Mr Beer - Read all about it and ask questions

[bpgreen]

I am your daily example. Noobs gonna noob


::face palm::

We were all new at one time.

And don't feel alone. Many people try different priming agents for a variety of reasons. I know somebody who batch primed with honey when he started and kept doing it for a long time because, well, because. Then he decided on one batch that he wanted to save some time and primed with sugar. He couldn't detect a difference, so he never went back.

I've done a fair amount of experimenting, but when I decide I want to try something, I always have a clear idea of what I want to try, why I want to try it, what I think it will do to my brew and why I think it will do that to my brew. I'm not saying that's how I approached it in my first two batches, but I learned my lesson pretty quickly.

 

[woozy]

Total noob here.
I admit I've an ego. So buying a Mr. Beer at clearance prices but for kicks and giggles and "gee, I wonder what making beer would be like" makes me feel like a cross between making chocolate cake with an EZ-bake oven and/or riding around on a tricycle with pictures of flaming tail-pipes painted on it.

But it seems to me (as a noob doing internet research and not as anyone with any, you know, actual knowledge and experience and that kind of stuff) that when it comes to fermenting *any* container will do. (That is, any container unexposed to air and with a means to allow gas to escape.) So...

Is there any reason the Mr. Beer fermenter ("cute; It's shaped like a plastic beer keg; how .... precious") is any worse (or better) than any other container? (Other than volume capacity, of course.)

Feel free to bash. But give valid reasons to the bashing.

 

[BigJack]

The lbk (little brown keg) can be problematic for beers with a great deal of trub (spout gets clogged) or high gravity brews with very active fermentations (spill over). Other than that, I've been using them for a decade with good results. You can brew any style with it and follow any brewing process (canned kit, extract plus hops, extract plus hops and steeping grains, partial mash, all grain.) Heck, I've done wine and cider in them too. I know others who have done mead in them.

Another advantage to Mr Beer is that the lbk fits inside an ice chest, which means you can use frozen water jugs to control fermentation temps. That comes in really handy during long Texas summers.

A new company called Brew Demon is making a conical-shaped fermenter and selling the old Mr Beer recipes from before the Cooper's buy-out (the old recipes came from New Zealand.) If I was going to buy a new small fermenter, I would probably try theirs as it has more room for trub below the spigot and more head room for highly active fermentations (and the option of a traditional air lock.) On the downside, they cost more- $15 for an LBK and $25 for the Brew Demon conical. Also, the BDC (brew demon conical) is too tall to fit in an ice chest.

All of this assumes you want to have a small fermentation system. I like small batches because I have beer ADHD and brewing 2.25 gallon batches keeps me from getting bored with a particular brew. If you'd rather brew less often and have more of the same beer on hand, skip Mr Beer and Brew Demon and go with plastic buckets.

 

[azmark]

The lbk (little brown keg) can be problematic for beers with a great deal of trub (spout gets clogged) or high gravity brews with very active fermentations (spill over). Other than that, I've been using them for a decade with good results. You can brew any style with it and follow any brewing process (canned kit, extract plus hops, extract plus hops and steeping grains, partial mash, all grain.) Heck, I've done wine and cider in them too. I know others who have done mead in them.

Another advantage to Mr Beer is that the lbk fits inside an ice chest, which means you can use frozen water jugs to control fermentation temps. That comes in really handy during long Texas summers.

A new company called Brew Demon is making a conical-shaped fermenter and selling the old Mr Beer recipes from before the Cooper's buy-out (the old recipes came from New Zealand.) If I was going to buy a new small fermenter, I would probably try theirs as it has more room for trub below the spigot and more head room for highly active fermentations (and the option of a traditional air lock.) On the downside, they cost more- $15 for an LBK and $25 for the Brew Demon conical. Also, the BDC (brew demon conical) is too tall to fit in an ice chest.

All of this assumes you want to have a small fermentation system. I like small batches because I have beer ADHD and brewing 2.25 gallon batches keeps me from getting bored with a particular brew. If you'd rather brew less often and have more of the same beer on hand, skip Mr Beer and Brew Demon and go with plastic buckets.

I got a conical from Brew Demon. I can fit 2 lbk's in my mini fridge, and zero of the conicals,,,so it's nice, not cute,,,but I'll keep using the lbk's

To avoid trub getting close to the spigot, just ferment with a couple of cd cases under the front of the lbk and you'll be all set.

 

[bpgreen]

Total noob here.
I admit I've an ego. So buying a Mr. Beer at clearance prices but for kicks and giggles and "gee, I wonder what making beer would be like" makes me feel like a cross between making chocolate cake with an EZ-bake oven and/or riding around on a tricycle with pictures of flaming tail-pipes painted on it.

But it seems to me (as a noob doing internet research and not as anyone with any, you know, actual knowledge and experience and that kind of stuff) that when it comes to fermenting *any* container will do. (That is, any container unexposed to air and with a means to allow gas to escape.) So...

Is there any reason the Mr. Beer fermenter ("cute; It's shaped like a plastic beer keg; how .... precious") is any worse (or better) than any other container? (Other than volume capacity, of course.)

Feel free to bash. But give valid reasons to the bashing.

You can make really good beer in the LBK. You can make really bad beer in a carboy. And vice versa.

The first time I went to my LHBS, I had only made the Mr Beer refills, and I was nervous about telling them I was using Mr Beer because I had read forum postings from people who got treated badly at their LHBS. But I figured that the only way to get the advice I needed was to tell them what I was using so they could scale recipes, etc. I told the guy I used Mr Beer and waited for the insults. Instead, he said, "The only thing I can do with my setup that you can't do with yours is I can make 5 gallons at a time." He then took me around and helped me pick ingredients for my next few batches.

I now mostly brew 5 gallon batches, but that's because when I do, I can make 5 gallons at a time. But I still make Mr Beer sized batches occasionally, especially if I'm trying something experimental like a gruit.

There's nothing wrong with the LBK. For that matter, there's nothing wrong with the Mr Beer refills. They're high quality and if you want to make a batch in a hurry, there's nothing like using prehopped extract. It takes several hours to make a partial mash batch (a bit longer for all grain, less time for an extract batch with a hop boil), but once you get the process down, probably less than a half hour to make a batch from a Mr Beer refill.

 

[BigJack]

There's nothing wrong with the LBK. For that matter, there's nothing wrong with the Mr Beer refills. They're high quality and if you want to make a batch in a hurry, there's nothing like using prehopped extract. It takes several hours to make a partial mash batch (a bit longer for all grain, less time for an extract batch with a hop boil), but once you get the process down, probably less than a half hour to make a batch from a Mr Beer refill.

My fellow Mr Beer fan is right. I only use the canned kits about every third or fourth beer I brew- and even then I doctor them up to suite my taste. But the kits aren't bad at all. In fact, there were several of the old recipes that I really liked. I'm less familiar with the range since the Coopers buy-out, but hey- Cooper's has a following for a reason. I'm already planning on buying the fall seasonal brown ale kit when it becomes available just to give it a go.

 

[DFBeerGuy]

We've been on the outside looking in with regard to the Mr. Beer Kits. I've owned a homebrew shop for 32 years & have dealt with many MB customers over the years that either didn't want to order on-line or simply didn't want the tiny cans that were formerly supplied. One of my biggest complaints with the LBK was the spigot, which you had to hold in while filling the bottles. Fortunately, this is no longer the case as they've gone to a standard turn-handle homebrew spigot - a big improvement. (Unfortunately, you still can't add an airlock, which I would much prefer.) Otherwise, apart from the small size, there is no reason you can't make good beer in one, as long as you keep it clean, sanitize it, and keep the temperatures moderate. In other words, just like any other fermenter. As for the little conical fermenter from Brew Demon, it looks cool (I ordered one just to see what customers might be using), but doesn't work any better than the LBK. They're pretty interchangeable from my point of view. Another thing that Cooper's has improved is the former little tiny, 1.2 lb. cans which required "Booster." You only need Booster if you don't have enough malt extract. Fortunately, Cooper's has now bumped up the can size by 50%. The new cans are now 1.87 lbs. with the larger ones coming in at 2.86 lbs. While the smaller cans still border on "wimpy" it is a vast improvement & the nearly 3 lb. can is downright respectable for 8 liters. FWIW We've been selling Cooper's malt extracts for many years and they make a good product. I think you'll be impressed. Recently we've actually started stocking MB kits and refills. Sometimes, you just have to join'em. My two cents worth.

Scott Birdwell
DeFalco's Home Wine & Beer Supplies
www.defalcos.com

 

[ericbw]

Total noob here.
I admit I've an ego. So buying a Mr. Beer at clearance prices but for kicks and giggles and "gee, I wonder what making beer would be like" makes me feel like a cross between making chocolate cake with an EZ-bake oven and/or riding around on a tricycle with pictures of flaming tail-pipes painted on it.

But it seems to me (as a noob doing internet research and not as anyone with any, you know, actual knowledge and experience and that kind of stuff) that when it comes to fermenting *any* container will do. (That is, any container unexposed to air and with a means to allow gas to escape.) So...

Is there any reason the Mr. Beer fermenter ("cute; It's shaped like a plastic beer keg; how .... precious") is any worse (or better) than any other container? (Other than volume capacity, of course.)

Feel free to bash. But give valid reasons to the bashing.

Chocolate cake from an easy bake oven = chocolate cake.

 

[trujunglist]

The spigot is downright terrible. It pours at a trickle and gets clogged up over nothing. It also randomly leaks. Other than that I like the keg just fine.

 

[DFBeerGuy]

The spigot is downright terrible. It pours at a trickle and gets clogged up over nothing. It also randomly leaks. Other than that I like the keg just fine.

If the spigot continues to be an issue, you can syphon the beer out of the LBK to the bottles. Once you get it going, it should be as fast, if not faster, than the spigot (when it's working correctly).

Scott Birdwell
DeFalco's Home Wine & Beer Supplies
www.defalcos.com

 

[bpgreen]

If the spigot continues to be an issue, you can syphon the beer out of the LBK to the bottles. Once you get it going, it should be as fast, if not faster, than the spigot (when it's working correctly).

Scott Birdwell
DeFalco's Home Wine & Beer Supplies
www.defalcos.com

There are also other spigots you can get to replace the one that comes with it.

 

[woozy]

>>>Chocolate cake from an easy bake oven = chocolate cake.

Oh no it does *not*!!!


But beer from a Mr. Beer lbk does seem to be beer.

 

[BigJack]

The spigot is downright terrible. It pours at a trickle and gets clogged up over nothing. It also randomly leaks. Other than that I like the keg just fine.

My older lbks with the old-style spigot sometimes trickle but the new spigots don't The only time I've ever had a Mr Beer spigot leak is when I had it installed incorrectly by over-tightening. That's in ten years, eight or so lbks, and three different spigot designs.

 

[ericbw]

>>>Chocolate cake from an easy bake oven = chocolate cake.

Oh no it does *not*!!!

But beer from a Mr. Beer lbk does seem to be beer.

You have used an easy bake?

 

[woozy]

Perhaps I'm being a tad harsh on easy bake ovens; my mother would never have allowed any of her children to even consider using such a thing so I don't have any first-hand experience. But until I meet someone who redesigns their kitchen for the best cooking experience and chooses an easy bake oven because it is the best oven there is, I'm going to contend that its not a "real" oven.

I mean, doesn't it use a light-bulb to cook at very low and unvariable temperatures? Doesn't it have a really small capacity and no convection? Have you ever tried to do a pork roast in an easy bake oven?

My point being, that with all the sass-mouth against Mr. Beer one gets the feeling that it's not a "real" system just as an easy bake oven isn't a "real" oven. But so far as I can tell that when it comes to fermenting beer *any* container, glass carboy, lbk, a well-cleaned gas can from your garage (the radiator of your car???), are all equally good. Is there any reason, any reason at all, that this wouldn't be true?

So my original question wasn't really meant to be so much of a "gee, can I make do with a Mr. Beer lbk if I absolutely have to (please, let me join the grown-ups table, huh, pretty please)" so much as "is there any reason, any reason at all, that if I could have my way completely to develop any system in the world, is there any reason I *wouldn't* chose the Mr. Beer lbk?" I'm kind of thinking not.

 

[bzwyatt]

I made two batches of the american light. They were real cidery at first, let them condition and they got to be ok. I gave one to my brother and his girlfriend, she liked it a lot. I didn't like it much at all, seemed too sweet still. I thought I'd messed up my batch, but whatever, I'll try again sometime.

Last weekend I got some budweiser at a pizza place, that was all they had. I hadn't had any of that for a while, I usually get Sam Adams mix packs when I buy beer, or something else I haven't tried if I can find it.

So this pitcher of Bud tastes just like my beer did! I looked at it and was wondering what the heck... I think my beer was actually just fine, and the only problem was that I hadn't had that type of beer in so long that I forgot what it is like.

So I just got some refills from MrBeer, their patriot lager and porter, with the LME packs to make it 4.7%. I know it still won't be amazing beer, but I figure a couple more batches this way will be cool to do again, and sometime soon I'll get more kit from my HBS.

But for now this will be cool to try again, and I didn't mess up my beer.

 

[ericbw]

Perhaps I'm being a tad harsh on easy bake ovens; my mother would never have allowed any of her children to even consider using such a thing so I don't have any first-hand experience. But until I meet someone who redesigns their kitchen for the best cooking experience and chooses an easy bake oven because it is the best oven there is, I'm going to contend that its not a "real" oven.

I mean, doesn't it use a light-bulb to cook at very low and unvariable temperatures? Doesn't it have a really small capacity and no convection? Have you ever tried to do a pork roast in an easy bake oven?

My point being, that with all the sass-mouth against Mr. Beer one gets the feeling that it's not a "real" system just as an easy bake oven isn't a "real" oven. But so far as I can tell that when it comes to fermenting beer *any* container, glass carboy, lbk, a well-cleaned gas can from your garage (the radiator of your car???), are all equally good. Is there any reason, any reason at all, that this wouldn't be true?

So my original question wasn't really meant to be so much of a "gee, can I make do with a Mr. Beer lbk if I absolutely have to (please, let me join the grown-ups table, huh, pretty please)" so much as "is there any reason, any reason at all, that if I could have my way completely to develop any system in the world, is there any reason I *wouldn't* chose the Mr. Beer lbk?" I'm kind of thinking not.

An Easy Bake oven probably doesn't get hot enough (nor is it big enough) to cook a pork roast. Neither does a microwave. And you can't cook a cake on the grill, but you can in a microwave. An oven is just a box that heats up to cook food, and the Easy Bake is designed to make cookies with less danger of injury. For that, it's great and it's "real." Same with Mr. Beer. It's designed to make a small batch with little room for straying from the process. That's all.


It's just a small fermenter that makes things a little easier.

 

[bpgreen]

Perhaps I'm being a tad harsh on easy bake ovens; my mother would never have allowed any of her children to even consider using such a thing so I don't have any first-hand experience. But until I meet someone who redesigns their kitchen for the best cooking experience and chooses an easy bake oven because it is the best oven there is, I'm going to contend that its not a "real" oven.

I mean, doesn't it use a light-bulb to cook at very low and unvariable temperatures? Doesn't it have a really small capacity and no convection? Have you ever tried to do a pork roast in an easy bake oven?

My point being, that with all the sass-mouth against Mr. Beer one gets the feeling that it's not a "real" system just as an easy bake oven isn't a "real" oven. But so far as I can tell that when it comes to fermenting beer *any* container, glass carboy, lbk, a well-cleaned gas can from your garage (the radiator of your car???), are all equally good. Is there any reason, any reason at all, that this wouldn't be true?

So my original question wasn't really meant to be so much of a "gee, can I make do with a Mr. Beer lbk if I absolutely have to (please, let me join the grown-ups table, huh, pretty please)" so much as "is there any reason, any reason at all, that if I could have my way completely to develop any system in the world, is there any reason I *wouldn't* chose the Mr. Beer lbk?" I'm kind of thinking not.

Is there a reason not to choose a Mr Beer fermenter? Yes. If you want to make more than 2.5 gallons or so at a time (they're really intended for 2.125 gallon batches, but you can overfill and get about 2.5 gallons), it's easier to do that with a larger fermenter. Having said that, there are people who routinely ferment 5 gallon batches by splitting between two LBKs. They stick with the LBK because they have room for the LBKs and not for larger fermenters.

 

[DFBeerGuy]

. . . But so far as I can tell that when it comes to fermenting beer *any* container, glass carboy, lbk, a well-cleaned gas can from your garage (the radiator of your car???), are all equally good. Is there any reason, any reason at all, that this wouldn't be true?

No, this is not true. Any vessel that can be cleaned and is made of a food-grade material is fine. If you want to make Mr. Beer in your radiator, well, that's your business. But, I sure wouldn't want any part of it. I understand lead might impart a sweet flavor, but it is definitely bad mojo for human consumption. The LBK, the Brew Demon "conical", and pretty much any fermenter sold at a LHBS is going to be of food-grade material, but this is not to say that any trash can is okay. Food grade material may include food-grade plastic (polyethelene, PET, polypropolene, etc.), glass, stainless steel, sanitized oak barrels, etc.). Avoid non-food-grade plastic, iron, soft steel, cooper. Hope this helps.

Scott Birdwell
DeFalco's Home Wine & Beer Supplies
www.defalcos.com

 

[BigJack]

As BP and Defalcos have said, make sure you are using a food grade vessel. And in reality, Mr Beer kegs are cheap and easy to work with. I can see using something more expensive than them, but I can't see wanting to go cheaper. Your health is worth spending $15 on an appropriate fermentation vessel. If you want to spend more, the sky is the limit (even those of us who stick with our lbks wind up buying bigger/more expensive fermenters too.) But if you want to save money, Mr Beer is about as cheap as it gets without asking for trouble. And it works really, really well if you do it right.

 

[woozy]

So why all the sass-mouth? I mean, if there was concern about the airlock system being subpar or it varied wildly in temperature or ... or some other concern that'd be one thing. Even if it was simply not as good as another system. But the "If I met Mr. Beer in alley I'd kick its ass" and "you don't want that piece of crap" really do not seem justified.

But if there *is* a justified critique, well that's what I'm fishing for... Sounds like there really aren't any. "It's a fermentor and it works just fine" seems to be the consensus?

>>>An Easy Bake oven probably doesn't get hot enough (nor is it big enough) to cook a pork roast. Neither does a microwave. And you can't cook a cake on the grill, but you can in a microwave.

A grill, a microwave, an oven are three entirely different things. (And you *can't* bake a cake in a microwave; you can steam a batter until it's of a cake like consistancy, but you can not bake a cake. technically I wouldn't even call a steamed cake a cake; I'd call it a pudding.) An easy bake oven is an oven but it is a *very* sub-par one with it's lack of range of temperature (and one temperature too low) and lack of convection.

It seems to me that that beer fermenters are all one thing. Batch size, of course, matters but we can assume that if one is even having this discussion one has settled on 2-gallon batching for other reasons. (Seriously *50* bottles of beer in a trial batch? Who's got the space? Or the thirst? But that another [pointless and unresolvable] discussion.)

 

[woozy]

>>If you want to spend more, the sky is the limit (even those of us who stick with our lbks wind up buying bigger/more expensive fermenters too.)

Well, but what do I *get* for spending more money? I'm kind of thinking of a simple carboy system (but I'm hoping I'll stumble across one serendipidously; seems the type of thing some friend ought to have kicking around his garage) but I kind of have to think futzing about with siphons and cleaning it would be kind of a pain. And then I have to ask myself, would it actually be any *better* than an lbk? With all the Mr. Beer bashers out there and the "you get what you pay for" attitude the answer seems like it would be "of course, a carboy is better" but is it? If so, why? What are the concerns and specifics one needs to know?

 

[bpgreen]

So why all the sass-mouth? I mean, if there was concern about the airlock system being subpar or it varied wildly in temperature or ... or some other concern that'd be one thing. Even if it was simply not as good as another system. But the "If I met Mr. Beer in alley I'd kick its ass" and "you don't want that piece of crap" really do not seem justified.

People often have opinions that have little or no foundation in fact. You'll find this holds true in many spheres and doesn't only apply to the Mr Beer fermenter.

I think there are also a number of things that lead people to view Mr Beer negatively.

It's inexpensive and it says you can make beer in as little as 14 days, so people buy it. They read the instructions and see that they can bump the alcohol content by adding some plain white sugar (and/or honey and/or maple syrup, etc). They also see the temperature range as being between 68 and 72. The old refills included 2 grams of yeast (not enough) and Booster.

They then brew up the refill that came with it, dumping in a bunch of sugar to increase the alcohol content. They stick it in a room that is about 70F and leave it for a week. Then they bottle it, wait a week, stick it in the fridge for a couple of hours and drink the beer.

With the old refills, the Booster already bumped the adjuncts too high in relation to the malt. And there really wasn't enough yeast to do the job properly. There was enough to ferment into beer, but 2 grams is seriously underpitching. The room was around 70, so during active fermentation, the brewing temperature probably got above 75. And they added simple sugar on top of the already too high adjunct level.

So what happened? Too little yeast led to lots of ester formation and possibly to underattenuation issues. The high temperatures led to more esters and possibly to fusel alcohol. The high level of adjuncts produced a lot of acetaldehyde and a thin end product.

If they had given it more time, some of these problems would have faded or even disappeared, but they read the marketing materials and wanted beer in as little as 14 days.

When they drank it, they drank straight from the bottle or poured it one glass at a time. Combined with the lack of time, this meant that they ended up drinking a lot of trub with their beer.

But they DID make beer, so they were encouraged to continue. They then visited a homebrew store, determined to discover how to make GOOD beer. At the brew store, they may have run into somebody who doesn't know much about Mr Beer, or somebody who heard that it makes bad beer, or maybe even somebody who went through the same steps he did, ending up with a sub-par beer.

So he walks out with an Ale Pale, a glass carboy, a stick-on thermometer, an all malt recipe, a package of yeast with enough yeast to do the trick (or maybe a vial of liquid yeast, a stir plate and flask and instructions on how to make a starter), a hydrometer, a siphon, etc. He also has clear instructions on how to brew it, how long to ferment it, how long to let it sit in the bottles and how long to let it sit in the fridge.

He goes home, brews it up and 6-8 weeks later, takes a taste of the beer. And it's really good.

So he concludes that the problem was Mr Beer.

In reality, he changed EVERY SINGLE THING that he did the first time around. The problem wasn't Mr Beer. The problem was that he didn't follow the proper processes to make good beer.

Some of the problem lies with the Mr Beer instructions and marketing. It's true that you can make beer in as little as 14 days. But it takes longer to make good beer. I think they have a comment to the effect that the beer may improve if given more time, but they don't really stress it. And they have a chart that tells how much alcohol various ingredients add. I think they may mention that you should keep your adjuncts below a certain amount, but its importance isn't really obvious.

Can you make bad beer with Mr Beer equipment and refills? Absolutely.

Can you make good beer with Mr Beer equipment and refills? Absolutely.

It's up to you.

 

[DFBeerGuy]

bpgreen has done a very good job summing up the main issues that some people have had with Mr. Beer over the years. As a homebrew shop owner, my complaints have been primarily: 1) Lack of a means to seal the fermenter and put an airlock on the LBK. I know for many of you this is not really a problem. I just don't like nor do I trust it. But, if it works for you, it works for you. 2) The crappy spigot they originally supplied with the LBK - this has since been remedied. 3) The pittance of malt provided (1.2 lbs.) and the "Booster" required to get the alcoholic strength up to anywhere near a respectable level. Yuck! I've tasted many of the WCPA brews from the original kits and they were barely passable. Now, with Cooper's taking over, you're getting an additional 50% more malt, so you don't need the Booster and they're including 5 grams of yeast (ironic, considering they only include a 7 gram package for 5 imperial/6 U.S. gallons). You're going to be making better beer given the same conditions than before. These upgrades were a major consideration for us to decide to pick up the line. We feel like we don't have to sell additional ingredients to upgrade the ones included in the kit. If you don't mind only yielding 2 - 2 1/2 gallons, you can make a good beer with this system. I would recommend that because of the lack of an airlock, you not exceed 2 weeks in the fermenter. My two cents worth. . .

Scott Birdwell
DeFalco's Home Wine & Beer Supplies
www.defalcos.com

 

[BigJack]

Well, but what do I *get* for spending more money? I'm kind of thinking of a simple carboy system (but I'm hoping I'll stumble across one serendipidously; seems the type of thing some friend ought to have kicking around his garage) but I kind of have to think futzing about with siphons and cleaning it would be kind of a pain. And then I have to ask myself, would it actually be any *better* than an lbk? With all the Mr. Beer bashers out there and the "you get what you pay for" attitude the answer seems like it would be "of course, a carboy is better" but is it? If so, why? What are the concerns and specifics one needs to know?

Well, here goes in order of price.

With plastic buckets, you get bigger volumes and an airlock (if having an airlock instead of the Mr Beer notched lid set-up matters to you. It doesn't to me, so bigger size is the main benefit as far as I'm concerned.)

Stepping up to glass carboys gives you a material that isn't oxygen permeable, doesn't chemically degrade, and lets you watch fermentation.

Stepping up to stainless steel like the Deep Woods Brewing carboys gives you a light, strong, unbreakable material that should last forever.

Stepping up to plastic conicals, you can harvest yeast, and remove the trub like a pro.

And finally stainless steel conicals give you the benefits of the Deep Woods carboy AND the plastic conicals.

It just depends on what you are comfortable with both in terms of budget and features.

In ten years of brewing, I've been content with lbks and ale pails. But I admit I have been eyeing the Deep Woods stainless carboys lately. I have zero desire for glass. Heavy breakable containers don't sound like my idea of stress free brewing.

 

[Rockindaddy]

I'm somewhat new to brewing and have done a few extract kits that all came out extremely good. (Just ordered and outdoor burner & pot so I can move to BIAB all grain). I had an opportunity to pick up a Mr. beer kit for $15.00 that had 2 recipe kits inside. So I figured 2 cases of beer for $15.00 isn't a bad deal. When I brewed the first batch I followed their instructions to a tee. It was a nut brown ale. When it finally came time to drink it, I was pretty disgusted. Tasted like some weird flavored sugar water. I normally don't drink nut brown ale so I wasn't sure if it was that bad or just me. So the next kit was a pale ale which is more up my alley of what I normally drink. I still followed the instructions, but I added 1/2 oz of hops and used my own yeast. It came out a little better, but still tasted like flavored sugar water. Nothing like the extract kits that I had done before. So I am sure you can make good beer with a Mr. Beer, but i would not use their recipe kits anymore.

 

[BigJack]

I'm somewhat new to brewing and have done a few extract kits that all came out extremely good. (Just ordered and outdoor burner & pot so I can move to BIAB all grain). I had an opportunity to pick up a Mr. beer kit for $15.00 that had 2 recipe kits inside. So I figured 2 cases of beer for $15.00 isn't a bad deal. When I brewed the first batch I followed their instructions to a tee. It was a nut brown ale. When it finally came time to drink it, I was pretty disgusted. Tasted like some weird flavored sugar water. I normally don't drink nut brown ale so I wasn't sure if it was that bad or just me. So the next kit was a pale ale which is more up my alley of what I normally drink. I still followed the instructions, but I added 1/2 oz of hops and used my own yeast. It came out a little better, but still tasted like flavored sugar water. Nothing like the extract kits that I had done before. So I am sure you can make good beer with a Mr. Beer, but i would not use their recipe kits anymore.

If the beer tasted sweet, I don't think you got a good fermentation. Dead yeast, I'd guess.

 

[DFBeerGuy]

If the beer tasted sweet, I don't think you got a good fermentation. Dead yeast, I'd guess.

I agree. A Mr. Beer Kit with two recipes for $15? Perhaps this had been sitting around for a while. . . Did the beer carbonate?

Scott Birdwell
DeFalco's Home Wine & Beer Supplies
www.defalcos.com

 

[SulBruin3]

Quick questions. Does it matter if you boil the priming sugar first and add as liquid to bottling bucket or can you add the sugar directly to the beer after transferring the beer from the Mr Beer keg to the bottling bucket? Thoughts?

 

[abandonhope16]

The idea of dissolving in hot water is to uniformly dissolve the sugar. Adding this liquid to the bottling bucket and then adding the beer ensures that the sugar mixes uniformly with minimal stirring; thereby reducing the chances of oxidation. It's easier to mix two liquids then a solid and a liquid. You could always individually prime the bottles with sugar; but again, it's easier/more consistent to use a priming solution in a bottling bucket. It would be difficult to add sugar to the bucket then adding the beer since you will have a hard time mixing them and more than likely, some sugar will get left behind in the bucket.

 

[NadoHawk]

So I have my last of three batches in the Mr. Beer right now recovering after a 10-day dry-hopping and oaking (basically allowing a secondary fermentation...maybe give it another week) and I was wondering what uses you all found for the keg after upgrading to a 5-gallon system...I am also going to buy a one-gallon jug for brewing mead in particular (would you advise starting in the Mr. Beer keg and then transferring to the one-gallon for secondary?)

 

[BigJack]

So I have my last of three batches in the Mr. Beer right now recovering after a 10-day dry-hopping and oaking (basically allowing a secondary fermentation...maybe give it another week) and I was wondering what uses you all found for the keg after upgrading to a 5-gallon system...I am also going to buy a one-gallon jug for brewing mead in particular (would you advise starting in the Mr. Beer keg and then transferring to the one-gallon for secondary?)

With mead, yes, transfer for secondary. It needs a long ferment and you don't want it on the yeast all that time.

When I was doing five gallon batches regularly, I still used the lbk for experimental batches and for those beers where I know 5 gallons is more than I want. (Pumpkin beers and such.)

 

[bpgreen]

With mead, yes, transfer for secondary. It needs a long ferment and you don't want it on the yeast all that time.

When I was doing five gallon batches regularly, I still used the lbk for experimental batches and for those beers where I know 5 gallons is more than I want. (Pumpkin beers and such.)

I do much the same. I do most of my brews in the larger fermenters and use the LBKs for experimental things like gruits. And every once in a while, I'll do a small all extract batch to make sure I have bottles on hand (I keg my 5 gallon batches).

 

[BigJack]

I do much the same. I do most of my brews in the larger fermenters and use the LBKs for experimental things like gruits. And every once in a while, I'll do a small all extract batch to make sure I have bottles on hand (I keg my 5 gallon batches).

Yeah- bottling 5 gallons is a PITA. I talk about how beer ADHD is why I stopped doing big batches- but having to deal with all those bottles was part of it too. I had no kegs in those days.

 

[NadoHawk]

Yeah- bottling 5 gallons is a PITA. I talk about how beer ADHD is why I stopped doing big batches- but having to deal with all those bottles was part of it too. I had no kegs in those days.

I have actually bottled in two-liter soda bottles, but now since people know I brew, I sadly must go to the 12-ouncers.

 

[Acyr90]

How can I get the off flavors that were produced due to high fermentation temps to settle down? (Sharp, acidic, overly alcoholic)

Long story short: I left my mr beer keg in my closet & forgot to monitor it during a heat wave. It's been bottled ~4 weeks now counting the time in the fridge & the sharp flavors haven't noticeably dissipated.

Would it be better to let it age in the fridge or should I get it somewhere warmer to try and clear up the off flavors?

 

[bpgreen]

How can I get the off flavors that were produced due to high fermentation temps to settle down? (Sharp, acidic, overly alcoholic)

Long story short: I left my mr beer keg in my closet & forgot to monitor it during a heat wave. It's been bottled ~4 weeks now counting the time in the fridge & the sharp flavors haven't noticeably dissipated.

Would it be better to let it age in the fridge or should I get it somewhere warmer to try and clear up the off flavors?

Time is your friend. Most of the off flavors will condition out over time, but some (particularly the fusel alcohol) can take a really long time.

Give them another 4 months at room temperature, then put one in the fridge for a week and give it a try. If is not ready yet, give it another month and try again.

 

[Acyr90]

Time is your friend. Most of the off flavors will condition out over time, but some (particularly the fusel alcohol) can take a really long time.

Give them another 4 months at room temperature, then put one in the fridge for a week and give it a try. If is not ready yet, give it another month and try again.

Cool beans, so I'm better off letting em sit at room temp? Is this so the yeast can go back to work which is what helps kill off any off flavors?

 

[bpgreen]

Cool beans, so I'm better off letting em sit at room temp? Is this so the yeast can go back to work which is what helps kill off any off flavors?

Exactly. The yeast will eat the compounds with the off flavors and convert them into other things that taste better. They'll do this faster at room temperature. They slow way down to almost nothing in the refrigerator. There are some additional things that happen in the fridge, which is why I recommend putting them in the fridge for a week. Some people only give them a short time to cool and get the co2 into suspension, but I give mine at least two weeks and tell others to give a week (not everybody has fridge space or patience for two weeks).

 

[Doob]

Here's to mrbeer. I made a couple gallons of blueberry lager and bottled it, and currently have a two gallon batch of cherry chocolate stout fermenting. I agree with previous posters when they say doctoring up the basic kits are a good idea. If you have a local store it's a great idea to go get some dme and meet your local store owner and talk them up. It sure beats waiting for responses on a message board, lol. I kid.

Still a noob here, but man are things looking up.

Cheers.