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ok thanks. I made a trip to the LHBS today and bought some stuff to make 5 gal batches. I finished starting a 5 gal batch of coopers bitter about an hour and a half ago. I'm already seeing action in the airlock. im getting a bubble about every 2 minutes or so. I'm guessing that's a good sign.
 
I've been wanting to brew my own beer for a while now. I was looking at getting a Mr. Beer kit, just to see if it's actually something I can do. I figured I could use it once or twice, then move up to a nicer setup. I stopped by my LHBS, and noticed their basic kits start at $70. Would I be better off just going with the kit from my LHBS over the Mr. Beer kit? I plan on kegging my beer, seeing that I already have a kegging system in place.
 
Kazakaz said:
I've been wanting to brew my own beer for a while now. I was looking at getting a Mr. Beer kit, just to see if it's actually something I can do. I figured I could use it once or twice, then move up to a nicer setup. I stopped by my LHBS, and noticed their basic kits start at $70. Would I be better off just going with the kit from my LHBS over the Mr. Beer kit? I plan on kegging my beer, seeing that I already have a kegging system in place.
Click to expand...

If you have a kegging system, then go for the full size 5 gallon kits.
 
Hi everyone. What a great forum and I have learned a lot reading through this thread. We recently purchased a Mr Beer kit to give in a gift exchange and I was intrigued enough to get one for myself. On Thanksgiving Day, I opened up the package, mixed my WCPA (with the booster pack) per the instructions and it's in the fermenter.

We keep our house quite cool during our Michigan winters so I have converted the first floor powder room to my brew closet and put in a space heater to keep the room in the 68-70 degree range. Now that I have read through much of this thread, I understand that this will be a longer process than I anticipated. I pitched on 11/27 and am planning to let it go in the keg until 12/13 or 12/14, a total of 16-17 days. I will then bottle (using corn sugar) and let it carb/condition for at least 3 weeks. I will be using 16 oz swing-top bottles (is there a bottle-type preference). Projected drink date will be 1/3/09. Does that sound right?

Since the process is going to take longer than the MRB instructions said, my wife is wondering about getting her powder room back...especially since we host the family Xmas party this year. We've decided to clean out some space in a spare bedroom closet and move my space heater and keg into my new "brew closet". Will it hurt to gently move my keg at this time (day 5)?

In my over-excitement I have already ordered 3 refill kits from MRB. If I would have read further into the thread before doing that I would have gone to my LHBS and purchased supplies there. After these questions are answered I'll be back looking for ways to spruce up my kits. I'm still trying to decide whether to stay at the 2 gallon size or step up with the big boys. I'm more of a quality than quantity drinker and like trying different brews. I'm afraid that making 5 gallons at a time will be more than I'll get through between batches.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Dan
 
Dan, welcome to what is widely known as The Addiction. Home brewing is a great hobby.

If you think of Mr. Beer as a 2 gallon fermenter that will work with any properly scaled recipe, then you are set up for long term success. The keys to making good beer with the Mr. Beer fermenter and extracts are covered in this thread.

The best thing about the Mr. Beer system is it's compactness. The keg will stow away in a closet or ice chest for temp control. It's a great way to ease into the hobby as long as you don't limit your recipes to the MB catalog. And even some of them aren't bad.
 
Do my projected dates sound right?

What about carefully moving the keg to another area as mentioned in the earlier post? Is there a problem with that?

Dan
 
If you are ver careful to not stir up the keg to much while moving it you will be fine. The sooner you move it the longer the beer has to settle back down... Your dates are right on!!! I am going with a 2-2-2 week method myself.. Im just not sure I can wait the last week to at least try one.. It might be more like 2-2-1 for me... (2weeks ferm. 2 weeks in the closet conditioning and 2 weeks cold conditioning in the frig) The longer you let the beer sit in the fridge the better the flavors will be...
 
I am planning on the following MRB brews once my current keg of WCPA is bottled:

MRB - 1776 Ale
MRB - Irish Red Ale
MRB - Dubliner

I have a couple of questions regarding these brews:

1. I have read in the thread that I should use yeast other than what comes with the MRB kit. Should I use liquid yeast or dry yeast and does anyone have a recommendation of which specific yeast to use for each brew? How much would I use for the MRB keg?

2. The MRB 1776 Ale recipe calls for 1 can of Cowboy Lager, 1 can of Mellow Amber UME and 1 booster pack. I have read that it is best to substitute a different fermentable for the booster pack. What would the veterans suggest?

Thanks again for your help.

Dan
 
Dan,

I'm still a noobie myself. But anytime you can sub malted extract for adjunct sugar, your brew will be improved. One approach is to stock back some one pound bags of Xtra light dried malt extract (DME) to sub for Booster called for in Mr. Beer recipes; or if you just want a stronger beer. DME should keep a year in the fridge if it's well bagged.

I'll leave the dry vs liquid yeast discussion to more experienced brewers. But using a quality dry yeast such as Safale-04/05, or one of the Danstar yeasts etc. is better than banking on the packet under the can lid. You might do the learning curve with a quality dry yeast before popping for expensive liquid stuff. Most kit brewers chuck the kit yeast into the hot wort long enough to turn it into non-viable nutrients and pitch a better product.
 
scubadan said:
I am planning on the following MRB brews once my current keg of WCPA is bottled:

MRB - 1776 Ale
MRB - Irish Red Ale
MRB - Dubliner

I have a couple of questions regarding these brews:

1. I have read in the thread that I should use yeast other than what comes with the MRB kit. Should I use liquid yeast or dry yeast and does anyone have a recommendation of which specific yeast to use for each brew? How much would I use for the MRB keg?

2. The MRB 1776 Ale recipe calls for 1 can of Cowboy Lager, 1 can of Mellow Amber UME and 1 booster pack. I have read that it is best to substitute a different fermentable for the booster pack. What would the veterans suggest?

Thanks again for your help.

Dan
Click to expand...


1. Correct, don't use Mr. Beer yeast. Just get some Nottinghams or Safale 04 or 05. Those will be great, there is no need to go crazy with liquid with those brews. Don't buy the lager yeast either. Even though you have a :lager: recipe, stick with ale until you spend the bucks on a fridge controller and a fridge! It'll still be super yummy and smoothe.

2. Again, correct. Don't use Booster! It just makes the beer lighter and is like adding sugar. You can use a third can of Mr. Beer. I would use another can of Cowboy Lager since the Mellow Amber is U(unhopped) ME. More UME and it may get a bit sweet. You could add DME, but I would add hops as well then and then it will just get complicated for a Mr. B recipe.



Sounds good....it'll be yummy for the cold winter months!

Just for fun, if you do want to go liquid, here is a fun page to see styles. Basically, I only use liquid if I am going for a flavor profile that I can't get with my malt an hops. Like hefe or maybe a creamy stout that I don't want to ferment out too much. The styles you have listed, thought, there is no need to spend $7 when $2 will do just as good.....just my $0.02

http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_styleguidelines.cfm#sg2
 
Ditto, the last post.
I try to keep a backlog of the WEST COAST PALE ALE. For me, it's to my taste right now. The only modification I do is add a can of their PALE EXPORT UME and pitch SAFALE US-05. Great combination. I've moved on to 5gal steeping but still fire up the MrBeer fermenter when I'm getting low on their Pale Ale.

The idea is to keep it simple and that is what the MrBeer set-up is all about. You might consider more sophisticated equipment should you decide to experiment and kluge recipes where you can have a tighter control over the process. The MrBeer ingedients are a bit pricey for the amount of brew you ultimately get. If you are going to modify one of their recipes, do the stock recipe first and keep a few examples to compare. You will find that your palate will change as you define the characteristics of your own brews.
 
Moved the Canadian Light into the fridge and tested the nut brown.. The nut brown tasted a little sweet so I decided to give it 2-3 more days!!! This Sunday we will be cracking the Canadian Light!!!
 
I had a lot of trouble with temp control in my old house. Pitched yeast at proper temp but it cooled down to 58 degrees ambient in the house that night. Saw no action.

The next morning I warmed up the house and the fermentation started rolling. That night I put a couple towels around it and set it near an air vent to keep it warm.

The next day a roomate cranked the heat and it killed the yeast.

Is there anything I can do now? Should I re-pitch yeast? or is it ruined.

:(:(
 
If the temperature was, indeed, the problem then...

Re-pitch!

ASAP!

Take a Specific Gravity (SG) reading, if you have a hydrometer.

It's a handy tool to have.

Pogo
 
I agree with the hydrometer reading suggestion. But your yeast may not be dead at all, the higher temp just might have made it ferment faster than you expected. On my first batch I repitched, thinking I had either weak yeast or that maybe I had killed it, since I was only getting bubbles for a day or two. But when I repitched I continued to get no additional activity, and my gravity reading stayed the same after a few more days. So it seems to me there was simply nothing left in my wort to ferment. Of course, my first batch was only about 2 batches ago, so you might want to get some more opinions. ;)
 
Hello all,

I received a Mr. Beer kit from my sons for my birthday and have had pretty good results with it so far. The Canadian Draft that came with it turned out very well, I've got a Vienna Lager in bottles and the West Coast Pale Ale in the fermenter. It's a lot of fun and I think I've caught the homebrewing bug.

I may be graduating to more advanced brewing sooner than I thought. I've gotten a hold of a few 6.5 gal carboys from a friend, so all I need is the other miscellaneous gear.
 
OK, I'm on page 24 and I haven't seen this yet... but wow, what a wealth of information! Thanks!

Question... my Mr Beer is older, the WCPA says good till July 09 and my booster pack is pretty much rock hard. Still OK?
 
KerryD said:
OK, I'm on page 24 and I haven't seen this yet... but wow, what a wealth of information! Thanks!

Question... my Mr Beer is older, the WCPA says good till July 09 and my booster pack is pretty much rock hard. Still OK?
Click to expand...

OK, update... I went ahead and put the rock hard booster into the pot and dissolved while heating and slowly boiling and then followed the directions from there. We'll see, it's an old kit and if it fails I'll blame it all on that. :D :mug:
 
Is it normal for condensation to form at the top of the fermenter? I noticed my foam is starting to thin out and that there's a lot of condensation at the top.
 
Tasted my first batch last night!!! It was awsome!!! My first batch was the Canadian Draft and boy did it come out great!!! Im waiting on the nut brown I brewed to condition, Last night I brewed a Blueberry Hef.!!! Its great to finially get to taste that first batch!!!
 
Well first of all I want to say thanks to any and all who repley to my question.

I discovered a Mr. Beer kit last night while I was wrapping christmas presents for the wife. Appartently that is one of my gifts. I did see one in a store a while back and menitioned to my son that I would like to try homebrewing. He must have told her about it. Anyway my question is. I am thinking about asking her to return it and get me a 5 gal. kit instead. I have never brewed beer before, but I am getting excited about trying it. Do you think I should ask her to exchange it, or just use it for awhile and then invest for a 5 gal set up? I hate to let the money she spent on it when it could go for a different (better?) set up. I don't think she would be offended if I ask her (22 years of being married to me, no surprises at my lack of tack). Anyway just looking for thoughts and comments.

Cheers,
Stan
 
Use it anyway. Then after christmas. you can go get a kit. That way, you'll have some that will be closer to ready while you start the kit.
 
hcarter said:
Use it anyway. Then after christmas. you can go get a kit. That way, you'll have some that will be closer to ready while you start the kit.
Click to expand...

I agree...

Read this thread, learn what to do and what not to do, make a few small batches of great beer (becasue you can if you follow some of the suggesytions on here). Make wifey and kidling happy to see you using it, then get more stuff later.

Hell there's enough info on this thread to ignore the ingredients and brew an all grain batch.

The keg and bottles will come in handy, even if you get a larger down the line.
 
I have a 5 gallon kit and 2 primary fermenters and heck I am still thinking about adding a Mr. beer kit just for the novelty of it. I know you cn make some pretty decent beer with it and fairly quick. It would be a nice addition for me so I don't have a dozen 5 gallon pails everywhere haha. I would keep it, try it out, and see how your beer tastes. You may find the process of brewing too labor intensive or that it gets old and with Mr. Beer you are only out 30 bucks or so whereas with a big 5 gal kit you could be out anywhere from 100 to 500 bucks depending on the gear you buy. Also remember not all 5 gallon kits you see on the internet or in LHBS are complete. They often are sold without large brew pots and other equipment that can be either necessary or extremely helpful.

I just got into brewing and I have spent just under $300 bucks right now.
$100 for my brew kit from MoreBeer.com
$100 for a S.S. 9 gallon brew pot with built in therm. and a ball valve
$100 for 3 extract kits, bottles, bottle tree, and a few other gadgets like a beer thief.
and thats after I got a massive outdoor propane burner for FREE!

Now you don't have to spend that but I would say to start from scratch you would need to invest around $150 and that can be a lot if it's a hobby you end up not liking. I suppose you could always end up selling the equipment though.
 
Yeah, I agree. Keep the Mr Beer kit and brew up a couple of their ingredient kits. You will get your feet wet and start to educate yourself and your palate. You can contemplate the bigger set-up as you go.

The Mr Beer Kit comes with 8- 1 liter PET bottles. Depending on how much you drink at a sitting, you may want to start getting bottles of smaller sizes. Sometimes I might only want a glass of beer and that leaves half of the bottle to sit over night in the 1 liter bottle hoping it will have enough fizz left for the next day. You will figure out all these little situations as you go.

When you bottle a batch, start another right away. You will drink up the first one before the second is ready.

I still brew up a Mr Beer Pale Ale when my stash of it gets low.
 
+1 and while PET bottles may be poor fashion for beer snobs like myself they are quick and easy to clean/sanitize/re-use. Like I said I think I am going to pick a couple of Mr. beer kits up, one for a gift and one for me to subsidize my brewing habit!
 
All right I am in! I will keep the Mr. Beer and have some fun with while I educate myself for awhile. Thanks for all of the responses.
 
Hello, first post, will try to introduce myself soon in the Introductions area. Anyway, I've been using this site a great deal over the past few weeks for research purposes. So, thanks for that. I'll probably have questions as I go along, but this seems like a fairly nice group.

The first batch is fermenting away in the recently acquired Mr. Beer. I'm sticking to the base recipe with booster on this first batch, because I'm curious as to how it will turn out. I'm bottling with table sugar and I used the Mr. Beer yeast packet. I'll let you know how it goes. The only change, I am staying in the fermenter for two, not one week, and will be conditioning in the bottles for about three weeks before going to the refrigerator for at least a week. So, I'm sticking to the Mr. Beer ingredients on this first batch, but not their time frames.

I've got DME, corn sugar and a packet of Safale yeast for the next batch, but wanted to see how this first one would work. So far so good, had foam forming after about a day and on day two a good quarter inch thick layer over the top. A couple of days later I noticed that was breaking up. So, I think it's doing what it's supposed to be doing. Strangely, I'm usually a bit impatient, but, so far, I have been content to let it do it's thing and not worry.
 
A guy at work made some Mr Beer and it's pretty darn good. He made whatever lager recipe it came with and bottled it using corn sugar. Good carb and the taste is a little cidery (shut-up spell check. this is brew talk. cidery is a word here) but not in a bad way. In a rather good way.
 
Humbug said:
Mr Beer.
Brings many a person into brewing.
Welcome to the forum and enjoy making beer.:mug:


Please feel free to ask question in this thread and add your comments.
Click to expand...

I received my MrBeer kit today and hope to make a batch this weekend. Thanks for the welcome and the site.
 
Greetings,

Some will remember that I found a Mr. Beer kit that was intended to be my Christmas present. I bugged my other half enough that she let me have it early. :D Since I had been reading a lot on this forum, I had already bought some Nottingham yeast and a pound of DME to replace the booster pack that came with the West Coast pale ale kit.;) I hope that I bought the appropriate DME (Muttons extra light) and make the wort correctly. I just replaced the DME when the instructions called for the booster pack. I pitched yeast @ 8:45pm last night and have the wort sitting in the fermenter. I am pretty jazzed to have my first batch ever working. I have the fermenter sitting in a cooler with a warm water bath to keep the temp up as my basement temps stay around 50 this time of year. I have an aquarium heater in the water, but it has yet to run. I started with 70 yesterday morning water that dropped to 67 by the time I put the fermenter in it. It is @ 66 this morning. I will monitor it and run the heater as required. Now I am playing the waiting game and gathering bottling supplies.

Cheers,
Stan
 
Thumper said:
I just replaced the DME when the instructions called for the booster pack.
Click to expand...

I'll be curious to see how it turns out. I stuck with the booster, yeast, etc. from Mr. Beer on this first round, out of curiousity, but plan on using DME and better yeast from here on out. How much DME did you use in place of the booster? I thought I had read around 1/2 a pound somewhere. After looking at some conversion numbers and the fact that you can substitute Mr. Beer's unhopped malt extract cans in place of booster, I'm wondering if it should be closer to a full pound.
 
When I did Mr. Beer I used one pound of DME in place of 1 package of booster. Like you, I did the first batch exactly as the recipe and it was okay, but a bit cidery. I also fermented it too warm which didn't help. The last Mr. Beer batch I made I used the last booster package I had, but I kept the fermentation temp at 65 and it made a big difference, and actually tasted pretty good.

The best batch I made was a can of Vienna Lager with a pound of amber DME, everyone who tasted it really enjoyed it.
 
Shooter said:
I'll be curious to see how it turns out. I stuck with the booster, yeast, etc. from Mr. Beer on this first round, out of curiousity, but plan on using DME and better yeast from here on out. How much DME did you use in place of the booster? I thought I had read around 1/2 a pound somewhere. After looking at some conversion numbers and the fact that you can substitute Mr. Beer's unhopped malt extract cans in place of booster, I'm wondering if it should be closer to a full pound.
Click to expand...

I used one pound of DME. My fermentation temps should remain under 65 for the most part.
 
Thanks Thumper and ifishsum, looked to me like it should be 1lb as well. Glad to have that confirmed. Makes it easy, the shop sells it in 1lb bags already. I hope mine wasn't too warm on the fermentation. I keep the main temperature of the house at 60 or below during the day while at work, but have the keg in a separate room with a small space heater set on a low setting to keep it in the mid sixties, but, in the evenings, my wife likes to crank the house temperature up to around 68. Hopfelly, I'm not breaking seventy with the temperature.
 

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