Mr Beer - Read all about it and ask questions

I'm pretty sure you'll be fine..most tap water is pretty sanitary. You definitely diluted it a little.
It is a possibility you introduced some bugs. Just wait and see.

Toobs360 said:

First timer to the site here. And this is only my second batch of Homebrew....I'm making a blonde ale, during transfer to secondary carboy I noticed I was a little lower (4 gallons instead of the recommended 5) in my primary then I expected. Without thinking it through , I added about 2 cups of tap water without boiling before I stopped myself and had the ever lovely "WHAT HAVE I DONE!" moment.

Pretty much my question is: Did I just ruin my beer by adding 2 cups of water straight from the tap WITHOUT boiling it? It's been about 14 hours since I did it and I'm seeing little to no fermentation bubbles/processes going on.

Thank you in advance for your help!

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This is a thread aimed at people using Mr beer. You might get better help if you start a new thread.

I've never used a secondary, but I don't think I'd expect to see many bubbles since most fermentation is already finished. The water from the trap probably isn't the best practice, but you also probably didn't ruin your batch.

Hey all. I am trying to get rid of extra 1 Liter PET bottles from 3 mr beer kits. Only 14 of the 24 have been used and only for my first batch! They are all clean and in perfect conditions. Nothing wrong with them just wont be using them again as I like the normal 12oz glass bottles better. Thought this would be a nice deal for someone who could use them and really save some money. $20 + shipping takes them, paypal only. PM me is you are interested. Cheers!

here is a link to the for sale post https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f16/1-liter-pet-bottles-24-them-425232/

Start a thread in the for sale section

m3n00b said:

Start a thread in the for sale section

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ive done that. this is a better place to offer it up as everyone here probably uses them and i need to get rid of them

finsfan said:

ive done that. this is a better place to offer it up as everyone here probably uses them and i need to get rid of them

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Might get yourself into trouble....

I got this Lager kit from Mr Beer and I have some questions about the Lagering process.

http://www.mrbeer.com/product-exec/product_id/1267/nm/Turncoat_IPL

I have had it in the LBK for 17 days in a fridge at about 50F. About a week ago I'd say I started to see foam starting to develop on the top of the wort. It now looks like full blow fermentation has started. There is a nice layer of krausen going on now. The OG was 1.068. I have not taken another reading because it looks like the yeast is starting to become active. So my basic questions are:

1. I should still wait for the SG to bottom out and like normal?
2. Then should I diacetyl rest? and if so how long and around what temp?
3. Or/and should i rack to a secondary? If so how long should it stay there and at what temp? most things i read sound like 35-40F
4. Then comes the bottling. From what I have read it seems like most lagers are kegged. Well i don't have a keg set up. SO bottle conditioning... Bring to room temp and bottle? cold bottle? and then condition at room temp? cold? I want to avoid having bottle bombs. I only have 1L PET bottles I have been using, and not sure if they still could pop.

I bit off more then I can chew at this point in my brewing experience and I would like to try and make this turn out the best I can for right now. I am not going to make a lager for quite some time after this, but my wife is going to kill me if I screw this up and waste the money I spent without asking her...

boochuckles said:

1. I should still wait for the SG to bottom out and like normal?
2. Then should I diacetyl rest? and if so how long and around what temp?
3. Or/and should i rack to a secondary? If so how long should it stay there and at what temp? most things i read sound like 35-40F
4. Then comes the bottling. From what I have read it seems like most lagers are kegged. Well i don't have a keg set up. SO bottle conditioning... Bring to room temp and bottle? cold bottle? and then condition at room temp? cold? I want to avoid having bottle bombs. I only have 1L PET bottles I have been using, and not sure if they still could pop.

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2. I would recommend doing the diacetyl rest around 60 degrees with about 1/4 of the gravity points left. So maybe at around 1.020 or so.
3. I racked to secondary the last time I did a lager, I'm not sure that you have to.
4. Bottle condition at room temperature. Once they are carbed, move them to the fridge. You only risk bottle bombs if your fermentation is not complete or you add too much priming sugar.

Tombstone0 said:

3. I racked to secondary the last time I did a lager, I'm not sure that you have to.
4. Bottle condition at room temperature. Once they are carbed, move them to the fridge. You only risk bottle bombs if your fermentation is not complete or you add too much priming sugar.

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How long did you have them in the secondary and at what temp?

what is considered room temperature? I live in FL and that's like 80ish. How long should that condition be? 2 weeks? and then how long should they stay in the fridge and at what temp?

boochuckles said:

How long did you have them in the secondary and at what temp?

what is considered room temperature? I live in FL and that's like 80ish. How long should that condition be? 2 weeks? and then how long should they stay in the fridge and at what temp?

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I kept it warm for the d-rest for 5 days. Then I moved it to secondary for a week at 50 degrees. Then brought the temp down to the 30's to lager for another 2 weeks before I bottled.

Toobs360 said:

First timer to the site here. And this is only my second batch of Homebrew....I'm making a blonde ale, during transfer to secondary carboy I noticed I was a little lower (4 gallons instead of the recommended 5) in my primary then I expected. Without thinking it through , I added about 2 cups of tap water without boiling before I stopped myself and had the ever lovely "WHAT HAVE I DONE!" moment.

Pretty much my question is: Did I just ruin my beer by adding 2 cups of water straight from the tap WITHOUT boiling it? It's been about 14 hours since I did it and I'm seeing little to no fermentation bubbles/processes going on.

Thank you in advance for your help!

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This doesn't belong in the Mr. Beer thread, but whatever.

When I used to use Mr. Beer, and when my friends and I still brew 5 gallon batches from extracts, we always top off the primary fermentor with unboiled tap water, and it's never caused a problem. We happen to have very clean, high quality tap water here in the Chicago area. See what you can learn about your local tap water quality online or from your municipal gov.

I wouldn't have added water to the secondary, but that only means that you'll dilute the beer. Not wreck it. Also, the fact that you added water to the secondary makes it less likely that you will have caused a problem, because there is already a good bit of alcohol in there. At this point, sanitation is not really about spoiling a batch or not... it's more about avoiding off flavors.

I have been doing both MB and Brew Demon beers. Experimenting with adding additional flavoring ingredients etc. I have been using extra LBS and yeast too boost these mixs up. Currently have 2 batches of Spiced Xmas Ale in the fermenters. Only question is which one to do next ? Lol.

Maybe. Doubtful. The only thing you can do is push forward and see what happens. Chances are that you will be all right but something bad could happen, so just be aware of it.

Hey guys.

I have an older (clean) BR Beer fermenter (2 gal maybe)

Will this work well if i want to experiment with 1 gal batches?

saeroner said:

Hey guys.

I have an older (clean) BR Beer fermenter (2 gal maybe)

Will this work well if i want to experiment with 1 gal batches?

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That would be quite a bit of head space due to the shape of the LBK, and the lack of an active air lock. Why not up it to 2 gal experiments?

saeroner said:

Hey guys.

I have an older (clean) BR Beer fermenter (2 gal maybe)

Will this work well if i want to experiment with 1 gal batches?

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Which one do you have? If I remember correctly, there was a smaller clear one at one point that would probably work.

I started with Mr. Beer, and now am starting to go all-grain and am thinking about building myself a keezer. It's a gateway drug.

I gave my Mr. Beer stuff to a friend who is interested in trying out home brewing, and I hope it takes him down the same rabbit hole.

Hey everyone, I just tried my second brew from the Mr. Beer kit. The first one I made was the Bohemian Czech Pilsner and now the Aztec Cerveza, the two that came in the kit. The Pilsner came out pretty decent and was the first beer I have ever made. The only odd thing was that it had a very fruity almost apple-like after taste but it seemed to go away within another week of cold-conditioning. I let it ferment for a full two weeks and condition in the bottles at room temp for another two weeks. After that, I refrigerated a couple bottles for a full day and it had that really odd fruity flavor. Let the rest of the bottles chill for a week and it had mostly gone away and was much better. Why is this? I followed the same schedule for the Aztec Cerveza and tried one after one day of refrigeration and also has that same fruity flavor, but not quite as noticeable. Did I do something wrong or is a full week of cold conditioning a necessity?

BeerFan88 said:

Hey everyone, I just tried my second brew from the Mr. Beer kit. The first one I made was the Bohemian Czech Pilsner and now the Aztec Cerveza, the two that came in the kit. The Pilsner came out pretty decent and was the first beer I have ever made. The only odd thing was that it had a very fruity almost apple-like after taste but it seemed to go away within another week of cold-conditioning. I let it ferment for a full two weeks and condition in the bottles at room temp for another two weeks. After that, I refrigerated a couple bottles for a full day and it had that really odd fruity flavor. Let the rest of the bottles chill for a week and it had mostly gone away and was much better. Why is this? I followed the same schedule for the Aztec Cerveza and tried one after one day of refrigeration and also has that same fruity flavor, but not quite as noticeable. Did I do something wrong or is a full week of cold conditioning a necessity?

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What you tasted is often referred to as a cidery taste. It's a result of acetaldehyde. It's a sign of "green" beer, or beer that isn't quite ready. I tend to give my beers even longer conditioning than that. I usually ferment for 2 weeks (sometimes 3, if it's cooler or if it's a big beer). I then warm condition for at least a month and cold condition for a week or two.

bpgreen said:

What you tasted is often referred to as a cidery taste. It's a result of acetaldehyde. It's a sign of "green" beer, or beer that isn't quite ready. I tend to give my beers even longer conditioning than that. I usually ferment for 2 weeks (sometimes 3, if it's cooler or if it's a big beer). I then warm condition for at least a month and cold condition for a week or two.

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Thank you very much for the input. I thought it was odd that the Mr. Beer box says "Beer in as little as 2 weeks". I followed the directions step by step and went with the longest periods recommended for each part of the process. 2 weeks for fermentation and 2 weeks for bottle conditioning and all it says about cold conditioning is to give the beer at least 4-6 hours in the fridge before drinking. I think what they consider to be the maximum time needed should actually be the minimum time required. I will try letting this batch warm condition for two more weeks and cold condition for a week or so. Thanks again!

BeerFan88 said:

Thank you very much for the input. I thought it was odd that the Mr. Beer box says "Beer in as little as 2 weeks". I followed the directions step by step and went with the longest periods recommended for each part of the process. 2 weeks for fermentation and 2 weeks for bottle conditioning and all it says about cold conditioning is to give the beer at least 4-6 hours in the fridge before drinking. I think what they consider to be the maximum time needed should actually be the minimum time required. I will try letting this batch warm condition for two more weeks and cold condition for a week or so. Thanks again!

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Well, you can get beer in as little as two weeks, but it takes longer to get good beer.

bpgreen said:

Well, you can get beer in as little as two weeks, but it takes longer to get good beer.

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This!

Especially with the "pilsner" and "lager" kits. You're brewing an ale that is trying to imitate a lager. In all honesty, with those kits, I'd go two weeks in the lbk, two weeks in the bottle to carb, and then (brace yourself) 6-8 weeks in the fridge cold conditioning.

BigJack said:

This!

Especially with the "pilsner" and "lager" kits. You're brewing an ale that is trying to imitate a lager. In all honesty, with those kits, I'd go two weeks in the lbk, two weeks in the bottle to carb, and then (brace yourself) 6-8 weeks in the fridge cold conditioning.

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Thanks for the advice! Maybe I will experiment with the cold conditioning duration. Try one after 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks.

BigJack said:

This!

Especially with the "pilsner" and "lager" kits. You're brewing an ale that is trying to imitate a lager. In all honesty, with those kits, I'd go two weeks in the lbk, two weeks in the bottle to carb, and then (brace yourself) 6-8 weeks in the fridge cold conditioning.

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I've had good luck with 2 weeks in the LBK, but better results with 4 weeks in LBK, 2 weeks in the bottle, 1 week in the fridge. I think the key is the 2 weeks in the bottle and fridge time. I have one that's been room temp for a year. I should chill it and try it.

If you're going to cold condition your beers I would recommend 3 weeks warm in the bottle first.

m3n00b said:

If you're going to cold condition your beers I would recommend 3 weeks warm in the bottle first.

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I'll probably put half the bottles in the fridge this weekend. Been in the bottles about 2.5 weeks at room temp at this point. Just to experiment, I will keep the rest of the bottles at room temp until next weekend and put them in the fridge.

Quick question, I been fermenting a WCPA for about a 9 days now and it seems like nothing is going on. I took a SG reading of 1.054 in the beginning and the reading today is was 1.050. Should I try new yeast? Fermenting temperature has been 70. There seems to be some white patches floating in the inside and a couple of small spots on top.

You could try stirring it. If that doesn't get it fermenting again, another batch of yeast would be something to try. Did krausen form? Hard to imagine only four points of change...

bzwyatt said:

You could try stirring it. If that doesn't get it fermenting again, another batch of yeast would be something to try. Did krausen form? Hard to imagine only four points of change...

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No real krausen visible, only small foam of bubbles for the first few days. I think I may try racking and use new yeast.

I would advocate for more yeast. WCPA was part of the old Mr Beer line-up, before Coopers took over. That yeast may well be dead.

i have two cans of LME Grand Bohemian Czech Pilsner. I'm thinking of making a wort with both cans.
Is it still 4 cups of boiling water (removed from heat) then add two cans or would I need to use more water?
Anyone recommend any hops to add to the hot water?
Would I use two packs of the Mr. Beer yeast in my LBK or should I use a different "higher quality" yeast from a LBHS?

TIA

ericbw said:

I've had good luck with 2 weeks in the LBK, but better results with 4 weeks in LBK, 2 weeks in the bottle, 1 week in the fridge. I think the key is the 2 weeks in the bottle and fridge time. I have one that's been room temp for a year. I should chill it and try it.

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so did you try the year old conditioned beer yet?

iluvmysh said:

so did you try the year old conditioned beer yet?

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I know this wasn't directed at me, but I pretty regularly condition beers for over a year before putting them in the fridge. When I keg, I drink the beer a lot sooner, but bottled beer gets a long time in the bottle. It's fine to do this as long as you're careful with sanitation and ensuring that you don't have any issues with oxidation.

iluvmysh said:

i have two cans of LME Grand Bohemian Czech Pilsner. I'm thinking of making a wort with both cans.
Is it still 4 cups of boiling water (removed from heat) then add two cans or would I need to use more water?
Anyone recommend any hops to add to the hot water?
Would I use two packs of the Mr. Beer yeast in my LBK or should I use a different "higher quality" yeast from a LBHS?

TIA

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I think you still use 4 cups of hot water.

I think the GBCP is pretty close to a traditional Pilsner, so if you want to add some hops, you should use Saaz hops.

I think the yeast in the kits is high quality, but if you are going to brew it as a true lager, you would want to use lager yeast. If you want to make an ale, but somewhat lager-like, and you can ferment in the low 60s, you could use Safale US-05 (or WLP-001 or Wyeast-1056; all three are the Chico strain) or if you'll be fermenting in the mid to upper 50s, you could use Danstar Nottingham.

bpgreen said:

I know this wasn't directed at me, but I pretty regularly condition beers for over a year before putting them in the fridge. When I keg, I drink the beer a lot sooner, but bottled beer gets a long time in the bottle. It's fine to do this as long as you're careful with sanitation and ensuring that you don't have any issues with oxidation.

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so how did it taste?

taste of beer conditioned for 1 year+ vs conditioned for any other length of time?

bpgreen said:

I think you still use 4 cups of hot water.

I think the GBCP is pretty close to a traditional Pilsner, so if you want to add some hops, you should use Saaz hops.

I think the yeast in the kits is high quality, but if you are going to brew it as a true lager, you would want to use lager yeast. If you want to make an ale, but somewhat lager-like, and you can ferment in the low 60s, you could use Safale US-05 (or WLP-001 or Wyeast-1056; all three are the Chico strain) or if you'll be fermenting in the mid to upper 50s, you could use Danstar Nottingham.

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i don't have a way regulating my temperature, as i'm fermenting it in my bathroom which seems to stay a consistent 69 degrees. so i'll probably use your former advice, rather than the latter.

BigJack said:

I would advocate for more yeast. WCPA was part of the old Mr Beer line-up, before Coopers took over. That yeast may well be dead.

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Well I used some Nottingham this morning, sanatized everything including the package, boiled the water cooled and rehydrated the yeast in a jar. It took of with in an hour could see thick bubbles. I then repitched to my existing wort this morning.

At lunch I checked on it and could see that a bout two inches of krausen had formed. Hopefully there is no infection after it finishes fermentation.

iluvmysh said:

so how did it taste?

taste of beer conditioned for 1 year+ vs conditioned for any other length of time?

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I guess I could have been more clear. I let the beers condition for a long time because I think it improves the flavor. If you like a lot of hop flavor, that seems to dissipate over time, so keep that in mind. But letting a beer condition for three months or more really gives it a chance to have all the flavors blend together nicely.

A side effect of this is that more of the yeast falls out of suspension and the longer it sits, the more the trub compacts on the bottom. I can usually pour a beer without leaving any behind and not get any trub in the glass.

bpgreen said:

I guess I could have been more clear. I let the beers condition for a long time because I think it improves the flavor. If you like a lot of hop flavor, that seems to dissipate over time, so keep that in mind. But letting a beer condition for three months or more really gives it a chance to have all the flavors blend together nicely.

A side effect of this is that more of the yeast falls out of suspension and the longer it sits, the more the trub compacts on the bottom. I can usually pour a beer without leaving any behind and not get any trub in the glass.

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i understand what you meant. i've had it drilled in me esp on the apfelwein thread. i was just curious if it did anything to the beer as it would have done the apfelwein. but it doesn't matter for me right now, i'm trying to be patient in waiting at least 2 weeks before i start to refrigerate my first beer, let alone a year.

thanks for your input.
btw, would you use both packets of Mr.Beer yeast in the double LME boil?

iluvmysh said:

i understand what you meant. i've had it drilled in me esp on the apfelwein thread. i was just curious if it did anything to the beer as it would have done the apfelwein. but it doesn't matter for me right now, i'm trying to be patient in waiting at least 2 weeks before i start to refrigerate my first beer, let alone a year.

thanks for your input.
btw, would you use both packets of Mr.Beer yeast in the double LME boil?

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I'd use both packs of yeast, but not in the boil. Boiling would kill the yeast.