Mr. Beer Fail!

So I got the Mr. Beer for Xmas. I set about using the stuff I got in the kit and following the directions. I did use corn sugar as priming sugar though. So I let it ferment for 7 days, tasted it, tasted like very light flat beer, so I bottled it, let it condition for 6 days so far. I took a bottle out to peek at it, I swirled it around, zero head. So I went ahead and cracked it open to get a gauge of where the bottles were.... Total crap! It was cider, no head, flat as a table too. Got another one same deal. So I took 3 bottles and put them in the fridge and dumped the rest out.

I think I know where I went wrong, I cooled the wort so as not to put piping hot water into the plastic Mr. Beer and I think that may have been where I went wrong, plus only God knows how old that kit was. So my very first attempt was a fail, but I have ordered a kit from Midwest and I am going to try some of the simple recipes in the Joy of Homebrewing and give it another go with quality ingredients and real equipment!

Not off to a great start but I did the same thing with cooking, I can now knock almost anyone's socks off with my food, beer will eventually get there as well.

Just wanted to share...

Well, 6 days is not very long to wait for carbonation. You really ought to let them condition at room temp for a few weeks before making a decision.

EDIT:

Also as I recall the Mr Beer kits recommend you put in some amount of sugar into each bottle individually, and they use those plastic screw caps. I've got no problems necessarily with the screw caps or with priming each bottle, but they are both prone to mistakes that can cause the issues you're complaining about. In addition to potentially infecting your beer.

weirdboy said:

Well, 6 days is not very long to wait for carbonation. You really ought to let them condition at room temp for a few weeks before making a decision.

EDIT:

Also as I recall the Mr Beer kits recommend you put in some amount of sugar into each bottle individually, and they use those plastic screw caps. I've got no problems necessarily with the screw caps or with priming each bottle, but they are both prone to mistakes that can cause the issues you're complaining about.

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Agreed, I think in six days you are likely to have little to no carbonation. That has been my experience anyway.

Ah sorry to hear that, but I do believe I can help a bit.

1. It will take a MINIMUM 3 Weeks at 70 degrees to carb.
2. If you still have the remaining beers in your fridge, take them out! The yeast will do dormant at those tempatures and will never carb up.
3. Next time, don't dump it! Store it, forget about it for a while....I am sure Revvy will chime in here and explain further.

Glad to hear your not giving up. Try to be patient with the beer. 6 days in the fermenter is not long enough for the yeast to clean up all their byproducts they produce either. Ideally you should keep the beer in the primary for 2 weeks or longer. For typical Ale's, I usually keep the beer in the primary for 3 weeks.

Keep us posted on how your next kit turns out!

i think you will be much more successful and happy with your next brewing endeavor.

Thanks for the replies guys. I took it out of the fridge and put it in a dark, stable temp place. I will let it sit for a few weeks. It wasn't really the best thing to start with, but I would much rather brew and fail with 2 gallons than 5 gallons. It helped me get an idea of my sanitizing schedule and some of what I think I will do when I get a better kit put together.

I'm kind of doing the same thing (got a Mr. Beer for Christmas) so I'll just echo what everyone else said: let them sit longer.

I let my Mr. Beer kit ferment for two weeks, then bottled with corn sugar. I've been tasting one every week (yesterday was 3 weeks) and my first one was just as you described. My wife said it tasted like bread flavored water haha. No head, super flat, etc. Yesterday was three weeks and I popped one open with drastically different results. Pretty good head, good carbonation (wife thinks too much actually) and way better taste compared to the first one.

Is it great beer? Not really unless you like Bud or Coors (I had the pale ale kit), but I would consider it a success given what I was working with.

My first two were BrewS(u)cks and just plain nasty.

General rule of thumb with Mr. Beer should be a minimum of 2 weeks in the fermenter, 2 weeks at room temperature to carb and 2 weeks in the fridge to age. That's a minimum. The 2 weeks in the ferm should be good for most, but at least 2 weeks of carb and age with more being better.

I've done a bunch of Mr. Beer since I like the brew size and generally they come out pretty well these days. Of course I add DME and steeping grains a lot too, so that helps as well.

Ron

Bought a MR Beer kit in nov.Brewed my first brew ever on nov.16 It was west coast pale ale.My wife said i looked so cute being excited bout my first kit,she called it my easy bake oven kit.My first batch was like that too,flat.Next batch i mixed brown sugar in a botteling bucket,7 days at room temp and it had a good head.Now im doing brewers best,cant wait to bottle it sunday.

I started with Mr. Beer myself but it has been quite a while ago and I don't know that I remember all their instructions that well. However, you mention using corn sugar in a way that sounds like you put it into the fermentor and as someone else mentioned, there was no mention of priming the bottles. Can you go over your process a little better (nobody wants to repeat a mistake)?

I got a Mr. Beer kit last x-mas as well. I decided to return it and got a beginners kit from my LHBS (Local Home Brew Store). Never looked back! Makin wine, beer and cheese now! Great hobby just do not be afraid to go with quality stuff.

Quick update. I did keep a six pack of the beer out of curiousity. So I let it carb for another week and chilled one yesterday and had it just now. It is not super good, but it actually tastes like a mild, flatter than normal beer with very little hops. My fiance actually really liked it, but it was too simple for my taste. I'm going to allow the other 5 to rest for another week or two and chill/crack one at a time just to sample it.

You can make good beer with the Mr. Beer system. You just need some of that "P" stuff - patience!!

There are a couple of good forums related to Mr. Beer that have some good recipes. One is the Mr. Beer website. Check out community.mrbeer.com. The other is www.mrbeerfans.com.

Also most people start with the West Coast Pale Ale that comes in the kit with booster. That is probably my least favorite of all their beers. Generally if you reorder from Mr. Beer and get a HME and a UME kit, not one with HME and Booster, you will get a better beer. Also if you can add something to it like DME or steeping grains that helps a lot with the complexity.

Ron

rca said:

There are a couple of good forums related to Mr. Beer that have some good recipes. One is the Mr. Beer website. Check out community.mrbeer.com. The other is www.mrbeerfans.com.

Also most people start with the West Coast Pale Ale that comes in the kit with booster. That is probably my least favorite of all their beers. Generally if you reorder from Mr. Beer and get a HME and a UME kit, not one with HME and Booster, you will get a better beer. Also if you can add something to it like DME or steeping grains that helps a lot with the complexity.

Ron

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Couldn't agree more. That "Booster" stuff is nasty. The HME/UME is the way to go from my experience.

Didn't we all start with a "Mr. Beer?"....lol...It plants the seed though. Amazing how a $39.99 fail can end up costing you thousands in the long run....

ive also just recently started brewing due to receiving mr beer for christmas. however mine seems to be the opposite. i've had my second batch in the fermentor for almost 4 weeks and the longer it sits the more cidery it tastes. the first batch had a similar taste and was overcarbonated when it finished. i fermented that for 2 weeks and carbonated for 3. i havent bottled this current batch yet. should i bother? what could i be doing wrong? i followed the directions to a T.