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This isn't really a Beer Machine thread, and I don't know anything about it, but from the online specs it looks like basically a kreusen filter. I don't know what you can substitute for it, but I'd be careful with a pressurized system. If you washed it and sanitized it you *might* be able to re-use it, but I know *nothing* about the system and since it is pressurized, saving money not replacing those discs might cost you more in the long run (ruined beer, ruined beer machine, etc.)

If you want to brew beer cheaply, check out my blog posts for how to brew 1 gallon batches with common kitchen items, and then you can carbonate them in 2L soda bottles. It's not as cool or convenient as a Beer Machine... but price-wise it's a "busted drum" (you can't beat it).
 
order from bmw showed up on friday. i bought 2 new bags to do biab with and everything is now ready to do my first official brew since getting back into the hobby after about 6 months off.
 
I did a published one.


Well first brew day went good i really enjoyed moving around the 3 gallons of water instead of the 8-15 i used to move around. everything went pretty smoothly. got everything in the fermenter now and pitched the yeast. clean up was much easier because i just washed everything out in the sink.

here is the recipe i brewed tonight

CLICK ME
 
I recently got a mrb for my birthday. I am fermenting the california that came with it. I also have a Witty Monk Witbier. So here's the noob questions. If table sugar is a bad idea for a priming sugar, then what should I use? I'll let the california wait 2 weeks then bottle and let it sit another two weeks. I think that should be good? Finally for the Witty Monk Witbier are there any good ideas to doctor up this kit (i.e. don't use a booster, add a hop schedule)
 
grouperdude said:
I recently got a mrb for my birthday. I am fermenting the california that came with it. I also have a Witty Monk Witbier. So here's the noob questions. If table sugar is a bad idea for a priming sugar, then what should I use? I'll let the california wait 2 weeks then bottle and let it sit another two weeks. I think that should be good? Finally for the Witty Monk Witbier are there any good ideas to doctor up this kit (i.e. don't use a booster, add a hop schedule)
Click to expand...

What's the California? Are you talking about the West Coast Pale Ale?

Table sugar is fine for priming. It's not a good idea to add sugar in order to bump up the ABV, but the amount used for priming is small enough that it has little effect on the end product.

Adding some UME (or DME or LME if you have a brew store near) is a good way to improve a beer. You can use it in place of or along with the Booster. An all malt beer is usually the best option, but Booster isn't all that bad when you have enough malt in the recipe. Mr Beer sells a wheat UME and you can get wheat DME/LME from the LHBS.

If you add one can of UME or 1 lb of DME or 1-1.25 lbs LME, you don't necessarily need to add hops. If you add more than that, you'll probably want to do a hop boil.

Hops can add bitterness, flavor and aroma to a beer, depending on how long you boil them.

For a wheat beer, you can also add things like coriander seed and orange zest to give it more of a citrus character.
 
grouperdude said:
I recently got a mrb for my birthday. I am fermenting the california that came with it. I also have a Witty Monk Witbier. So here's the noob questions. If table sugar is a bad idea for a priming sugar, then what should I use? I'll let the california wait 2 weeks then bottle and let it sit another two weeks. I think that should be good? Finally for the Witty Monk Witbier are there any good ideas to doctor up this kit (i.e. don't use a booster, add a hop schedule)
Click to expand...

+1 on the previous poster.

The pale ale is supposed to be dry and relatively malt-free, in order to feature the hops. IMO, the booster is okay for that recipe, but that is just my opinion. Unfortunately, they don't provide fresh hops to give a good aroma in the MrB kit, but if you can get your hands on a half to a quarter ounce (8-15 grams) of fresh hops or hop pellets, just dropping them right into the fermenter after the action starts to die down a bit will make the beer much better. Cascade or centennial hops would be my choice, but honestly any aroma hop would be good. (Hops do not need to be sanitized or boiled - they are naturally anti-bacterial.)

As for the witbier, you will want to use a pale-colored type of unhopped malt extract (UME), whether dry (DME) or liquid (LME). Coriander and orange peel are a good idea, but make sure you grind the coriander. You can add those to the last 5-10 minutes of the boil and that will be fine.

As for more hops in the witbier, it's not typically a hoppy style, but I would guess that a nice Saaz (spicy Czech hop) could be tasty if you like. Don't boil the hops in a witbier to get additional bitterness -- you just want that aroma. Don't go crazy with fruit or anything like that this time, just give it a try with that bit of extra malt and maybe a slight touch (1-2 grams) of Sazz hops at the end of the boil if you are going to add any extra hops at all.

This is just the beginning of your brew hobby, so don't be too down on yourself if it is taking too long, or if it doesn't work the way you want it to the first time. Like cooking or baking or golf(!), it takes a while to get where you want to be. :)
 
grouperdude said:
I recently got a mrb for my birthday. I am fermenting the california that came with it. I also have a Witty Monk Witbier. So here's the noob questions. If table sugar is a bad idea for a priming sugar, then what should I use? I'll let the california wait 2 weeks then bottle and let it sit another two weeks. I think that should be good? Finally for the Witty Monk Witbier are there any good ideas to doctor up this kit (i.e. don't use a booster, add a hop schedule)
Click to expand...

I didn't do the WCPA, but I did modify a Witty Monk and it turned out to be one of my favorite MB recipes.

Here's what I did:
- Steep .5# carapils in 8 cups 155* water for 30 minutes.
- Remove grain and add water to 2 gallon level.
- Add 1# Light DME stirring to dissolve completely.
- T-60 add .2 oz Saaz hops.
- T-0 flamout and add MB HMEs.
- Transfer to keg with 4 qts cold water already inside.
- Top off as needed with cold water to bottom of Q.

I lost about 1 gallon during the boil, so the water volumes worked out well for me. Only had to top off with about a pint or so of cold water in the LBK. I didn't have any belgian yeast on hand, so used 3 of the MB yeast packs.

Fermented at 66* for 3 weeks. Fermentation temp control and using the proper amount of yeast are two things that make for really good MB batches.
 
gwcr said:
I didn't do the WCPA, but I did modify a Witty Monk and it turned out to be one of my favorite MB recipes.

Here's what I did:
- Steep .5# carapils in 8 cups 155* water for 30 minutes.
- Remove grain and add water to 2 gallon level.
- Add 1# Light DME stirring to dissolve completely.
- T-60 add .2 oz Saaz hops.
- T-0 flamout and add MB HMEs.
- Transfer to keg with 4 qts cold water already inside.
- Top off as needed with cold water to bottom of Q.

I lost about 1 gallon during the boil, so the water volumes worked out well for me. Only had to top off with about a pint or so of cold water in the LBK. I didn't have any belgian yeast on hand, so used 3 of the MB yeast packs.

Fermented at 66* for 3 weeks. Fermentation temp control and using the proper amount of yeast are two things that make for really good MB batches.
Click to expand...

This sounds good!

Did you sparge the grain after the steep, to get the extra sugars? No need, of course... I just like to get all that I paid for when it comes to grain. ;)

I would have boiled half of the hops for only the last ten minutes. The aroma of the Saaz would be very welcome in a witbier.

Subbing out the yeast for something more faithful to the style is also a possibility, but it's kind of expensive to buy wet yeast for such a small batch.
 
Justibone said:
This sounds good!

Did you sparge the grain after the steep, to get the extra sugars? No need, of course... I just like to get all that I paid for when it comes to grain. ;)

I would have boiled half of the hops for only the last ten minutes. The aroma of the Saaz would be very welcome in a witbier.

Subbing out the yeast for something more faithful to the style is also a possibility, but it's kind of expensive to buy wet yeast for such a small batch.
Click to expand...

It was very, very good. Ended up like a maltier version of Blue Moon.

Didn't sparge the grain. Just going for better head retention and body with the carapils, not really looking to add extra fermentables.

If I would have had a Belgian Wit yeast on hand (or a LHBS within an hour's drive) I would have used that. As it was, I had plenty of extra MB yeast packs on hand. Tossed one in the boil as a yeast nutrient, then fermented with 3. That was the recommendation of the MB community forum, and it worked out great. Lots of great advise over there too.
 
gwcr said:
Fermented at 66* for 3 weeks. Fermentation temp control and using the proper amount of yeast are two things that make for really good MB batches.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the advice sounds great. The issue is I live in a town home in south florida. The coldest I can keep the temp is 72. Have any ideas on how i could keep a cooler environment with out breaking the bank??
 
Or use a cooler that is large enough to fit the fermenter and 2 frozen water bottles. Rotate the water bottles out daily and you should be able to maintain mid 60s.
 
My cooler requires four frozen 20 oz Coke(tm) bottles to keep in the mid-to-low 60's. I switch them out once a day. I used to use a water bath for my 5 gallon batches and changed the ice bottles twice a day.
 
Ok, so I'm still a complete noob. Quick question. I have 3 lbs of light DME and a can of Mr Beer Canadian Draught and a pack of Safale08. These are all leftovers and I just want to get them out of my inventory. I'm looking to make 5 gals
Can anyone provide some insight? Such as taste, ABV, etc? Should I add a little more hops? If so, which?

Thanks
 
PacoTX said:
Quick question. I have 3 lbs of light DME and a can of Mr Beer Canadian Draught and a pack of Safale08. These are all leftovers and I just want to get them out of my inventory. I'm looking to make 5 gals
Can anyone provide some insight? Such as taste, ABV, etc?
Click to expand...

The rule of thumb is, one lb. of fermentables makes 5% ABV in one gallon. You have close to 4 lbs., so that would be 4/5 * 5% = 4% ABV in 5 gallons. That's still a decent percentage.

I think the Canadian Draught is supposed to replicate a lager, right? So it's light or pilsner extract, I assume. It's pre-hopped, so it can add a bit of bitterness. That's a good thing, but it won't be quite enough bitterness to offset the residual sweetness of the malt.

I don't see the Safale-08 yeast on the fermentis website, so I don't know what kind of yeast it is. It's clearly an ale yeast, so I think you're in the clear.

I think you should make a cream ale. No, it doesn't taste like cream, or like cream soda -- it's the closest ale to a lager or a pilsner, basically. The other benefit of a cream ale is that you can add about a pound of sugar or corn syrup you already have around the house to boost the ABV by 1%, and that would be totally in the style.
Cream Ale - BeerAdvocate

Should I add a little more hops?
Click to expand...

Yes, I think you should. I think a little dab'll do ya... 1/3 to 1/2 oz of a low AA would be enough. You could use any kind, but if you like the aroma of a given hop, use that. I'm particularly fond of Amarillo, Citra, Simcoe and Cascade, though most of my beers end up with Hallertauer or Saaz (just the style of beers I tend to brew). A 30 minute boil would let you do just one addition, giving some bitterness as well as some aroma. Adding a bit more at the end of the boil would let you get that little burst of aroma that can be pleasant, but a cream ale isn't an IPA, so don't go crazy.

Without specialty grains, you could whip this puppy out in about an hour total, with half an hour of boil. Get the water up to a boil, add 1/3 to 1/2 of the extract, add the hops, and with about 10-15 minutes left add the rest of the extract, then cool and put in your fermenter. Bing-bang-boom! Cream ale.
 
Yeah, what he said. As luck would have it I found a can of the Canadian Draught I had laying around (I pick up a few cans on the after Xmas special to be able to whip up some quick batches now and then) and mixed it with just over a pound of LME in a 2.4 gallon batch about a month ago.

I just cracked a bottle two nights ago and it certainly resembles a lager. I used some harvested WLP008 from about a year ago to test the yeast's viability at that age (side note: it was just fine with a proper starter).

It's a light, easy drinker that even in that quantity could use more hops IMO. Keep in mind that I love pale ales but do not like IPAs - but everybody's palette is different. I'd second Justibone's recommendation for a 30 minute hop boil to offset that extra malt.
 
Wow! Thats great advice. Thank you Justibone and thank you Malt for the link, I've signed up for Hopville, cant wait to get started.
 
Cream ale is one of my most brewed styles along with similar lagers. I like to have one on tap at all times. It hides no mistakes.

This is Popcorn Cream at 16 days after brewing.

creamale.png
 
Well, I was given a Mr. Beer recently, and figured to give it a go.

I used the Wsomething pale ale that came with the kit.

Anyway, I noticed after the wort was added to the mr beer, and prior to adding the yeast, that my mrbeer is leaking from the washer around the spigot.

I'm not sure of what to do at this point. I don't want to just reach in and tighten it, but I don't want it leaking during fermentation either.

Ideas?
 
thx997303 said:
Well, I was given a Mr. Beer recently, and figured to give it a go.

I used the Wsomething pale ale that came with the kit.

Anyway, I noticed after the wort was added to the mr beer, and prior to adding the yeast, that my mrbeer is leaking from the washer around the spigot.

I'm not sure of what to do at this point. I don't want to just reach in and tighten it, but I don't want it leaking during fermentation either.

Ideas?
Click to expand...
Try thread sealant tape. I used some on a leaky bottling bucket spigot and it worked wonders.
 
I may give that a try later, but it's currently full of wort waiting for yeast, and I have nothing to transfer it to.
 
Well, I washed my arm really well and reached in and tightened the spigot, hopefully this solves the leakage issue.

This was the Mr. Beer West Coast Pale Ale, with honey added, and 1 1/2 cups of the booster.

The room I have to place the fermenter seems to keep between 65 and 70 degrees F. Hopefully that will stay that way.

We'll see how it tastes when it's done.
 
Well, it appears I still have a leak, however small it is.

Hopefully this wont be an issue..
 
thx997303 said:
Well, it appears I still have a leak, however small it is.

Hopefully this wont be an issue..
Click to expand...

I'd get an aluminum roasting pan from the dollar store and put the fermenter in it. If the leak is slow enough, it will probably self seal, since wort is relatively thick.
 
I placed a plate underneath. Figured to catch any, but I'm thinking your idea is better.

The leak is very slow at this point, I'll just have to be sure to fix it after this batch.
 
thx997303 said:
This was the Mr. Beer West Coast Pale Ale, with honey added, and 1 1/2 cups of the booster.

The room I have to place the fermenter seems to keep between 65 and 70 degrees F. Hopefully that will stay that way.

We'll see how it tastes when it's done.
Click to expand...

Just as a heads up, with those ingredients, you may need a good bit of time to let it condition. I did the West Coast Pale ale, one DME can and a pouch of booster, along with some additional hops, it stayed about 72 deg during fermentation (a bit too high, I know, but I didn't have any way to control temps at the time, it was before I discovered the make shift swamp cooler technique) and it took well over a month after I bottled it before it was reasonably drinkable. Your lower temp will help prevent some of that, but that is quite a bit of simple sugars that will ferment out completely and make that a very dry brew.
 
SailorTodd said:
Just as a heads up, with those ingredients, you may need a good bit of time to let it condition. I did the West Coast Pale ale, one DME can and a pouch of booster, along with some additional hops, it stayed about 72 deg during fermentation (a bit too high, I know, but I didn't have any way to control temps at the time, it was before I discovered the make shift swamp cooler technique) and it took well over a month after I bottled it before it was reasonably drinkable. Your lower temp will help prevent some of that, but that is quite a bit of simple sugars that will ferment out completely and make that a very dry brew.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Maltiness will be quite sparse.

That being said... it will still probably taste pretty good, and the ABV% will be noticeable. :mug:

If you want a malty brew (which isn't really pale-ale style, it's more of a scotch ale or amber thing), then use two cans of extract and no booster next time. :)
 

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