Bad beer

[jgbrown83]

I am pretty new to brewing I am on my 5th batch

batch 1 Mr Beer American light - came out tasting cidery, fermented at 72 degrees for 2 weeks then 2 weeks in bottle. Followed Mr Beer recipe, very much disappointed, no head retention, poor carbonation.

batch 2 Mr beer Oktoberfest - came out cidery, same time and temperature. poor head retention almost no carbonation. decided carbo drops suck.

batch 3 Mr beer Oktoberfest with pumpkin - Came out ok... Neighbors loved it. less cidery, decided probably had to do with carbonation drops. batch primed with brown sugar. Much better carbonation and head retention. Upgraded to brew bucket over the LBK which I decided sucked.

batch 4 Mr Beer winter ale - fermented longer, used safale 05 decided mr beer yeast sucks. Initial gravity taken this time at 1.054 dropped to final gravity 1.012. 5.7% Abv. Decided adding Christmas spices was bad idea, came out over bitter thick and dark black. No translucency what so ever.
upgraded to a brew kettle specifically for brewing.

batch 5 Kolsch from brewers best. in the works....


Am I cursed, impatient or what?

 

[55x11]

I am pretty new to brewing I am on my 5th batch

batch 1 Mr Beer American light - came out tasting cidery, fermented at 72 degrees for 2 weeks then 2 weeks in bottle. Followed Mr Beer recipe, very much disappointed, no head retention, poor carbonation.

batch 2 Mr beer Oktoberfest - came out cidery, same time and temperature. poor head retention almost no carbonation. decided carbo drops suck.

batch 3 Mr beer Oktoberfest with pumpkin - Came out ok... Neighbors loved it. less cidery, decided probably had to do with carbonation drops. batch primed with brown sugar. Much better carbonation and head retention. Upgraded to brew bucket over the LBK which I decided sucked.

batch 4 Mr Beer winter ale - fermented longer, used safale 05 decided mr beer yeast sucks. Initial gravity taken this time at 1.054 dropped to final gravity 1.012. 5.7% Abv. Decided adding Christmas spices was bad idea, came out over bitter thick and dark black. No translucency what so ever.
upgraded to a brew kettle specifically for brewing.

batch 5 Kolsch from brewers best. in the works....


Am I cursed, impatient or what?

Need more info. Are those 1G or 5G batches? Where do you ferment (Carboy, bucket)? What is the temperature? How do you sanitize? How long do you ferment? When do you decide to stop fermenting and bottle?

Personally, I would start using liquid yeast and extract+steeping grains instead of Mr. Beer kits, if I were you. Pay attention to sanitation and temperature control.
Plus patience and care when transferring during bottling. The some more patience as bottles carbonate/condition.

 

[slym2none]

First - get your temps down. Just because the MrB yeast says it tolerates 74 degrees F, doesn't mean the beer will taste best there. Get wort temps down to 64-68, and your beer will taste better.

If you don't have a hydrometer, just let the beer ferment for 3 weeks total. That ensures fermentation is complete and gives the yeast time to clean up after themselves.

After bottling, let them sit at 70-75 degree room temps for 4 weeks minimum. This gives the beer time to carb up and starts the bottle-conditioning. Some beers might need/want longer conditioning times, but 4 weeks after bottling is a good minimum time.

Good call on switching yeasts IMHO - but still keep temps down! Also, if you want more body & head retention, steep 4 oz. of Carapils/Carafoam to use in your brews, or you can add 1/2 pound of wheat DME and get a bonus of about .6-.8% ABV as well as better head retention.

Good luck, and keep reading the forum! As always, keep us informed of your progress.

 

[BrewDoc1518]

From my early experiences Mr Beer, they turned out "cidery". I think this had to do with my lack of knowledge about temp control, and partially their yeast. The best advice I can give is to be patient, be meticulous in sanitizing, and stick to recipes until you feel that you can venture out and tweak things. Brewing can be frustrating, but rewarding, so enjoy and learn as you do it. You're on the right track, keep it up.

 

[meatcleaver]

i recommend some sort of temperature controlled fermentation. a swamp cooler at least. 72 is too high, especially if ambient.
& yes, proven recipes using fresh ingredients & good yeast. fermentis/safale is great.

 

[IslandLizard]

+1 to all the above.

Read the forums here and "How to Brew" and see how they compare with your current methods. Mr. Beer is not known for brewing quality beer. There are many recipes here (and elsewhere) to choose from and if you can buy the (raw) ingredients at your local brew store, likely at a better price, you're on your way to brew some real good beer. Immaculate sanitation practices and controlling fermentation temperatures (on the low side of a yeast's range) are the most important.

 

[kh54s10]

Agreed on controlling the fermentation temperature. Brewers Best are decent kits. I started with kits from: http://www.northernbrewer.com/

Get a copy of John Palmer's "How to Brew" It has all the information you need to progress.

 

[slym2none]

Now, now... since the Cooper's takeover in 2012, MrB puts out much better quality kits than before, although the craft cans are the ones I used exclusively when starting out. They just need some tweaking to make them better (like Carapils, some flavour & aroma hops, maybe some DME) and while they might cost a little more, they offer a lot of people the convenience that even extract-and-hops-boil brewing can't give.

 

[snow16]

If you get your temps down the rest of your problems will take care of themselves! Even head retention!

 

[GaBrewZoo]

I agree with all the above, but I don't think you need liquid yeast yet. US-05 or similar good yeast is fine. First you need to learn proper techniques, and why you do the things you do. Proper temp control ought to be what you work on next. Watch some of the old episodes of Basic Brewing Video. I have learned as much from them as anyone else.

 

[jgbrown83]

The ambient temp is about 68 the temp strip on the ale pail reads 72. I have been fermenting in the basement.

 

[55x11]

The ambient temp is about 68 the temp strip on the ale pail reads 72. I have been fermenting in the basement.

a bit on the high end of S-04 but should be ok overall. If you can put your fermenter into a tub filled with water and add some frozen ice bottles.

I would try some recipes with DME and steeping grains instead of Mr. Beer kits.

also as others noticed, pay attention to your sanitation, transfer and make sure beer is fully fermented and condition before bottling.

 

[jgbrown83]

a bit on the high end of S-04 but should be ok overall. If you can put your fermenter into a tub filled with water and add some frozen ice bottles.

I would try some recipes with DME and steeping grains instead of Mr. Beer kits.

also as others noticed, pay attention to your sanitation, transfer and make sure beer is fully fermented and condition before bottling.

I have been following the Mr Beer timelines to a tee and I just switched from the Included 1 step sanitizer to Star San. So hopefully that helps some. it definitely feels more reassuring with all the foam from the star san.