hi, great site!

hello friends. my name is mike, i've been looking in here for a few weeks and thought i'd introduce myself and post a few thoughts.

I came here looking for information on MR BEER kits and people's experience with them. I found a few threads using the search and it put things in perspective for me regarding my main hobby, photography, and the reason people come to those forums.

i realize my MR BEER kit is the equivilent of a point and shoot camera and i'm cool with that. i'm right now drinking one of my point and shoot creations , a vienna octoberfest/1 pouch booster/3/4 cup honey. i couldn't be happier. this is my 3rd different batch. first bottle of my 4th is chilling now and if i keep rambling i'll get to it before i post this.

saying i homebrewed with MR BEER is about like calling store bought spaghetti and a jar of heated up RAGU a home cooked meal. yet the ease, the small space, even the small batches work out nice as there are lots of combinations to try out and endless variations to try out and i plan to. 20 years ago i went to library and checked out books on homebrewing, it wasn't till this fall when i saw the kit in a catalogue and thought why not? the kit was $30 or so and a 3 pack variety pack was about the same. 20 years is a long time to get around to something huh?

i think these forums are great and looking forward to learning here. much of the discussions go beyond what i need, i'm more likely to ask how/what ingredients will make a beer i remember from back home or someother store bought brand. maybe as i get more experience i'll be able to answer questions on the MR BEER kits.

well ,time to try out that first bottle from the fourth batch, American Devil IPA with a cup of honey. cheers mike

ps. i mentioned mr beer so many times so it'd show up in search results for new guys.

You know. I have NEVER heard of Mr. Beer outside of this place. 15 or so years ago a buddy of mine found a copy of "The joy of homebrewing" (the "bible") and we set out to get the stuff we needed. Found a place that sold homebrew stuff in the area so we bought what we needed from them.

We mostly brewed together. Years later I bought an equipment kit from the Internet (much cheaper to buy an equipment kit by the way).

store bought spaghetti and a jar of heated up RAGU

Click to expand...

Reminds me of a dinner at one of my father's freind's house, the son complimented his mother on the sauce saying, "It's the best you've ever made." It was Ragu.

As you have found out, even very simple equipment can made good beer. We have award winners in the Oregon Brew Crew who use extract and plastic buckets. I suspect, though, the lure of all-grain will be hard to resist in the long term. I started with a Brew Sack, which is about one step above a plastic trash bag in a cardboard box.

Brew Sack, that's what it was. Thanx, I couldn't remember what the name was that got me looking into it many years ago. I got the idea "brewing", and tried to find a few books on the subject, then the internet came along. Wow. So much info, so many beers to make. Now I kinda wish I'd stayed in Portland.
Thanks D. That brought back some memories.

Come to the Dark Side, david. Search your feelings, you know it to be true

Welcome.

Mr Beer Kits rock!!!!!!

They are simple and give (good?) drinkable beer with simple results in around 3 weeks.
If it wasn't for Mr. Berr kits there'd me fewer brewers and fewer mebers on this forum.

I went Mr. Beer to All grain in around 3 months with the help, inspiration and eduction I gained from the guys on here.

Finally did an Internet search to see what in blazing you guys are talking about.... I can see how it would be appealing. Looks pretty simple. Do you even need to boil the stuff?

Only 1 gallon.

hi, thanks for the welcome. you're supposed to boil 4 cups h2o that you added the booster to. if you use a can of unhopped malt extract in place of booster you just boil the water and add the ingredients after you remove from heat. the kit makes 2 gallons.

taste i guess is in the mouth of the drinker, to me it tastes great as good as the beers i've bought in stores. the price, well i figure it costs less than a case of import or microbrew. if price were of any concern i'd just buy domestic beer.

the first bottle of the american devil ipa was great, it's one of their brewmaster select series, made from 2 cans of extract and no booster needed, except i added the honey to bump up the alcohol.

with the beer mixes 10, plus 4 kinds of UME's or booster, plus the ability to vary the ingredients and add hops or fruit and spices or liquid yeast. lots of combinations possible.

Hi MIK, sounds like a Mr Beer kit. You should get away from the booster and add LME or DME in its place. Add some hops and you will go from a passable to a really good beer.