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I don't put 10% simple sugars into my beers, it was an example. Replace 10% with ANY other number you like. Sugar thins out a beer. Less sugar thins it out less. Simple. Why do we add sugar? To bump up alcohol and decrease body, whereas adding additional malt will bump up alcohol and increase body because it won't be 100% fermentable like sugar is. Extract recipes sometimes use sugar to counter the fact that you can't control mash temp and thus, can't control fermentability of the extract. A IIPA made with extract almost always has plain sugar added for exactly that reason.

Just to be clear, I'm not trying to be critical or attacking here, just engaging in a philosophical debate about methods of making the best bet possible.

Fair enough on the 10% being arbitrary. I thought maybe you were making american lagers. While a malt increase won't be 100% fermentable, you can still make up for that with the mash temp in most cases. Also, efficiency can play a huge role here. When you have a higher efficiency on the mash the finished beer feels thinner to me.

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Just to be clear, I'm not trying to be critical or attacking here, just engaging in a philosophical debate about methods of making the best bet possible.

Fair enough on the 10% being arbitrary. I thought maybe you were making american lagers. While a malt increase won't be 100% fermentable, you can still make up for that with the mash temp in most cases. Also, efficiency can play a huge role here. When you have a higher efficiency on the mash the finished beer feels thinner to me.

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Agreed, and I think we are probably of the same mindset. I get that you can still have a full bodied beer when using sugar. Looking back at the first post I saw in this discussion, I guess I can't tell if JACWagon added the brown sugar as priming sugar and used to much, or if it went into the boil, or even how much was used? If you added it as priming sugar, I'd be more worried about bottle bombs than thin beer. I probably missed something from earlier in the thread though.

I bottled my Winter Ale the other day, smelled good. I used brown sugar so we will see how it turns out. Stupid me, I used too much sugar… did I ruin the whole batch?
 
Ok so ready to start batch 2 the patriot lager kit from MB. The light beer turned out great biggest hit at my Super Bowl party where my hawks kicked some bronco butt. Anyway, I got a 5 gal Carnot for 2nd stage and bottling, also bought some additional hops to add in. Opinions I'm asking for are should I do the hops in the primary stage and if so when should I add it or do I do it secondary stage? First time I'm trying this so need some advice. Tyia


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Ok so ready to start batch 2 the patriot lager kit from MB. The light beer turned out great biggest hit at my Super Bowl party where my hawks kicked some bronco butt. Anyway, I got a 5 gal Carnot for 2nd stage and bottling, also bought some additional hops to add in. Opinions I'm asking for are should I do the hops in the primary stage and if so when should I add it or do I do it secondary stage? First time I'm trying this so need some advice. Tyia


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Are you talking about dry hopping or doing a hop steeping when you add the extract? If you are talking about dry hopping, I do it in secondary.


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Are you talking about dry hopping or doing a hop steeping when you add the extract? If you are talking about dry hopping, I do it in secondary.


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I'm down to try either which would be better, and how much should I use for either or?


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MR BEER ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!! Ive been using it for about 30 years, and will never brew 5 gal batchs. Mr. Beer makes WAY better beer than any kit, extract, or all grain batch. Well, ok, Im kidding.. BUT, Mr Beer is what got me into home brewing and for that I tip my hat to you Mr. Beer, you have wetted my appitite for the thrill of home brew. So all of you that have them, use them. And when you run out of refill kits that you bought, order, or buy some upgraded stuff and get to brewing some 5 gal batches. Extract with steeping grains. You wont be sorry. I plan on using my Mr. Beer to make a batch of Alpenwein(sp)...Or possibly some smaller test batches of beer, possibly some that dont require a secondary like a wheat beer, or hef...(I think thats what I heard about those two beers anyway) But I am also a newbie, and this site is great and I hope you dont take too much flack about Mr. Beer, we all have to start
 
Hello everyone,

As I sit here I realize that on friday I can finally put my beer into the fridge :rockin:.

That being said, I had a few questions, I noticed over the weekend that there was still some priming sugar on the bottom of the bottles. Do I invert them a few more times to mix the sugar back into the beer, or is it to late for that and it will just ferment out over the next week?

Second, I am planning my next MR Beer Brew. Going to make the Octoberfest. (friend of mine moved up to 5 gal and gave me his kit.) I was thinking about doing some of the things everyone has mentioned and taking this kit to the next level. Since I already have one of the refills I thought I could go to the Mr. Beer site and order the deluxe refill kit.

It comes with a can of hopped extract, a brewmax LME soft pack (smooth), and sanitizer. So I would be using 2 cans of extract and the LME soft pack (I don't have a LHBS so im out of luck on ordering DME unless I get it from somewhere else. This refill seemed to have everything except that.)

Will the LME have the same effect on the beer as the DME? or am I better off paying for the standard refill somewhere else (amazon) and finding the DME online? Also how would I handle using 2 cans of extract?

Thank you all for being so helpful. I can see that this is one hobby that is going to consume me and I'm only still a noob who hasn't even taken the big leap yet.
 
I'm down to try either which would be better, and how much should I use for either or?


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It really depends on what you are going for on a flavor profile. If the patriot lager is anything like a Sam Adams, I would add in some caramunich steeped at 150 for 30 minutes and then add hops with it and in secondary dryhopping. Make a nice malty amber pale ale or ipa. It would take a decent amount of hops though. 1\2 to 1 oz at both points.

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Hello everyone,

As I sit here I realize that on friday I can finally put my beer into the fridge :rockin:.

That being said, I had a few questions, I noticed over the weekend that there was still some priming sugar on the bottom of the bottles. Do I invert them a few more times to mix the sugar back into the beer, or is it to late for that and it will just ferment out over the next week?

Second, I am planning my next MR Beer Brew. Going to make the Octoberfest. (friend of mine moved up to 5 gal and gave me his kit.) I was thinking about doing some of the things everyone has mentioned and taking this kit to the next level. Since I already have one of the refills I thought I could go to the Mr. Beer site and order the deluxe refill kit.

It comes with a can of hopped extract, a brewmax LME soft pack (smooth), and sanitizer. So I would be using 2 cans of extract and the LME soft pack (I don't have a LHBS so im out of luck on ordering DME unless I get it from somewhere else. This refill seemed to have everything except that.)

Will the LME have the same effect on the beer as the DME? or am I better off paying for the standard refill somewhere else (amazon) and finding the DME online? Also how would I handle using 2 cans of extract?

Thank you all for being so helpful. I can see that this is one hobby that is going to consume me and I'm only still a noob who hasn't even taken the big leap yet.

Are you sure it's sugar on the bottom and not sediment? Should be sediment at this point. If you are using the plastic bottles, are they firm? I would try one before deciding what to do with the others.

The lme and DME are liquid and dry versions of the same thing. The Mr beer lme might be a little different because It may have different malts for a "better" beer flavor profile. As for what it's going to do for you, I am a little confused exactly what you are using in your recipe if you order the Mr beer stuff. Could you clarify what your recipe is? Is it 2 cans of hopped extract?

For what it's worth, there are a lot of homebrew websites out there to order from, so you aren't out of luck not having a brick and mortar store.

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Hello,

In the video of Mr. Beer brewing it says to stir before pitching the yeast, but in the written directions it says to stir after pitching the yeast.. Can someone tell me which it is?

Thanks
 
The bottles are very firm. I can get a little bit of a squeeze if i use lots of force but they spring right back out. It could be sediment, It kind of looks like sugar in the bottom of the bottles so thats what I thought it was (in the little bumps on the bottom, its a compact and a light tan/ almost white color)

I should have clarified, I know that DME and LME are the same but I have seen debates as to the effectiveness of LME vs DME and whether LME actually does much so that was my question. The Mr. Beer LME's were smooth, pale, golden, robust.... They also have smooth and pale in DME.

As of this morning I was looking at using 2 cans of hopped extract as my recipe. But I just discovered that Mr. Beer actually has some recipes on their site using their ingredients. So I am now looking at using one of them as a template. However I will have 2 cans of Hopped Extract to use (even if some of them call for one) so I guess the next question is, will it ruin the recipe if I use both cans (going to guess I should follow the recipe)?

The recipes I am looking at have suggested lager times between 2 weeks and 4 months... just so I don't look like a moron, thats cold bottle conditioning right?

I'm looking at doing either Mr Beer's "Rose's Rambling Red" Recipe or the "Munich Malt Monster" Recipe

the Malt Monster calls for 2 cans. But the Rambling Red calls for 1. So If I decide to do the red I could just use one can and save the other for another batch I guess.

Here are the links to the recipes:
http://www.mrbeer.com/product-exec/product_id/1312/nm/Munich_Malt_Monster_Recipe1

http://www.mrbeer.com/product-exec/product_id/1210/nm/Rose_s_Rambling_Red_Recipe1
 
Hello,

In the video of Mr. Beer brewing it says to stir before pitching the yeast, but in the written directions it says to stir after pitching the yeast.. Can someone tell me which it is?

Thanks

Both? You have to stir the malt extract in. You don't really have to stir the yeast in after though. This is more like cooking than baking. You do follow a recipe, but you can call an audible here and there without screwing it up. RDWHAHB

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Just an update on my sugar vs sediment post, it is sediment. So I am going to put them in the fridge friday.

As I said above i'm planing my next brew with Mr. Beer. I want to use one of their slightly more involved recipes (that uses LME OR DME & Hops in addition to their can o extract)

Both recipes involve lager times... I am still a little shaky on what that means. Am I fermenting at the temps they tell me too and then bottling and leaving the bottles in the fridge to cold age or am I fermenting and then storing the LBK in the cold before bottle carbing them? (sorry for the noob question)

Thanks in advance for being so helpful everyone
 
Just an update on my sugar vs sediment post, it is sediment. So I am going to put them in the fridge friday.

As I said above i'm planing my next brew with Mr. Beer. I want to use one of their slightly more involved recipes (that uses LME OR DME & Hops in addition to their can o extract)

Both recipes involve lager times... I am still a little shaky on what that means. Am I fermenting at the temps they tell me too and then bottling and leaving the bottles in the fridge to cold age or am I fermenting and then storing the LBK in the cold before bottle carbing them? (sorry for the noob question)

Thanks in advance for being so helpful everyone

Lagering is in the LBK while it is fermenting. Before bottling.
 
Well, after reading a discussion about mash temps and added sugar in the Mr. Beer thread (still not sure where that came from), I'll advise you to make sure you wait a solid two weeks before putting the bottles in the fridge if you used carbonation drops. If you used cane sugar as recommended by Mr. Beer, I'd wait three just in case.

As far as cold aging, you will accomplish the same either in the LBK or in bottles if it's an ale you brewed with ale yeast. If it's a lager, then you need to actually lager in bulk.

At one point, Mr. Beer kits had a habit of calling different things "lagers" when in reality they were ales because they used ale yeast and didn't require true lagering.


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Going to brew this, this afternoon just because I have an empty LBK right now, Any suggestions on additives or changes I can make to it to make a better brew than just the basic can? I haven't brewed this one before. Thanks!
 
Going to brew this, this afternoon just because I have an empty LBK right now, Any suggestions on additives or changes I can make to it to make a better brew than just the basic can? I haven't brewed this one before. Thanks!

What are you brewing? I think the general consensus is that using a better yeast, adding DME, and some form of hopping makes most of the kits better, but I can't recommend that without knowing what you are brewing.

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What are you brewing? I think the general consensus is that using a better yeast, adding DME, and some form of hopping makes most of the kits better, but I can't recommend that without knowing what you are brewing.

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MExican Cerveza!
 
MExican Cerveza!

I've never even has this kit so I don't know for sure but I would likely add 1% ABV worth of extra light DME just to round it out. Use an online program to figure out just how much to add.

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Lol, I will keep to an extract mix of all-grain

What does that mean?

When you brew with Extract, you use DME (Dry/Dried Malt Extract) or LME (Liquid Malt Extract). When you brew all grain, you use no extract, only grains which you mash to extract the sugars.

Do you mean a partial mash (PM), which uses some grains that are mashed to augment the extract?
 
Ok so patriot lager is in the keg gonna wait about a week then transfer to carboy to reduce sediment. Was thinking of adding some hops at that point. LHBS guy recommended hallertau I have 2oz of it. Thought? Recommendations? On how/when I should add this?


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Put my ACL in the fridge almost a week ago. Tried one 24hrs in (I Couldn't control myself), has a sour apple finish to it. (not very strong but present). Tried a second after 2 more days, sour apple taste had just about disappeared.

Beer is pouring into a glass with head and retaining it for a time. Taste is fine for an ACL. It's beer, I made it (with everyone in this threads help) and I am hooked. Have time to make 1 more batch before I take the bar in july. After that batch is done, Mr. Beer is going to be used to make small batches I screw around with new techniques in and I will be moving up to 5 gallon batches.

Thanks Again guys :mug: Cheers :mug:
 
Hey all,

Brewed the Mr. Beer American Lager a few months back and now brewing the Hard Apple Cider kit. Hoping it goes well and I can get more into this.

I'm less than a week away from bottling and trying to make sure this works out decent enough that I don't get frustrated. I didn't do anything different than the Mr. Beer instructions to start, but is there anything I can do to make it better at this point? What would using brown sugar instead of white granulated when bottling do? Anything? Any suggestions?

Thanks
 
I've never used anything besides corn or cane sugar so I have no personal experience. I've brewed plenty of batches though - MrB, extract/specialty grains and all-grain, and I'd say one of the least significant things impacting a beer's characteristics is the source of carbonation, whether it is CO2 gas or some sugar source for conditioning/bottle priming.

Especially in the days when MrB was my kit, I don't think I would have noticed if I'd used brown instead of white sugar, and maybe nobody could tell a difference ever. The amount of flavor in half a teaspoon is probably negligible.

So wanting to try something different is cool, but I'd follow the best process to make the extract kit the way it is. Maybe next time try something different.
 
Hey all,

Brewed the Mr. Beer American Lager a few months back and now brewing the Hard Apple Cider kit. Hoping it goes well and I can get more into this.

I'm less than a week away from bottling and trying to make sure this works out decent enough that I don't get frustrated. I didn't do anything different than the Mr. Beer instructions to start, but is there anything I can do to make it better at this point? What would using brown sugar instead of white granulated when bottling do? Anything? Any suggestions?

Thanks

Scroll back a couple of pages and read what skitter and I were talking about. The kit instructions are not that good. The brown sugar (as we know it Inge the states) is basically refined white sugar with molasses added back to it in the processing. With that said, it will add a light molasses flavor to the beer. Try some bottles with it. I did 2 bottles each with different sugars to learn what it will do.

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Scroll back a couple of pages and read what skitter and I were talking about. The kit instructions are not that good. The brown sugar (as we know it Inge the states) is basically refined white sugar with molasses added back to it in the processing. With that said, it will add a light molasses flavor to the beer. Try some bottles with it. I did 2 bottles each with different sugars to learn what it will do.

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Sounds good, would the amount I put in be the same for brown sugar vs refined white?
 
Sounds good, would the amount I put in be the same for brown sugar vs refined white?

They are very close, so you could probably just use the same amount with decent results. If you want to be precise, you can try this priming calculator, it's breaks down the amount for several different types of sugar:
http://www.northernbrewer.com/priming-sugar-calculator/

If you are batch priming instead of bottle priming, you just need to figure out what fraction of a gallon each bottle is and enter that in for your volume (a liter is ~0.264 gallons, for example)
 
Hey all,

Brewed the Mr. Beer American Lager a few months back and now brewing the Hard Apple Cider kit. Hoping it goes well and I can get more into this.

I'm less than a week away from bottling and trying to make sure this works out decent enough that I don't get frustrated. I didn't do anything different than the Mr. Beer instructions to start, but is there anything I can do to make it better at this point? What would using brown sugar instead of white granulated when bottling do? Anything? Any suggestions?

Thanks
In my opinion, the time to make changes to improve the beer is when you're preparing the wort (with some exceptions such as dry hopping).

The purpose of the priming sugar is to give the yeast something to eat and convert to CO2. The amount used is so small that it's unlikely to do anything to change the flavor. I've only used white sugar and corn sugar to prime, but I can't imagine that changing the kind of sugar used for priming could make much of a flavor difference.
 
Thanks everyone, I will probably just use regular sugar or maybe try 1 with brown and see if I can tell the difference.

I just took a little sample from the spigot and it came out with a lot of sediment in it. Definitely would need filtered. This is probably because I lifted the LBK up to the counter to taste, but how do I avoid this happening when I go to bottle? I am thinking I could put it where I am going to bottle and prop up the front end slightly so the sediment falls to the back. Then in the afternoon when I bottle, gently put it back down flat and hopefully the sediment will stay in the back. Any other suggestions?
 
Thanks everyone, I will probably just use regular sugar or maybe try 1 with brown and see if I can tell the difference.

I just took a little sample from the spigot and it came out with a lot of sediment in it. Definitely would need filtered. This is probably because I lifted the LBK up to the counter to taste, but how do I avoid this happening when I go to bottle? I am thinking I could put it where I am going to bottle and prop up the front end slightly so the sediment falls to the back. Then in the afternoon when I bottle, gently put it back down flat and hopefully the sediment will stay in the back. Any other suggestions?

I never filtered. I always propped the front up and left it propped while bottling.

I suppose another option would be to open the spigot and let it flow until the sediment stopped.
 
One thing I like to do is brew up a batch in the Mr Beer keg, but after I pitch the yeast, I transfer to two one gallon carboys and attach blowout tubes to filter off the krauesen during primary fermentation. After 3-4 days put on two bubblers and watch the action. Rack to a bottling bucket to bottle. Stick with corn sugar and do batch instead of bottle. Enjoy a brew!

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Just started out with a Mr. Beer kit and it's been fermenting for two weeks. Seems like a good starter set to get you the very basic idea of brewing and also the LBK could be reusable for small batching as well.
 
i have brewed about 12 Mr Beer kits now and i always get the same result, decent beer, but a "green" taste to it. I am not sure why i am getting this off taste. any ideas? I have brewed many different types and added DME, LME, etc. all with the same slightly off flavor. the darker/hoppier beers disguise this off taste more, but i can still tell its there. i even did the hard cider beer and i am getting the same thing.

I follow the same process each time.
1. sanitizer everything (Mr. Beer sanitizer)
2. boil water
3. add HME (and others if adding)
4. fill LBK with water (spring water purchased from store)
5. add HME mixture to LBK
6. top off with more spring water
7. let sit until the temperature evens out
8. take a OG sample
9. add yeast
10. move to basement, wrap in blanket, let sit
11. take SG readings until they level out. when i taste the test tube sample, they taste a little "green" still also, but the readings are usually good.

bottling
1. sanitize everything
2. use vinator to clean bottles
3. add fizz drop or cane sugar to bottles
4. fill bottles
5. store in basement for 2-3 weeks

the things that i am thinking about trying on the next batch is:
1. Different yeast. always used the yeast from Mr. Beer. bought some others from LHBS to try on next batch.
2. Use Star San instead of Mr. Beer sanitizer. also thought about running bottles through the dishwasher on sanitize.

are reoccurring off flavors more commonly due to cleaning/sanitizing or the ingredients? i assuming more to do with sanitizing because it happens with multiple different recipes. i may have answered my own question, but any other ideas out there? I really want to make a good beer that others will want to drink also. so far, i haven't been able to make a "good" beer. :(

I picked up a Caribou Slobber 1 gallon kit to try next. thought maybe going to something besides the Mr. Beer kit might be worth a shot also.

Any/all comments welcome. Thanks!
 
Hey all,

Brewed the Mr. Beer American Lager a few months back and now brewing the Hard Apple Cider kit. Hoping it goes well and I can get more into this.

I'm less than a week away from bottling and trying to make sure this works out decent enough that I don't get frustrated. I didn't do anything different than the Mr. Beer instructions to start, but is there anything I can do to make it better at this point? What would using brown sugar instead of white granulated when bottling do? Anything? Any suggestions?

Thanks



If this means you are following the recommended times, I think that one thing you can do is wait longer than they say. Let it sit at least two weeks in the LBK, I went three on all of mine, and three in the bottle. I always had very clear beer.

Homebrw 1.jpg


homebrew 2.jpg
 
i have brewed about 12 Mr Beer kits now and i always get the same result, decent beer, but a "green" taste to it. I am not sure why i am getting this off taste. any ideas? I have brewed many different types and added DME, LME, etc. all with the same slightly off flavor. the darker/hoppier beers disguise this off taste more, but i can still tell its there. i even did the hard cider beer and i am getting the same thing.

I follow the same process each time.
1. sanitizer everything (Mr. Beer sanitizer)
2. boil water
3. add HME (and others if adding)
4. fill LBK with water (spring water purchased from store)
5. add HME mixture to LBK
6. top off with more spring water
7. let sit until the temperature evens out
8. take a OG sample
9. add yeast
10. move to basement, wrap in blanket, let sit
11. take SG readings until they level out. when i taste the test tube sample, they taste a little "green" still also, but the readings are usually good.

bottling
1. sanitize everything
2. use vinator to clean bottles
3. add fizz drop or cane sugar to bottles
4. fill bottles
5. store in basement for 2-3 weeks

the things that i am thinking about trying on the next batch is:
1. Different yeast. always used the yeast from Mr. Beer. bought some others from LHBS to try on next batch.
2. Use Star San instead of Mr. Beer sanitizer. also thought about running bottles through the dishwasher on sanitize.

are reoccurring off flavors more commonly due to cleaning/sanitizing or the ingredients? i assuming more to do with sanitizing because it happens with multiple different recipes. i may have answered my own question, but any other ideas out there? I really want to make a good beer that others will want to drink also. so far, i haven't been able to make a "good" beer. :(

I picked up a Caribou Slobber 1 gallon kit to try next. thought maybe going to something besides the Mr. Beer kit might be worth a shot also.

Any/all comments welcome. Thanks!

More time in primary would likely help. I go 10-14 days minimum before bottling on a low gravity batch when I am pushing the timeline. The Mr beer yeast is absolute crap, use the other stuff you picked up. Do you know your fermentation temp? If not, get an LCD thermometer and apply it on the side down low. Keep your temps below 70f, but above 64f (depending on the yeast - some like to run a little cooler). Just out of curiosity, what yeast did the LHBS sell you? As for the star San, yes. Just yes. I don't think you have an infection though, just a little incomplete fermentation. The green apple you taste is acetaldehyde. Good luck and enjoy the hobby.

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