batch yet, other than samples out of the fermenting keg.



How and when did you add the hops?

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I had the same issue with that batch. 2.5 wks fermenting, 2.5 weeks warm conditioning. I tried one, and it was as you describe. 2 weeks more of warm conditioning made a huge difference. It was still a little light on mouth feel, but def. better.

as like many on this forum, i also started out brewing with the mr. beer kits. i've since moved on to brewing 5 gallon batches but i still have the 2.5 gallon mr. beer keg. i've recently gone to the mr. beer website and seen that one could buy cider refiller kits. this looks like something i'd do with my mr. beer keg is to use it to make cider. has anyone tried the cider refillers from mr.beer?

If you want extra hops in your ale, then adding half of 'em at 20 minutes and half at "flameout" is a pretty good rule of thumb. That will give you extra bitterness as well as extra aroma. If you're just aiming for bitterness, boil 'em, and if you want extra aroma, dry-hop 'em (add to the fermenter).

Justibone said:

If you want extra hops in your ale, then adding half of 'em at 20 minutes and half at "flameout" is a pretty good rule of thumb. That will give you extra bitterness as well as extra aroma. If you're just aiming for bitterness, boil 'em, and if you want extra aroma, dry-hop 'em (add to the fermenter).

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Okay, this is going to sound really, really noobish, I think, but I gotta ask. When you say "Adding Hops" do you just dump them into the wort as is, even if they are pellets? Or do you filter them in with a bag? The reason I ask is that I always though you just put them straight in, but then I heard someone mention putting them into a bag first.

Crap there is so much to learn. I am having that "Old dog, new trick" syndrome.

Alleydude said:

Okay, this is going to sound really, really noobish, I think, but I gotta ask. When you say "Adding Hops" do you just dump them into the wort as is, even if they are pellets? Or do you filter them in with a bag? The reason I ask is that I always though you just put them straight in, but then I heard someone mention putting them into a bag first.

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You can do either. If you want to be able to pull them out, then put them in a nylon mesh bag, or pantyhose, or whatever. If you filter your beer anyways, or you don't care because they will settle out with the trub, then just throw them on in any way you like.

It really is a matter of preference, but if you don't remove them you will have more trub-loss.

Hops are inherently anti-microbial, so there is no need to sanitize them before adding to your beer -- which makes it convenient to dry hop with them.

Alleydude said:

I wish I'd read this yesterday. I just did my batch with Cowboy Golden Lager by starting with some Muntons Hopped Dark DME, boiling it up and adding my Cowboy HME at the start of the boil and let it go for an hour, stiring the whole time.

Wasn't really shooting for any specific taste, it's more of a "Let's see what this does" and hoping for the best.

So if I understand correctly, I should have boiled the DME for a length of time, adding the HME at the end, getting it mixed in thuroughly, then immediatly dumping into my keg?

And look at me using abbreviations like a pro! :rockin:

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Well, I just bottled this yesterday. I am really excited about it, even if I did get the process messed up. Even if it tastes like crap, as long as it has flavor I know I am going in the right direction. Sample tastes don't taste too bad, though. I think this just might be a really good brew.

And thanks again to all the people who have shared their knowledge. I really appreciate the help and guidance.

Sounds good! Always remember to write down all your recipes because even with experimentation, you can get that one batch that makes you go, "damn, that's delishus! I wish I remembered how I made it!"

Darklordenron said:

Sounds good! Always remember to write down all your recipes because even with experimentation, you can get that one batch that makes you go, "damn, that's delishus! I wish I remembered how I made it!"

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Agree w/ taking notes for future reference. I've only brewed 4 batches and only one of those has made it to the drinking phase but I started an Excel spreadsheet w/ a tab for every beer brewed. I note where I deviate from the MrB recipe (e.g., no booster, type of DME, type of liquid yeast substituted for MrB yeast, added ingredients), fermentation notes (when active ferment started & for how long, temps observed), bottling notes, how long for conditioning and tasting notes (with a note for each surveillance beer). I hope to improve any future re-brews w/ these notes.

SociallyDistorted said:

Agree w/ taking notes for future reference.

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I second that. Seems like most of what I record is mistakes. If you're like me and you don't learn from your mistakes, reading thru the last brews notes reminds me where I can improve.

Has anyone done the maibock from mr. Beer, started mine a week ago, and was looking for any hints, tips, mistakes to avoid.

Ill summarize:

Don't use booster
Don't ferment at too high a temperature
Do sanitize everything well
Don't be afraid if your fermentation looks funny (unless it looks AT you funny..)
You may want to do a 3-3-3 schedule for your bigger beers. I've had nothing but better beer once I adopted this for ALL my beers.
Do keep asking questions. It's how you get better at brewing awesome beer!

Darklordenron said:

Ill summarize:

Don't use booster
Don't ferment at too high a temperature
Do sanitize everything well
Don't be afraid if your fermentation looks funny (unless it looks AT you funny..)
You may want to do a 3-3-3 schedule for your bigger beers. I've had nothing but better beer once I adopted this for ALL my beers.
Do keep asking questions. It's how you get better at brewing awesome beer!

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I didn't use a booster
I'm fermenting at 51 degrees
I sanitized the **** out of everything
Everything looks fine, even looking at it cross eyed
I was planning on 3 in the primary but was then a little lost after that, 3 weeks secondary, or bottle, cold crash?, diactel rest, 3 weeks fridge after bottling? I just opened two different beers, both sweet, 1st two weeks primary 5 week bottle, 2 weeks, fridge, second three weeks primary, 6 weeks bottle, two fridge, help?

Darklordenron said:

Ill summarize:

Don't use booster
Don't ferment at too high a temperature
Do sanitize everything well
Don't be afraid if your fermentation looks funny (unless it looks AT you funny..)
You may want to do a 3-3-3 schedule for your bigger beers. I've had nothing but better beer once I adopted this for ALL my beers.
Do keep asking questions. It's how you get better at brewing awesome beer!

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Booster gets a bad rap, but I think it's undeserved. I think part of the problem is that people use Booster with their first batch, they're underwhelmed, they replace it with UME (or LME or DME), they watch their temperatures more closely and use better water, they upgrade the yeast and the beer turns out better. They then conclude that the Booster was the reason their first beer turned out poorly.

Change 4 or 5 things and attribute the difference in taste to one of the changes?

Use Booster, but use it properly. Recognize it for what it is and what it does. Also recognize it for what it is not and what it doesn't do.

It increases alcohol level without affecting flavor or body (many will claim that it thins the beer, but when pressed, they'll admit that they used twice as much malt in the recipe without the Booster). Although it has unfermentable sugars, it should still be counted as an adjunct. If you have enough malt, adding Booster will increase the ABV and won't thin the beer or add cidery tastes to it.

bpgreen said:

Use Booster, but use it properly. Recognize it for what it is and what it does. Also recognize it for what it is not and what it doesn't do.
.

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So for my next brew I was planning on bumping the ABV by using booster left over from a previous batch that I replaced it w/ DME. So in future batches if it calls for booster do I use the amount the recipe calls for plus the 1lb of DME? How about a recipe that does not call for booster and uses just LME and/or UME? Again, do I use the whole packet of booster?

SociallyDistorted said:

So for my next brew I was planning on bumping the ABV by using booster left over from a previous batch that I replaced it w/ DME. So in future batches if it calls for booster do I use the amount the recipe calls for plus the 1lb of DME? How about a recipe that does not call for booster and uses just LME and/or UME? Again, do I use the whole packet of booster?

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If I use Booster, I generally use a full packet, just because it's less hassle than trying to split and store it. I just make sure that I'm also using enough malt that the Booster doesn't make up more than 1/3 of the fermentable sugar (and it usually accounts for less than that). So if you're using 1 HME and 1 lb of DME, it's fine to use the Booster. I wouldn't go out and buy extra Booster, but if I have a standard refill, I use the Booster rather than throw it out.

Just thought I'd check in. My first beer was the Canadian draft with 1 lb DME instead of booster and 1 oz chinook hops. I never actually fermented in the mr beer I more used it as a sanitizer bucket. Fermented in a 3 gal better bottle 2 wks then bottled and let age 3 wks ( with many tastings of course). Chilled the remaining 5 bottles this morning and opened one tonight. Pretty happy with it. Carbed with DME. Good carb, good head, nice lacing, but a bit lacking in the body dept for me. Still overall I'm happy with my first beer. Never did take gravity readings but it's fairly potent beer. Tonight I made a northern brewer chinook IPA extract kit cuz I really liked the aroma of the chinook hop when I did my first batch. I got some 6 gal better bottles and the chinook IPA is currently in one of those. Think I'm gonna keep this one in the pipeline but tweak the ingredients some. One day I may go AG but for now I'm happy where I'm at. Once again, thanks to HBT and mr beer for sparking this hobby for me. Cheers!

chrismcdaniel3128 said:

I didn't use a booster
I'm fermenting at 51 degrees
I sanitized the **** out of everything
Everything looks fine, even looking at it cross eyed
I was planning on 3 in the primary but was then a little lost after that, 3 weeks secondary, or bottle, cold crash?, diactel rest, 3 weeks fridge after bottling? I just opened two different beers, both sweet, 1st two weeks primary 5 week bottle, 2 weeks, fridge, second three weeks primary, 6 weeks bottle, two fridge, help?

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I think he meant 3 weeks in primary, 3 weeks in the bottle at 70 degrees, and 3 weeks in the fridge. Of course, he was talking about ales. Since you're making a lager the process is a little different.

From what I've read (I'm currently in the process of making my first lager, so I'm not the foremost authority on this), basically you want to ferment your lager in the low 50's until it's almost complete then raise the temperature into the low 60's for a diacetyl rest (they say you can do the diacetyl rest after primary fermentation has completed, but it takes longer). Then slowly lower the temperature (by a few degrees each day) into the low 30's to lager for 3-4 weeks.

Basically, I followed the above schedule except I don't have the greatest temperature control, so after the diacetyl rest I transferred to a carboy and moved that back in the cold part of my basement to get the beer back down to the low 50's. It stayed there for a week, until I kicked the keg in my kegerator, then I moved it into the kegerator where it will lager for another 3-4 weeks.

Now that I look, John Palmer recommends lagering for even longer than I'm planning, of course some of the recommendations on the online version are little outdated. Specifically his recommendations about transferring to secondary for ales.
http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter10-5.html

jb721 said:

Pretty happy with it. Carbed with DME. Good carb, good head, nice lacing, but a bit lacking in the body dept for me. Still overall I'm happy with my first beer.

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Get some Crystal 10L or 20L grains... those are nice, generic grains that don't require enzymatic mashing - you can essentially just make "tea" with them and add that tea to your brew. It will give more body, more flavor, more proteins... just more.

The numbers refer to the color of the malt, and those two are about the lightest you can get. 10L tastes a bit like honey and 20L tastes a bit closer to caramel. You can experiment with darker if you want, but 10L and 20L will be good in almost any kind of beer (dry stout? maybe not, but most everything else).

Grind the grains in a mill, or just crack them with a rolling pin. Don't turn them to flour! Add about 4 oz. per gallon, on the low side, to get that extra extra, you know? Cook 'em for 45 minutes in 145-150F water, about 1 quart per pound is a good volume. Don't dump the grains themselves in the boil, or else tannins will get in your beer.

EDIT: 4 oz. per gallon of either 10L or 20L is my personal minimum. Your taste may vary. Also, smashing them to flour is generally considered bad because of stuck sparges, etc, which you won't worry about, but if unconverted starches get in your beer they will leave a haze. Put the crushed grains in a coffee filter, nylon bag, nylon stocking... whatever, if you want to be able to pull them out easily. If you just dump the grains in the pot you're using, just pour the liquid off the top into your boilpot, and don't worry about the little bit of liquid left behind. You only need a separate pot if you don't have a way to pull the grains out -- otherwise you can just add more water and malt extract, boiling in the same pot so long as the grains are out of there.

Justibone said:

Get some Crystal 10L or 20L grains...

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Yeah the northern brewer Chinook IPA kit I just made had a pound of grains with it. I think it's going to be really good. I tasted the wort I took an OG reading from and it was good. I've still got another oz of hops I'm going to dry hop when I rack it to secondary. I'm probably going to make this recipe again but tweak the ingredients to make it a little more unique. I really like the Chinook hops so I'll probably go more than the 3 oz they give you with the kit next batch I make. Cheers!

jb721 said:

Yeah the northern brewer Chinook IPA kit I just made had a pound of grains with it. I think it's going to be really good. I tasted the wort I took an OG reading from and it was good. I've still got another oz of hops I'm going to dry hop when I rack it to secondary. I'm probably going to make this recipe again but tweak the ingredients to make it a little more unique. I really like the Chinook hops so I'll probably go more than the 3 oz they give you with the kit next batch I make. Cheers!

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Have brewed this several times now, it's fantastic. Some don't like Chinook as a flavor hop because of the "aggressive, resinous" character but I love it, hope yours turns out well.

jb

NeuroJoe said:

Have brewed this several times now, it's fantastic. Some don't like Chinook as a flavor hop because of the "aggressive, resinous" character but I love it, hope yours turns out well.

jb

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Did you stick with the recipe? Next time I make it I may add more chinook depending how it turns out. Discovered chinook by accident. Randomly chose it to jazz up a Canadian light I made.
Cheers!

So I'm trying to quickly brew a batch before I head out of town for the weekend. It's one with some leftover ingredients I have laying around. I have:

1 can Octoberfect Vienna Lager HME
1 pack Booster
1 lb. Golden Light DME
1/4 oz Hallertau hops
2 oz. peach extract
Mr. Beer yeast
2 Gallons Deer Park water

That's the recipe, anyway. My main questions are do I use the Booster as well as the DME? Actual MRB recipes call for a can of UME which I don't have, and was planning to substitute the DME for the UME.

Second, how exactly do I boil the DME?

I plan on adding the peach extract after fermentation has occoured to preserve some of the flavoring. Also I will be dry hopping this batch.
Thanks guys!:rockin:

A few weeks ago I bought a Mr. Beer as I have been very interested in starting homebrewing for some time but wanted an easy way to get into it in an inexpensive way. I was in the Navy for 6 years and developed a serious love for beer and really wanted to brew but never had time and now since I'm in college I have loads of time.

I started my first batch right when I got the product in the mail. I followed the directions provided with the Mr. Beer kit and felt pretty good about the whole process. It hasn't started warming up here yet so my house is still relatively cold (we keep it in the mid to mid-upper 60's). I keep the keg in the upstairs bathroom which has the best temperature control and is also the warmest room in the house.

A few days ago I bottled the batch, which was 17 days after I started the brew. As I was bottling it (I was using growlers (sp?) from beer that I had bought from microbrews in the past) I noticed the beer looked very light (was using the West Coast Pale Ale recipe). I didn't check up on the beer much as it was fermenting as I simply figured it was idiot proof but this seemed peculiar. I also tasted a slight bit and it tasted a bit funny. I guess I'll see in a few weeks after carbonating to see how it is.

Now to my main question. I understand that too high of a temperature is bad because of the microbiology with yeast, but is it possible to be in a too cold temperature? By too cold I'd mean low 60's, nothing lower. I may run in to a problem this summer with finding an adequate room in the house to keep my brews at the proper temperature. Thanks for the help!

* Also wanted to ask about water quality. I think my tap water is pretty good, should I get a water analysis from the city while using Mr. Beer or should I be fine. My place doesn't have a water softener or any of that fancy crap, just straight city water.

Absolutely, you can have too cold of a fermentation temp if the yeast can't handle it. Make sure you are within the range of temps with your yeasts and that they can survive the estimated ABV of your beer. If these two conditions are met you will have a 99.999% chance of good fermentation. Just always shoot for your actual fermentation temps to be about 5-10 degrees warmer than ambient temperature, it's a good rule of thumb. I always ferment at around 60-62, then move the keg to a place in the house that's at 70 after fermentation is complete (use hydrometer) and I've never had issues with Mr. Beer stuff that way.

Look up 'swamp cooler' if you anticipate having trouble with temperature control.

As far as water goes, I simply use 2 gallons of Deer Park in the jugs. Why risk it? You could also use a charcoal filter, Britain filter etc with tap water but that's an unneeded expense IMO.