So I am new to the whole home brewing stuff. I still have a lot to learn but my girl friend just got me "The Beer Machine". I have my first batch fermenting right now (pale ale). I did some searching around the forums and I know a lot of the guys don't approve of it. However, it seems cool to me as I am just starting off. However, I don't see any reason why I couldn't use other recipes (like the full on home brewing) or even using some of the Mr. Beer mixes. Is this true? If so, if I follow the directions for each mix or recipe can I still use the CO2 canisters that the beer machine uses? Forgive me... like I said I am new at this and would like to really give it a shot. If I get more into it I may get into a bigger/better setup. Thanks in advance.
New - Beer Machine - Ingredients?
- Thread starter Lb51oO
- Start date
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Actually don't bother spending money on the mr beer or beer machine kits. Just treat the Beer machine (and mr beer for that matter) as a great small batch 2.5 gallon fermenter. Then all you need to do then is scale any 5 gallon recipe to 2.5 gallons...that includes extract, extract with grain, partial mash and even all grain recipes. And the use your beer machine to ferment in.
You can do all grain full volume boils on your stove with a 5 gallon brewpot and a small cooler (2-5 gallons...if you use a two gallon you don't even need to modify it to use it as a mash ton, especially for partial mashs or all grain.
You will find it is cheaper to go that route, and the beers will taste better.
I posted a lot of info in the mr beer thread that you may find helpful.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/mr-beer-read-all-about-ask-questions-46360/
I posted some all grain small batchrecipes here, https://www.homebrewtalk.com/785533-post702.html
ANd a bit of a primer on AG with pics here https://www.homebrewtalk.com/738927-post659.html
You can do all grain full volume boils on your stove with a 5 gallon brewpot and a small cooler (2-5 gallons...if you use a two gallon you don't even need to modify it to use it as a mash ton, especially for partial mashs or all grain.
You will find it is cheaper to go that route, and the beers will taste better.
I posted a lot of info in the mr beer thread that you may find helpful.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/mr-beer-read-all-about-ask-questions-46360/
I posted some all grain small batchrecipes here, https://www.homebrewtalk.com/785533-post702.html
ANd a bit of a primer on AG with pics here https://www.homebrewtalk.com/738927-post659.html
Actually don't bother spending money on the mr beer or beer machine kits. Just treat the Beer machine (and mr beer for that matter) as a great small batch 2.5 gallon fermenter. Then all you need to do then is scale any 5 gallon recipe to 2.5 gallons...that includes extract, extract with grain, partial mash and even all grain recipes. And the use your beer machine to ferment in.
You can do all grain full volume boils on your stove with a 5 gallon brewpot and a small cooler (2-5 gallons...if you use a two gallon you don't even need to modify it to use it as a mash ton, especially for partial mashs or all grain.
You will find it is cheaper to go that route, and the beers will taste better.
I posted a lot of info in the mr beer thread that you may find helpful.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/mr-beer-read-all-about-ask-questions-46360/
I posted some all grain small batchrecipes here, https://www.homebrewtalk.com/785533-post702.html
ANd a bit of a primer on AG with pics here https://www.homebrewtalk.com/738927-post659.html
Thanks a lot for all your help man. Lotta good info for me to read there. Now if I did follow one of those recipes can I still use the CO2 canisters towards the end of the brewing process... just like I would with the Beer Machine Mixes?
Ok with more reading I seem to have answered my last question. From reading a lot of people's experiences with the beer machine it seems that a lot of them get flat beer. So my question is, after I let it ferment for 7 days or so and I go to put it in the refrigerator should I add sugar to it to produce more CO2? I read that the CO2 chargers that hookup to the beer machine don't really get into the beer that well. Would it be ok to add at this stage in brewing? Sorry for the newb questions... thanks again.
beerkrump
Well-Known Member
CO2 can be generated by yeast or pumping it from a tank into the dead space of a keg. In either case, the CO2 then needs to go into solution for the beer to be carbonated. In the first case the yeast has to be active to eat the added sugar. This means no refridgeration because that will just put the yeast to sleep. The second case is quicker, but takes a lot of CO2, more than is in a little charger. I think the charger is there just to move the beer.
