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I'm new to home brewing and Mr. Beer, but I've read through the last 50 pages or so of this thread. Thanks all for your excellent advice.

It seems the consensus is that Mr. Beer instructions for temperature with their standard yeast are too high (68 - 75), at least for ambient temps. What would y'all recommend for an ambient temp using the standard Mr. Beer yeast?

I picked up a 2nd LBK and 28-bottle wine chiller on craigslist that barely fits both LBKs. Would fermenting at 65/66 be a good idea?

Thanks!
 
pavlaugh said:
I'm new to home brewing and Mr. Beer, but I've read through the last 50 pages or so of this thread. Thanks all for your excellent advice.

It seems the consensus is that Mr. Beer instructions for temperature with their standard yeast are too high (68 - 75), at least for ambient temps. What would y'all recommend for an ambient temp using the standard Mr. Beer yeast?

I picked up a 2nd LBK and 28-bottle wine chiller on craigslist that barely fits both LBKs. Would fermenting at 65/66 be a good idea?

Thanks!
Click to expand...


Honestly, it's a little bit trial and error. You will have to see what setting the thing to 65F gets you. I would let it ferment for 24 hours and get a good krausen head going, then draw off a sample of beer for testing (it doesn't have to be a lot, just enough for a stable temp). Or test with a sanitized thermometer. I have an instant read that gives me a temp on my liquid within 6 seconds.

On another note, get different yeast. The above recommendations work for all yeasts, but the mr beer yeast has always been worthless IMO. I would go with fermentis us-05 for American yeast and Danstar Nottingham for British yeasts. If you want to get more specific than that, we can make more recommendations based on styles.


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I tend to set my ferm chamber for 64 and just let it rip, I also ferment for 2 weeks minimum
 
pavlaugh said:
Thanks. Is that the same as Safale US-05? I have some packets of that.

I ordered a number of American Porter recipes a few weeks ago that were 50% off. Most came with different yeast, except for the Staggerback Stout (http://www.mrbeer.com/staggerback-stout-recipe). What yeast would be good for that?
Click to expand...


Yes, Fermentis Safale us-05 (also happens to be the white labs wlp001 and the Sierra Nevada yeast). I like the us-05 or the s-04 on stouts. The s-04 is a dryer whitbread strain and is awesome.


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004 is the Irish ale yeast, right? I've heard good thugs but never used it. Ever try it with an imperial stout? Wondering if it will hit 12-14%


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brewski09 said:
004 is the Irish ale yeast, right? I've heard good thugs but never used it. Ever try it with an imperial stout? Wondering if it will hit 12-14%


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Click to expand...


Yes that's the Irish ale. I've only used it on a 4% stout and a 5% red. Don't know if it can tolerate that high ABV, but check the specs from their site.
 
ericbw said:
Yes that's the Irish ale. I've only used it on a 4% stout and a 5% red. Don't know if it can tolerate that high ABV, but check the specs from their site.
Click to expand...


They are super vague. "Medium-high". One of their other yeasts listed as medium-high claims 80% attenuation at 10%abv though, so who knows.


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Have we ever figured out which yeast strain Mr. Beer uses? And no...it's not proprietary...there's no such thing when it comes to yeasts. I mean, I suppose they could have genetically engineered their yeast as a startup, but something tells me that's not very likely.


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uatuba said:
Have we ever figured out which yeast strain Mr. Beer uses? And no...it's not proprietary...there's no such thing when it comes to yeasts. I mean, I suppose they could have genetically engineered their yeast as a startup, but something tells me that's not very likely.


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Click to expand...
It used to be S-33. I suspect that since Cooper's bought them, it's the standard Cooper's ale yeast.
 
uatuba said:
What is the standard Cooper's ale yeast?


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Click to expand...

It's just a basic, plain ale yeast. You can buy 6g packets for less than $2. I think it's better (more consistent and easy to ferment) than S-33, and better than Munton's for a cheap yeast.
 
I am pulling my Mr. Beer setup out and going to do a couple of batches, but I need a little help in deciding the 'right' way to go about it.

For the first run, I have:
1 can Bewitched Amber Ale HME
1 'Robust' LME SoftPack
1 pound Briess Traditional Dark DME

1/2 oz each Glacier, Liberty, and Willamette pellet hops

This all comes as a 'recipe kit' from Mr. Beer and the instructions basically say to put about 4 cups of water in a pot to boil, remove from heat, add all the ingredients (with the hops in a hopsack), mix well, and then pour into the fermenter with some cold water to make a total of 8 1/2 quarts.

This doesn't seem right to me, since the recipe is supposed to result in a "dark, roasty, and bitter... hop forward IPA"

Shouldn't I need to boil the whole batch (or at least some part of it) with the hops for at least 20-30 minutes to get some of that IPA bitterness?
 
MikeBergan said:
Shouldn't I need to boil the whole batch (or at least some part of it) with the hops for at least 20-30 minutes to get some of that IPA bitterness?
Click to expand...


Mr Beer Kits have already been boiled once, but I would think the first hop addition needs at least a 60 minute boil, then the others can go next, 30 minutes, then a final 15 or 5....Depends on the recipe of course.......
 
I know the HME can is 'pre-boiled' and doesn't need much more than to be mixed with the water just off the boil, probably the same for the liquid 'Robust' LME...
I'm not sure about the pound of DME needing some boil time?
What about needing something in with the hops during their boil time (whatever I end up needing for time on that)

I tried plugging the recipe into QBrew, but it is hard to get a true IBU out, when using the Mr. Beer HME's, since it does not seem to relate any bitterness component
 
MikeBergan said:
I am pulling my Mr. Beer setup out and going to do a couple of batches, but I need a little help in deciding the 'right' way to go about it.

For the first run, I have:
1 can Bewitched Amber Ale HME
1 'Robust' LME SoftPack
1 pound Briess Traditional Dark DME

1/2 oz each Glacier, Liberty, and Willamette pellet hops

This all comes as a 'recipe kit' from Mr. Beer and the instructions basically say to put about 4 cups of water in a pot to boil, remove from heat, add all the ingredients (with the hops in a hopsack), mix well, and then pour into the fermenter with some cold water to make a total of 8 1/2 quarts.

This doesn't seem right to me, since the recipe is supposed to result in a "dark, roasty, and bitter... hop forward IPA"

Shouldn't I need to boil the whole batch (or at least some part of it) with the hops for at least 20-30 minutes to get some of that IPA bitterness?
Click to expand...

One thing to keep in mind is that the Mr beer recipes are all about making it simple. I don't know if any of them include a hop boil.

The "hop forward" description is probably about the flavor and aroma. You'll get plenty of those by adding the hops at flameout. You'll get a little bitterness since the water is still hot, but you'll mostly get flavor and aroma.

If you want more bitterness, you could boil some of the hops along with either the LME or DME. You'll probably want to use the hops with the highest AA%.

If you use the LME, bring the water to a boil. Remove it from the heat, add the LME and mix until it dissolves, then bring it to a boil again.

If you use the DME, watch for foaming add it approaches boiling. You may need to remove it from the best several times before the foaming settles down.

You'll also want to use more water. I'd guess you'll want to use about a gallon. That also means your wort will be warmer, so you may need to do something to cool it further before pitching the yeast.

Longer boils give more bitterness, and at about 60 minutes, you've reached almost the max (you still get some, but there's little change after 60 minutes). You get a fair amount with a 30 minute boil (and still get flavor) so you may want to go with a shorter boil to save time.
 
MikeBergan said:
I know the HME can is 'pre-boiled' and doesn't need much more than to be mixed with the water just off the boil, probably the same for the liquid 'Robust' LME...
I'm not sure about the pound of DME needing some boil time?
What about needing something in with the hops during their boil time (whatever I end up needing for time on that)

I tried plugging the recipe into QBrew, but it is hard to get a true IBU out, when using the Mr. Beer HME's, since it does not seem to relate any bitterness component
Click to expand...

There are databases available for Qbrew that include the mr beer HME (check screwy brewer's website). You add the HME in both the malt tab and the hop tab, with a 5 minute boil. But as you add other ingredients, the IBUs will change due to the way Qbrew calculates them. Beersmith is more flexible (it allows for late extract addition, for example) but I don't know if the Mr beer HME is available for it and it's not free.
 
I have the screwy brewer database for QBrew, and did add the HME to both hops and malts tabs; even with a 1 min boil it computed a wacked 1200 IBU or something, using the true weight amount of the HME.

Until I get a chance to explore some of the different brewing softwares a bit more (and improve my knowledge and ability) I am a bit hesitant to buy a full version of any particular one, due to the risk of it just not working right for me. I'm trying to get good enough to start doing batches just using extracts or maybe adding in some specialty grain steeps, but until I get a little more comfortable, the kits make a quick easy batch of beer that is drinkable.
 
MikeBergan said:
I have the screwy brewer database for QBrew, and did add the HME to both hops and malts tabs; even with a 1 min boil it computed a wacked 1200 IBU or something, using the true weight amount of the HME.

Until I get a chance to explore some of the different brewing softwares a bit more (and improve my knowledge and ability) I am a bit hesitant to buy a full version of any particular one, due to the risk of it just not working right for me. I'm trying to get good enough to start doing batches just using extracts or maybe adding in some specialty grain steeps, but until I get a little more comfortable, the kits make a quick easy batch of beer that is drinkable.
Click to expand...

Oops. It's been awhile since I used Qbrew, so I forgot a key piece. Enter the HME in the hops tab as 1 oz for 5 minutes.
 
bpgreen said:
Oops. It's been awhile since I used Qbrew, so I forgot a key piece. Enter the HME in the hops tab as 1 oz for 5 minutes.
Click to expand...

Ok, that works out better. If I do the Glacier and Willamette hops for 30 minutes plus adding the Liberty in at 0 minutes, for aroma etc., QBrew shows a 48 for bitterness... increasing to a full ounce of Glacier gives me a 59 bitterness

So it at least LOOKS like this recipe should give me what I want... I nicely bodied IPA.

SG lists as 1.074, Bitterness 59, Color shows 19
estimate for FG is 1.019 with ABV est. 7.2%

The color is a little dark for American IPA style, per the software, and it might get a tad darker due to adding the LME to the hop boil? but overall it looks fine to me.

Any additional inputs or ideas? Thanks to you all for tosssing this back and forth with me.:mug:
 
MikeBergan said:
Ok, that works out better. If I do the Glacier and Willamette hops for 30 minutes plus adding the Liberty in at 0 minutes, for aroma etc., QBrew shows a 48 for bitterness... increasing to a full ounce of Glacier gives me a 59 bitterness

So it at least LOOKS like this recipe should give me what I want... I nicely bodied IPA.

SG lists as 1.074, Bitterness 59, Color shows 19
estimate for FG is 1.019 with ABV est. 7.2%

The color is a little dark for American IPA style, per the software, and it might get a tad darker due to adding the LME to the hop boil? but overall it looks fine to me.

Any additional inputs or ideas? Thanks to you all for tosssing this back and forth with me.:mug:
Click to expand...


One word of caution is that due to the way Qbrew does the IBU calculation, your actual IBUs are probably somewhat higher than what Qbrew shows. That might be okay, depending on what you want.
 
bpgreen said:
One word of caution is that due to the way Qbrew does the IBU calculation, your actual IBUs are probably somewhat higher than what Qbrew shows. That might be okay, depending on what you want.
Click to expand...

In this case, I think it'll be ok. I LIKE really hoppy IPA's. One of my current favorite 'commercial' ones is Sam Adam's Latitude 48 which I have seen numbers for in about this range, maybe a bit lower on the IBU...so maybe I'll dial the Flacier back to the original 1/2 ounce and see how it works.

I really need to just forget the kits and go extract or BIAB, but I just don't have the skills/comfort level yet, not to mention a full brew area of equipment (or the space for it atm)

I am wondering a bit on the color that I'll end up with... QBrew showed a 19; using the Sam Lat 48 clone as a reference (it shows a 13) I am already comparatively dark in color, and I think having the LME in the hop boil will increase that some? I don't want it to end up TOO dark.
 
Try the Briess Golden Light. I used it as a base in a ton of extract recipes and I have always been really happy with it. It's a nice blank canvas type of DME, in that it doesn't have a strong flavor profile so you can use it as a base or even as a "booster" for a lot of different recipes.
 
Boydster,
Thanks for the suggestion, just plugged the change into QBrew and it only amounts to a drop down to 16 according to the calc, so maybe not worth the trip to the store, just for a pound of dme and only a minor change... guess this is just gonna be a more dark 'copper' or brown beer. ah well... at least it's beer
 
MikeBergan said:
Boydster,
Thanks for the suggestion, just plugged the change into QBrew and it only amounts to a drop down to 16 according to the calc, so maybe not worth the trip to the store, just for a pound of dme and only a minor change... guess this is just gonna be a more dark 'copper' or brown beer. ah well... at least it's beer
Click to expand...

Don't over think it. You're making beer.
 
MikeBergan said:
In this case, I think it'll be ok. I LIKE really hoppy IPA's. One of my current favorite 'commercial' ones is Sam Adam's Latitude 48 which I have seen numbers for in about this range, maybe a bit lower on the IBU...so maybe I'll dial the Flacier back to the original 1/2 ounce and see how it works.

I really need to just forget the kits and go extract or BIAB, but I just don't have the skills/comfort level yet, not to mention a full brew area of equipment (or the space for it atm)

I am wondering a bit on the color that I'll end up with... QBrew showed a 19; using the Sam Lat 48 clone as a reference (it shows a 13) I am already comparatively dark in color, and I think having the LME in the hop boil will increase that some? I don't want it to end up TOO dark.
Click to expand...

What you're planning to do now is barely different from doing an extract batch from scratch. You're doing a full hop boil, so there's not much difference from what you're doing now and a recipe from scratch. The next step is steeping grains, then mashing.

The differences really aren't that big.
 
The Mr. Beer kits have IBU ratings but I can't seem to find the one you described. What's the name of your kit? It will tell you how bitter it is supposed to be if you follow the instructions. This won't account for differences in calculation formulas (I use eager across the board on beersmith now) but should get you within 5-10 IBU. Then you can adjust for this on your brewing software/application you are using. Some of their kits are in the 80-100 IBU range so don't get too wrapped up in the no boil until you know what you have to start with.

The only change I would make is some more piney or tropical hops. That particular mix doesn't sound fantastic to me. Good, but could be better probably. You can put those in your freezer and use them on a later brew if you get new hops.


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MikeBergan said:
Boydster,
Thanks for the suggestion, just plugged the change into QBrew and it only amounts to a drop down to 16 according to the calc, so maybe not worth the trip to the store, just for a pound of dme and only a minor change... guess this is just gonna be a more dark 'copper' or brown beer. ah well... at least it's beer
Click to expand...

All this trouble for a Mr Beer Kit ? Seriously ??.... With a little hot water you can do this in 30 minutes.......It won't be good beer whatever you do, but it will be beer......
 
Really? Really? Well, yes.
If I choose to use the kits of Mr. Beer that I was given to try new things, and learn along the way, then why is that a problem?
I know these are not the most terrific beer, (but thanks for your 'expert' opinion that no matter what you tweak it won't help). That said, I have them to use, and may as well expand my skills while I do it, instead of just droning through the basic 'boil water and pour this can in' method.

If you really think so little of Mr. Beer, why bother to read the thread (let alone comment)??
 
I made a stone lucky bastard inspired beer with a mr beer starter hme. It turned out so good I had to make it again and they both disappeared quite quickly.


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brewski09 said:
I made a stone lucky bastard inspired beer with a mr beer starter hme. It turned out so good I had to make it again and they both disappeared quite quickly.


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Click to expand...

Sounds nice. I have had some success using the kits and adding additional DME and hops. Having the can of HME, from them, gives you a workable base and a known general style which you can tweak a bit.
 
I use Mr. Beer and Brew Demon HMEs. I'm the only one who drinks my brews,so if I likem,that's what matters. I like some of their recipes so much that I re-brewed them and made some into 5 gallon batches.I do all extract with hop boils and grain steeps and sometimes use these hmes as basis for my brews. They may be alittle pricey,but sometimes they are on sale,so I stock up. Bottom line is I use what ever I want,and don't criticize any products.
 
I started brewing with Mr Beer and was generally happy with the results. I also started adding other ingredients to experiment. Now I am mostly using brewers best ingredient kits, they are very complete and help you to learn what ingredients and hops give what style of beer.
 
And soon you will be on to clones from homebrewtalk and some of your own recipes


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MikeBergan said:
Really? Really? Well, yes.
If I choose to use the kits of Mr. Beer that I was given to try new things, and learn along the way, then why is that a problem?
I know these are not the most terrific beer, (but thanks for your 'expert' opinion that no matter what you tweak it won't help). That said, I have them to use, and may as well expand my skills while I do it, instead of just droning through the basic 'boil water and pour this can in' method.

If you really think so little of Mr. Beer, why bother to read the thread (let alone comment)??
Click to expand...



I just wasted so much money on Mr Beer when I first started, and every one of them was crap in a can, of course this was 8 years ago, so maybe they're better now ?? .......But good luck Mike !....
 

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