Mr Beer - Read all about it and ask questions

CAsch said:

Thanks for helping me out guys. The beer is now bottled and sitting in a box in the hall closet.

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Let us know in 3 weeks how it turns out...

Revvy said:

Let us know in 3 weeks how it turns out...

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Will do. I want it to be done now, but I guess I can wait. I talked to a guy that works with my wife and he has been doing this for a while now and said if I ever have any questions he would be glad to help out. Plus he is getting ready to start a new batch and has invited me over to help/watch/learn and drink some of his beer.

I recently bought a new Mr. Beer Deluxe. I've brewed the Canadian Draft kit with store-bought natural spring water. I followed instructions as specified. The temperature of my two gallon fermenter falls roughly within 68 to 72 degrees.

It's been roughly 24 hours since adding the yeast. Looking inside with a flashlight, there is a very thin layer of krausen (foam) covering maybe 60% of the beer's surface. My primary fermentation doesn't seem very active when compared to articles I've been reading about the primary ferment stage.

Is this normal for the Mr. Beer system, or should there be a thicker layer of krausen (foam) on the top of my wort at this point?

Thank you!
Patrick

Oynkhawk said:

I recently bought a new Mr. Beer Deluxe. I've brewed the Canadian Draft kit with store-bought natural spring water. I followed instructions as specified. The temperature of my two gallon fermenter falls roughly within 68 to 72 degrees.

It's been roughly 24 hours since adding the yeast. Looking inside with a flashlight, there is a very thin layer of krausen (foam) covering maybe 60% of the beer's surface. My primary fermentation doesn't seem very active when compared to articles I've been reading about the primary ferment stage.

Is this normal for the Mr. Beer system, or should there be a thicker layer of krausen (foam) on the top of my wort at this point?

Thank you!
Patrick

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Don't worry about it....It's really not that obvious with the mr beer. I think it has to do with the shape of the fermenter and lack of airlock (and a bubbling airlock isn't a true sign anyway.) I never had big krausening on my batches either...and they turned out fine.

And since you're on the warm side of fermentation temps you won't have to worry about the yeast going to sleep (though if you could get the fermentor in a place that's in the mid 60's it'd be better...too warm of a fermentation could result in a fuesil alchohol taste.) But again, if you cant get it a little cooler, don't worry about it.

Thank you for the quick response and insight! It's great to know that experienced brewers like yourself are here to help guide a beginning beer brewer like me.

I'll gladly turn the room temperature back to about the mid to high 60's. It gives me a valid excuse to save a bit on energy bills.

I am relieved that there is something going on in my fermenter. That's always a good sign. A cooler temperature will likely extend the fermentation time, but lower the esters, right? I've read that suitably lower temperatures can decrease odd tastes, like esters, caused at warmer temperatures.

It's not entirely different than when I created a batch of meade years ago (honey wine)... several similarities to brewing beer. But, with the meade, fermentation was very active during the first few days... my ferm lock was bubbling away steadily. I expected the same reaction in my Mr. Beer experience.

Regardless, I really appreciate your assurances.

Thanks a million!
Patrick

also if you used the yeast that came with the kit it would be a bit slower than lets say a fresher smack pack or something along those lines.

Instead of putting the priming sugar in the bottle this time I tried what another member suggested. I tried putting a 1/3 cup sugar in a cup of water and boiling it for 15 minutes, stirring the simple syrup into the fermenter (ever so gently) and after a week my brew is still flat. It did pop however, suggesting that it is carbonating. From reading throughout this thread I have learned that time is my friend. My question is, should I check every few days to see if it has fully carbonated. The brew is in 12oz. glass bottles by the way so I can't just squeeze them. Thank you in advance for all your help and guidance.

-Wingnut

Wingnut21 said:

Instead of putting the priming sugar in the bottle this time I tried what another member suggested. I tried putting a 1/3 cup sugar in a cup of water and boiling it for 15 minutes, stirring the simple syrup into the fermenter (ever so gently) and after a week my brew is still flat. It did pop however, suggesting that it is carbonating. From reading throughout this thread I have learned that time is my friend. My question is, should I check every few days to see if it has fully carbonated. The brew is in 12oz. glass bottles by the way so I can't just squeeze them. Thank you in advance for all your help and guidance.

-Wingnut

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3 weeks @ 70! 3 weeks @ 70! 3 Weeks @ 70!!!!!!! And don't touch them before hand.

Great thanks Revvy. That's exactly what I needed to know. I hope to upgrade from Mr. Beer soon and have been looking at NB. Any other suggestions? I would like to go glass and 2 stage if possible.

Schlenkerla said:

For $5, go to Lowes or Home Depot, maybe the local grocery store and get a 3 gal water bottle!!
The water is good for brewing too. Its the blue bottles with PET or PETE and a 1 inside the triangle.

I brew 2 gal batches in 3 gal PET bottles all of the time. I never use the MRB keg for fermenting, just bottling.

The 3 gal jug can take a carboy cap w/ an airlock. If you don't have one sanitize some tin foil then wrap it over top and let'er rip!!!

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All of the 3 (and 5) gal water bottles here and in the surrounding cities are #7's and are $12 and $14, respectively. It must be something to do with living in south AL. Maybe someone will put one on ebay!

In the meantime, I bought a 3 gal carboy to get all my brewing going over the weekend. It seemed like a complete waste of money even if the water bottles are #7's.

I'm two weeks into fermenting my second batch and I was planning on bottling any day now but I gave a check with the flashlight and it looks like there's a few residual 'floating colonies of yeast'. At least that's what I think it is. It sort of just looks like a few patches of bubbles through the brown plastic.

Should I give it another week or however long it takes for it to be absolutely clean on top?

Thwizzit said:

I'm two weeks into fermenting my second batch and I was planning on bottling any day now but I gave a check with the flashlight and it looks like there's a few residual 'floating colonies of yeast'. At least that's what I think it is. It sort of just looks like a few patches of bubbles through the brown plastic.

Should I give it another week or however long it takes for it to be absolutely clean on top?

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If it's a few little fizzy areas and they're small and isolated you should be fine...BUT If you have patience, wait til the weekend...!4 days is usually enough to gaurantee carbonation without a hydro...But a couple days wouldn't hurt...and would help further clear the beer since you're not ising a secondary for that purpose.

Revvy said:

If it's a few little fizzy areas and they're small and isolated you should be fine...BUT If you have patience, wait til the weekend...!4 days is usually enough to guarantee carbonation without a hydro...But a couple days wouldn't hurt...and would help further clear the beer since you're not using a secondary for that purpose.

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Thanks, I figured I'd try on Monday since I'll be away for the weekend anyway.

Thanks again

I just popped open my first bottle of non-Mr.Beer brew (i.e. I used neither Mr. Beer equipment nor ingredients), and the difference is like night and day. Sure, my APA isn't perfect - it's somewhat undercarbonated and has a distinct note of diacetyl, but it's still delicious.

Basically, I would strongly recommend using real ingredients over the Mr. Beer stuff, and upgrade your equipment once you've decided that the hobby is one that you'll stick with for a while.

cola said:

omg i can't believe this

i am drinking my very first beer that i made.

this has far exceeded my expectations.

the beer tastes way better than the usual old english and mickeys i usually buy

i am very impressed with mr. beer.

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OE is a bit rough.. but in the old day's I'd knowck off a ton of muckeys wide mouths
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!! Page 47!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please, No american-pie Stiffler jokes here.....HEEHEHHEHE
I just won a second MR beer keg on ebay. It come with west coast pale ale.
The problem is I just made a batch of that this morning.
I was wondering.. Can I put Blueberries or Rasberries in this next batch of pale ale ?
How do I get the berries "purified" so they don't botch the batch..?

Thanks timg


first batch: canadian draft
second: wheat webinzer
Third: West coast Pale ALe
fourth: West coast Pale Ale with fruit flavoring of a sort?

thanks guys...
timg

timgman said:

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!! Page 47!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please, No american-pie Stiffler jokes here.....HEEHEHHEHE
I just won a second MR beer keg on ebay. It come with west coast pale ale.
The problem is I just made a batch of that this morning.
I was wondering.. Can I put Blueberries or Rasberries in this next batch of pale ale ?
How do I get the berries "purified" so they don't botch the batch..?

Thanks timg


first batch: canadian draft
second: wheat webinzer
Third: West coast Pale ALe
fourth: West coast Pale Ale with fruit flavoring of a sort?

thanks guys...
timg

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THis is the recommended brand to use...in fact you can even get it if you order the Mr Beer recipe kits.



It comes in several varieties...No preseratives....Most grocery stores carry it now. I know they have blueberry and rasberry..can't recall whatever flavors they have, but they are all usuable.

You won't need to do anything just dump it in the bottom of the mr beer. Actually if you want to do it RIGHT, and since you have 2. fermentors...

Ferment the beer normally in Mr beer 1...After a week or 10 days when fermentation is complete, put the fruit in the bottom of mr beer #2 and CAREFULLY rack the beer onto the fruit. Leave it there for another 2 weeks to both flavor and clearing...then bottle, and let it condition for AT LEAST 3-4 weeks (It may take longer) but it will be fantastic.

Will I need to siphon? this into MR Beer #2?
or can I simply put a tube on the spigot of mr beer 1 and open the valve?
I understand that post fermentation aeration is a bad thing....

timgman said:

Will I need to siphon? this into MR Beer #2?
or can I simply put a tube on the spigot of mr beer 1 and open the valve?
I understand that post fermentation aeration is a bad thing....

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I would tube from the spigot...making sure the hose is long enough to run ALONG the bottom of the mr beer a couple inches, and slowly open the valve...not even all the way open, just enough to slowly fill the second mr beer, so like you said you don't agitate it too much and expose it to too much oxygen. You will kick the fruit goop up into beer which will help integrate it with the fruit.

Oh, one thing I forgot...It may take a long time for the beers to be ready in the secondary...longer than the 2 weeks I mentioned...One of my friends does a lot of Fruit beers with Mr. Beer and Oregon Puree's I recall him mentioning last week how long a blueberry ale took before he bottled (and I think to condition as well.)

But he did it in a single mr beer so he had both the fruit puree and the yeast trub to contend with, by racking off the yeastcake maybe yours won't take as long...

I did a pumpkin porter around thanksgiving, in the single mr beer and it took 2 over months to bottle condition....

Maybe 2 weeks primary and 2 weeks secondary?
then 3-4 weeks to carbonate?

timgman said:

Maybe 2 weeks primary and 2 weeks secondary?
then 3-4 weeks to carbonate?

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Yeah...that would be good....actually the secondary is the hardest to gauge...make sure wherever you leave the secondary that you can easily put a flashlight behind it so you can see how clear it is after two weeks...it's hard to see in the brown plastic in the Mr Beer...You'll want to make sure all the fruit goop falls to the bottom...I know for my pumpkin beer which went from Mr beer to Bottle, the level of sediment in the bottom of each bottle was unbelievable...I used the big brown PET bottles, and there is about 2 inches of goop in the bottom of each....

Some people who do fruit beers actually use a tertiary tank for clearing...Ferment in 1, fruit in 2 and clear in 3... But I think that's way to much chance of oxydation....

I've got two mr. beer batches going now, Brew Ha Ha Bock and Hop Head Red. They've both been fermenting for 3 weeks. There's still 'foam' on top but I can't see any bubbles rising. Just poured a sample from each. Very cloudy and doesn't taste good. How can you be sure fermenting is done? How do you know if the beer is spoiled? The 'foam' on top of the Brew Ha Ha Bock almost looks likes mold! Should I let it continue to ferment, go ahead and bottle, or toss it out?

thanks...

mmc said:

I've got two mr. beer batches going now, Brew Ha Ha Bock and Hop Head Red. They've both been fermenting for 3 weeks. There's still 'foam' on top but I can't see any bubbles rising. Just poured a sample from each. Very cloudy and doesn't taste good. How can you be sure fermenting is done? How do you know if the beer is spoiled? The 'foam' on top of the Brew Ha Ha Bock almost looks likes mold! Should I let it continue to ferment, go ahead and bottle, or toss it out?

thanks...

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If you santised everything and kept the fermenter closed it's doubtful that the beer is ruined...WIth out taking grav readings time is the only way to know if fermentatiion is complete. Since it's been 3 weeks I would say that it is complete but the krausen hasn't fallen... Spoiled beer looks ropy with ropes hanging down into the beer itself...

What do you mean by not tasting good? It is hard to judge a beer until bottle condition and carbing is complete and that takes, if you've read stuff around here, a minimum 3 weeks in the bottle.... I would do what I wrote in this post. in terms of bottling and conditioning.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=561123&postcount=309

It does indeed take at least 2-3 weeks minimum to carbonate / condition..

After my first batch was done I (and some pals) drank it withing a week.. (week 4 we'll say)... I wish I had kept some..
My wife said I only liked it because I made it... My friends liked it as well though..
I thought that it was of better quality than most "commercial" beers.
Any way I have 1 batch agine and 2 brewing now so I hope to be able to have a steady supply....

The moral of the story here is this.....
It does take 3 or so weeks to carbonate.
and if you can handle it don't drink it all ina week like I did !!!! HEHEHEHE



--now I'm brewing west coast pale
--aging wheat webinzer.
--brewing westcoast pale ale with "real blueberry" flavoring soon....

I went to a brewer's best kit that I bought locally, but you can easily get an equivalent kit online. I've had good times with Austin Homebrew Supply so far, check 'em out.

And 3 weeks MINIMUM at 70. The longer you leave it...the more you'll like it.

After you get a more intensive kit, use your Mr Beer keg for half-batches of apfelwein. You'll thank us.

i just started my final batch of mr beer recipe ive got (vienna lager). I ditched the alcohol booster and subbed 1 lb light dme and used nottingham yeast rather than what was under the cap. after 12-16 hours this is what my fermentor looks like.

I was wondering can I cut a coopers or brewers kit in half and put it in 2 mr beer kegs? anyone ever done this?
if I get just a can of extract what else do I need to brew a coopers can ?
thanks
timg
I know I'm green but what the HELL...
HAHA!

You _can_, but there's not a true airlock on the little keg dudes. In addition, I'd think it was too much of a pain, personally. But try it, see if it works.

dan_slaughter said:

i just started my final batch of mr beer recipe ive got (vienna lager). I ditched the alcohol booster and subbed 1 lb light dme and used nottingham yeast rather than what was under the cap. after 12-16 hours this is what my fermentor looks like.

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That's a mighty fine looking bit o fermentation there!!!!

You would never get that kind of action with the MRB standard yeast package! Their recipes are pretty good when you sub the yeast as Dan did. Looks good, Dan!

Revvy said:

If you santised everything and kept the fermenter closed it's doubtful that the beer is ruined...WIth out taking grav readings time is the only way to know if fermentatiion is complete. Since it's been 3 weeks I would say that it is complete but the krausen hasn't fallen... Spoiled beer looks ropy with ropes hanging down into the beer itself...

What do you mean by not tasting good? It is hard to judge a beer until bottle condition and carbing is complete and that takes, if you've read stuff around here, a minimum 3 weeks in the bottle.... I would do what I wrote in this post. in terms of bottling and conditioning.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=561123&postcount=309

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Thanks for the info. The beer is not 'ropy' so I assume it must be OK. I actually bottled one batch last night. Will probably do the other tonight. As far as the taste goes, what I've read is that it should taste like warm flat beer. I really don't know how to describe the taste but I'm not too concerned with it.

I do have a couple other questions. I've decided to take another suggestion from this forum. I purchased a 3 gallon water jug from Lowes along with an orange carboy top and airlock. I thought I would try this for my next batch which will have a lot of fermentables. Now that I've got it I was wondering how are you supposed to stir the yeast into the wort. The 3 gallon water jug doesn't have the big top the Mr. Beer fermenter has. It's not OK to just shake it up is it? I guess after the fermentation is done you have to siphon the beer out. I was going to try your suggestion to 'rack' (what does that mean?) into another container (thought I would just use my mr. beer fermenter). How do you keep from siphoning out any of the 'crud' from the bottom of the fermenter? Do you just have to be careful or is there a filter you can use with the siphon? How much is the proper amount of corn sugar for a 2 gallon batch? I've been using plain old table sugar added directly to the bottles. The amount of corn sugar is not the same is it?

Sorry to ask so many questions? I appreciate your help.

mmc said:

Thanks for the info. The beer is not 'ropy' so I assume it must be OK. I actually bottled one batch last night. Will probably do the other tonight. As far as the taste goes, what I've read is that it should taste like warm flat beer. I really don't know how to describe the taste but I'm not too concerned with it.

I do have a couple other questions. I've decided to take another suggestion from this forum. I purchased a 3 gallon water jug from Lowes along with an orange carboy top and airlock. I thought I would try this for my next batch which will have a lot of fermentables. Now that I've got it I was wondering how are you supposed to stir the yeast into the wort. The 3 gallon water jug doesn't have the big top the Mr. Beer fermenter has. It's not OK to just shake it up is it? I guess after the fermentation is done you have to siphon the beer out. I was going to try your suggestion to 'rack' (what does that mean?) into another container (thought I would just use my mr. beer fermenter). How do you keep from siphoning out any of the 'crud' from the bottom of the fermenter? Do you just have to be careful or is there a filter you can use with the siphon? How much is the proper amount of corn sugar for a 2 gallon batch? I've been using plain old table sugar added directly to the bottles. The amount of corn sugar is not the same is it?

Sorry to ask so many questions? I appreciate your help.

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No problem...To "rack" is to move a volume of beer from one place to another with a siphon...Usually the term is used in terms of moving the ber from primary to the secondary, but it is used to describe moving the beer from any vessel to another...

The auto siphon is made in such a way that the beer enters it about 1/2 to 1" from the bottom so it is not in the "crap" (trub), though some of it is needed to stay in the beer so when you prime the bottles with sugar, it will carbonate. If you have a lot of chunks in your trub...like bits of hops, or fruit seeds or whole spices...you can take 2 rubber bands and any piece of fine mesh cloth like clean pantyhose or a piece of a hopsack, or paint filter...whatever...You soak the cloth and rubberbands in santizer then attach it to the bottom of the autosiphon....but again that's only for the big chunks...you still need to move some yeasties through the process...

You can agitate a carboy any number of ways...You can get a wine/paint agitator like this;



you stick it in and attach it to an electric drill and give it a whirl....Though most people just sanitize a piece of foil, cover the opening of the carboy with it, and shake the heck out of it....with the smaller sizes (especially plastic ones) you can put it on your lap, hold the neck loosely and shake shake shake. People usually put bigger ones and glass carboys in a milk crate and holdin the crate give it s shake.

Well...for priming 5 gallons, the recomended amount of priming(corn) sugar is 3/4 cup or 5 ounces of it (so if you've made 2.5 gallons in your mr beer you'd use half that amount...and probably 2 1/4 ounces for 2 gallons.

I can't recall the amount of table sugar...but really you should avoid it in favor of corn sugar or DME....White sugar can leave a cidery taste in your beer....

I think I covered them all

I just started mr beer. I'm brewwing St. patricks stout and am in my !st week of fermenting and I see white spots of what look like mold. looks like fermenting is almost done , some bubbles, but not much

1. I sanitized
2. I haven't opened the Keg
3. Temp is 70-74'F.

I'm dropping temp no to 60 since fermenting is over
and waiting for reply
Regards,
Jeffery

jllund62 said:

I just started mr beer. I'm brewwing St. patricks stout and am in my !st week of fermenting and I see white spots of what look like mold. looks like fermenting is almost done , some bubbles, but not much

1. I sanitized
2. I haven't opened the Keg
3. Temp is 70-74'F.

I'm dropping temp no to 60 since fermenting is over
and waiting for reply
Regards,
Jeffery

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Relax it's just yeast colonies floating on the top, bouyed up by co2.

So, my brother gave me one of his Mr. beer home brews and it was awful. He's been doing this for about ten years on and off (his Mr. Beer is so old it has an airlock) and I figured he'd have figured it out by now but I guess I was wrong.

The beer tasted like a fountain soda when the syrup is running low so it's really carbonated (had a decent head) but not much flavor. What do you think he did wrong? I haven't told him how terrible it was yet because I know he'll be insulted but if I have some constructive criticism to give him he might not get so offended.


Speaking of being offended, I finally tasted one of my first Mr. Beer brews (made with a can of UME instead of the Booster, primed with dextrose, fermented for two weeks and conditioned for almost three) and it wasn't awesome... I wanted to wait another week or so to try it but we were all getting together this weekend so I cracked one. It wasn't as bad as my brothers brew but it wasn't as good as I'd hoped.

It was supposed to be a stout but didn't have much body and the carbonation was a little low which I actually liked after drinking my brothers bubble-fest. I was anticipating the carb being low because of how much priming syrup I had left when i was finished bottling so I wasn't that surprised.

Over all, it was drinkable as a regular beer but not very impressive as a stout. Hopefully, the rest of the bottles will taste better with age and my next batch of Nut Brown and Apfelwein will make up for it

Thwizzit said:

So, my brother gave me one of his Mr. beer home brews and it was awful. He's been doing this for about ten years on and off (his Mr. Beer is so old it has an airlock) and I figured he'd have figured it out by now but I guess I was wrong.

The beer tasted like a fountain soda when the syrup is running low so it's really carbonated (had a decent head) but not much flavor. What do you think he did wrong? I haven't told him how terrible it was yet because I know he'll be insulted but if I have some constructive criticism to give him he might not get so offended.


Speaking of being offended, I finally tasted one of my first Mr. Beer brews (made with a can of UME instead of the Booster, primed with dextrose, fermented for two weeks and conditioned for almost three) and it wasn't awesome... I wanted to wait another week or so to try it but we were all getting together this weekend so I cracked one. It wasn't as bad as my brothers brew but it wasn't as good as I'd hoped.

It was supposed to be a stout but didn't have much body and the carbonation was a little low which I actually liked after drinking my brothers bubble-fest. I was anticipating the carb being low because of how much priming syrup I had left when i was finished bottling so I wasn't that surprised.

Over all, it was drinkable as a regular beer but not very impressive as a stout. Hopefully, the rest of the bottles will taste better with age and my next batch of Nut Brown and Apfelwein will make up for it

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Tell your brother to SLOW DOWN. The MB instructions are recklessly high speed. I'd reccomend doubling the timetable at a minimum.

As for your stout. STOP DRINKING IT and let it age for the next 3 months in the bottles and you will be ASTOUNDED at the difference. Bigger maltier beers like stouts take a LONG time to develope the proper flavour profile. The next thing you need to do is upgrade to some proper equipment. Clearly you have the pallet for homebrewing, but you don't have the ability to create beer that is up to your tastes now. If you want an awesome stout you need to be brewing with all-grain techniques. Also, you need to age the stuff for many months in glass carboys even before bottling. Then leave it in the bottles for a couple more months. That's just how it works. Your drinking McDonald's and expecting 5-Star Steakhouse.

I agree with Shaffer about waiting to let your bottles condition...they will improve with time...

As to your brother it sounds like he's just brewing the mr beer kits "as is" without the benefit of our and your knowledge that can be found here....When YOUR beer is at it's prime have him taste it and you can explain all you've learned...Then the 2 of you can be brew buddies! It does sound like he's openning his too early AND using white sugar to prime, and probably using the booster pack or whit sugar to bulk up the alcohol content....but in truth it makes for thin fizzy beer....Next time you hear he's gonna be brewing give him a pound of light DME and an ounce of hops for whatever style beer he's brewing and tell him to give you the booster pack for your ciders....

shafferpilot said:

As for your stout. STOP DRINKING IT and let it age for the next 3 months in the bottles and you will be ASTOUNDED at the difference.

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Will do. I already put them in the closet upstairs and marked my calendar for mid-May.

The next thing you need to do is upgrade to some proper equipment. Clearly you have the pallet for homebrewing, but you don't have the ability to create beer that is up to your tastes now. If you want an awesome stout you need to be brewing with all-grain techniques.

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Well, I did get a five gallon bucket set up to make a goodly amount of Apfelwein but I don't know that I'd ever go all-grain. It's too soon to tell since I've just begun but I think I'll pick up a few non-Mr. Beer Extract kits and try a few batches of those and see how much I love doing it.

Your drinking McDonald's and expecting 5-Star Steakhouse.

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Is that so wrong??? They said I was a fool to dream...

Tell your brother to SLOW DOWN. The MB instructions are recklessly high speed. I'd reccomend doubling the timetable at a minimum.

Click to expand...

Revvy said:

I agree with Shaffer about waiting to let your bottles condition...they will improve with time...

As to your brother it sounds like he's just brewing the mr beer kits "as is" without the benefit of our and your knowledge that can be found here....When YOUR beer is at it's prime have him taste it and you can explain all you've learned...Then the 2 of you can be brew buddies! It does sound like he's openning his too early AND using white sugar to prime, and probably using the booster pack or whit sugar to bulk up the alcohol content....but in truth it makes for thin fizzy beer....Next time you hear he's gonna be brewing give him a poun of light DME and tell him to give you the booster pack for your ciders....

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Thanks for the replies. I'll give my brother the info and tell him to stop drinking that swill. Of course, I could have gotten a bad bottle out of a good batch but I kind of doubt it. At least my beer tasted like it could get better. His beer...not so much...

I'm not a big fan of bitter beers like the stuff you buy at a store, and perfer a more malt style brews.
Can anyone tell me if I can brew with only UMEs and other Ingredients,
can I still make a great beer? Or do I still need to start with the basic package
Thanks

jllund62 said:

I just started mr beer. I'm brewwing St. patricks stout and am in my !st week of fermenting and I see white spots of what look like mold. looks like fermenting is almost done , some bubbles, but not much

1. I sanitized
2. I haven't opened the Keg
3. Temp is 70-74'F.

I'm dropping temp no to 60 since fermenting is over
and waiting for reply

Click to expand...

I'm re-posting this longish pm I wrote to answer this question, so you all can see it.

It is nearly impossible to have mold growing on the surface of your beer in only one week of fermentations....It can happen but only if you've let your fermentor open and/or the beer has sat stagnant for several months/years. If you've evn paid attention to the most basic level of sanitization, then it isn't mold...A lot of first time brewers get nervous and assume what they see is mold and not something normal...We get a lot of people asking about it...

If it was mold, it would look like this


Without me seeing a picture of the surface of your mr beer, I'm pretty certain that what you are seeing is a combination of any small bits of hopflakes from the mr beer LME and/or most likely what I've seen in all my beers, little colonies of yeast that are kept bouyant by the CO2 outgassing from the trub (gunk) at the bottom of the fermentor....Or leftover when the majority of the krausen has settled down.

Little colonies of yeast float back to the surface and sometimes even look fizzy...

If you look closely it usually looks like the foamy remnents of head on the surface of the beer in a glass after the head has settled down...

Here's an example of big fizzies on a carboy...



Picture 2 is perfectly normal BTW...

Usually at racking to secondary or bottling time there are only a few patches of it across the surface of the beer..There's always something on the surface of the beer, I've never seen a perfectly "clean" top surface of any beer I've brewed, as long as the yeast is working things will pop up or fall down or just fizz...Your beer is a living thing as opposed to mass market, highly filtered commercial beer.

But the longer you let it sit, especially if you rack it to a "clearing tank", a carboy or another mr beer keg, or even in the bottle- off the yeast, the less stuff you will see....it will fall back down to the bottom...

When you bottle carb, just like when you ferment, an actual mini Krausen forms on top of the bottles and falls down through the beer after 3 weeks or so....we never notice this in the bottles unless we happen to look at them at just the right time (someone actually got a picture of it and posted it once...it's cool!)

In answer to whether it helps carbonate your beer, in the bottle, the answer is yes, it will...like I said it means the beer is still alive, and when you add the priming sugar, those yeasties get to gorge themselves again and once again the "fart" Co2....which trapped in the bottles for 3 weeks, carbs the beer, and helps balance the flavors....

If you want to take a pic and show me the surface feel free...But I'm 99.9% sure that your beer is normal...

Actually a couple of pages back someone posted a pic who like you was afraid it was mold....but it wasn't it was normal fermentation....You may want to start about 5 pages back in the thread and move forward to the present...And you can see...It's just typical n00b jotters It is nigh on impossible to ruin beer....

And if it's 9 days in the mr beer, go ahead and either rack it to a second vessel for 2 more weeks...or go ahead and bottle...But let them sit at 70 degrees for a minimum of 3 weeks (no matter how hard it is to wait )

In fact after you bottle this batch clean out your fermenter. re sanitize and brew another batch right away...You'll stress out a lot less...