Trying to Decide

Would it be feasible to buy a Mr. Beer kit to use as the primary fermented, use a 3 gal food grade bucket as a secondary, and then reuse the Mr. Beer for bottling? 5 gallons would be too much for me before spoiling. Would this work ok or am I way off. Also, are the kits from Mr. Beer good quality?

Thanks!

It would work fine. Just make sure everything is super clean. When you make the transfer from one vessel to the other, make sure you use sanitized clear hose and avoid splashing the beer at all cost.

There is a sticky thread here in the beginners section on Mr. Beer that would probably be helpful to you, if you are thinking of using Mr. Beer.

Five gallons is only two cases, 48 bottles, which really doesn't last that long for even moderate drinkers like me. Beer won't spoil at all, it will eventually get oxidized, but it will be good for a long time. My suggestion is to buy a good quality beginners equipment equipment kit and skip the Mr. Beer, but to each his own, of course.

And welcome to HBT!

bigmac58 said:

Would it be feasible to buy a Mr. Beer kit to use as the primary fermented, use a 3 gal food grade bucket as a secondary, and then reuse the Mr. Beer for bottling? 5 gallons would be too much for me before spoiling. Would this work ok or am I way off. Also, are the kits from Mr. Beer good quality?

Thanks!

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I would reccomend that you go ahead and brew 5 gallons, then ship 2 my way. You don't have to, but if you don't, your beer will explode.
Just kidding. I guess since I know diddly about Mr. Beer, I should shutup. Good luck.

Pappers_ said:

There is a sticky thread here in the beginners section on Mr. Beer that would probably be helpful to you, if you are thinking of using Mr. Beer.

Five gallons is only two cases, 48 bottles, which really doesn't last that long for even moderate drinkers like me. Beer won't spoil at all, it will eventually get oxidized, but it will be good for a long time. My suggestion is to buy a good quality beginners equipment equipment kit and skip the Mr. Beer, but to each his own, of course.

And welcome to HBT!

Click to expand...

+1 five gallons of beer will disappear before you know it, even if you only drink a beer a night.

Thanks for all the info. More I read the more sense it's making to invest in a good kit. I primarily like lighter tasting beers (bud, Coors - please be kind). What recipes are good for this? Ultimately I want to build on this style with different flavors.

Thanks!

Try a cream ale, they are light. You can also try making a blonde. I would get a kit. They are easy and most come with really good instructions.

I have beer that has been in the bottle for about 16 months and it's better now than when it went in. I don't think you will have much problem drinking an average of one beer every week, about what it would take to down a 5 gallon batch in a year.

Wow... I hope this doesn't come across as judgmental, but I'm shocked that someone would spend the necessary time and energy to brew their own beer that would have a hard time consuming 48 bottles of beer in any reasonable amount of time. Putting aside the fact that you can store your beer for a long time, are you certain you wouldn't drink that amount within a few months? I think even without sharing with friends or having parties or anything the like I would blow through two cases in no time and I'm not a heavy drinker at all.

Not judgmental at all. I guess 5 gal just seems like a lot all at once but split up it's not really all that much at all. I've been doing a lot if reading and know I want to start out very simple then try different flavors.