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I just brewed my first batch last night and i checked my airlock and i see bubbles coming out which i understand is normal. My question is should i add more sanitizer to the airlock because as it bubbles the amount of sanitizer is decreasing? Should there always be some sanitizer in the airlock?
 
just found out i can buy a whole kit from northern brewer with everything i need.
since i dont have sanitizer a capper or caps it will all come with a kit for the same price as a recipe kit, caps sanitzer, and capper so i answered my own question.
I could do a double batch and use the mr beer kit but if i screw it up i screw up 2 kits instead of 1 LOL
 
Casey33 said:
I just brewed my first batch last night and i checked my airlock and i see bubbles coming out which i understand is normal. My question is should i add more sanitizer to the airlock because as it bubbles the amount of sanitizer is decreasing? Should there always be some sanitizer in the airlock?
Click to expand...

Try using some boiled water instead of sanitizer, or even better yet (or the best possible option) is to put some vodka in it. Sanitizer foams, therefore will always decrease. Vodka does not foam, is sanitary, and cheep.
 
powerguard18 said:
I am guessing that these fizz tablets are just sugar compressed into small tabs for a perfect measurement
Click to expand...

Correct. That's the easiest way to get same carb level per bottle. Read my write up for instructions on how most of us do it with a separate bottling vessel.
 
Terek said:
Try using some boiled water instead of sanitizer, or even better yet (or the best possible option) is to put some vodka in it. Sanitizer foams, therefore will always decrease. Vodka does not foam, is sanitary, and cheep.
Click to expand...

That's just alcohol abuse

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Home Brew mobile app
 
brewski09 said:
It's over now. You're hooked.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Home Brew mobile app
Click to expand...

Welcome my brothers, to the life of Mr Beer keggery!

Honestly they are so flipping small and fit on shelves, I have NO place for a full carboy, so I keep getting gifted more Mr Beer kegs and working with everything being 2.5g batches. I take a lot of the 5g batch recipes on here and change them over to 2.5g recipes. If you have a website you use for the recipes it makes it easier, but sometimes halving the ingredients doesn't keep the same profile and you have to tweak hops/grain amounts.

I just tried a SMaSH with my pot and pain strainer bag. 5lb Maris Otter, .25oz Hallertau at 60, .25oz at 10, and half a packet of US-05 yeast. Hopefully turns out good as I think it will :) I have the All-Grain Miller Light clone and Biermunchers Cream of Three Crops going now in the fermenters.
 
Well I have my first batch carbonating and just started up my second batch.

Doing a Mr. Beer Oktoberfest refill with a LME Smooth SoftPack. The brew shop I went to told me to steep 1 pound of German Munich malt and add to the recipe. Along with that I used a pack of WYEAST brand Bohemian Lager yeast. I used just over half the package. The fermentation was active already this morning and the temp of the wort was about 8 degrees warmer than the room which was 72. It said after foaming appears move it to a cooler area which is in my basement corner and is around 53 degrees. Right in the range for the lager yeast. Will see what I end up with. It seems much more active than the fermentation of my first kit using Mr. Beer yeast.

Keeping my fingers crossed.
 
Bigarcherynut said:
Well I have my first batch carbonating and just started up my second batch.

Doing a Mr. Beer Oktoberfest refill with a LME Smooth SoftPack. The brew shop I went to told me to steep 1 pound of German Munich malt and add to the recipe. Along with that I used a pack of WYEAST brand Bohemian Lager yeast. I used just over half the package. The fermentation was active already this morning and the temp of the wort was about 8 degrees warmer than the room which was 72. It said after foaming appears move it to a cooler area which is in my basement corner and is around 53 degrees. Right in the range for the lager yeast. Will see what I end up with. It seems much more active than the fermentation of my first kit using Mr. Beer yeast.

Keeping my fingers crossed.
Click to expand...

Concerning yeast: the Wyeast and White Labs yeast vial cell counts are pretty much the perfect amounts if you are using the ale yeasts, but likely smaller than the recommended cell counts for a lager yeast when you are working with a 2.5 gallon batch. I would recommend just pitching the whole pack in the future. You will be fine here, but it's better for yeast health in future batches. For lager strains, it really is usually best to pitch at the fermentation temp and then raise it towards the end to ensure complete fermentation and byproduct cleanup. Again, you will be fine here, just food for thought on later batches.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Home Brew mobile app
 
brewski09 said:
Concerning yeast: the Wyeast and White Labs yeast vial cell counts are pretty much the perfect amounts if you are using the ale yeasts, but likely smaller than the recommended cell counts for a lager yeast when you are working with a 2.5 gallon batch. I would recommend just pitching the whole pack in the future. You will be fine here, but it's better for yeast health in future batches. For lager strains, it really is usually best to pitch at the fermentation temp and then raise it towards the end to ensure complete fermentation and byproduct cleanup. Again, you will be fine here, just food for thought on later batches.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Home Brew mobile app
Click to expand...

Thanks.

I went by the directions and they say to start warmer till I see the foam then move it back to it's temperature range but does say to raise it again at the end to do this (A thorough diacetyl rest is recommended after fermentation is complete.)

I tried to find posts in regards to over pitching but didn't see any that answered my question. I measured the amount of yeast and it was a about a cup so I may have used 3/4 cup.

I needed to Google this to understand it. This is sort like chemistry.

I'm hoping their suggestion to add German Munich malt works.:confused:
 
Steeping grains helps with the mouthfeel, the reason I used carapils was so that I didn't alter the flavor. Either way you'll have beer :)
 
Bigarcherynut said:
Thanks.

I went by the directions and they say to start warmer till I see the foam then move it back to it's temperature range but does say to raise it again at the end to do this (A thorough diacetyl rest is recommended after fermentation is complete.)

I tried to find posts in regards to over pitching but didn't see any that answered my question. I measured the amount of yeast and it was a about a cup so I may have used 3/4 cup.

I needed to Google this to understand it. This is sort like chemistry.

I'm hoping their suggestion to add German Munich malt works.:confused:
Click to expand...

I think the Munich malt is a great idea. If you were anywhere relatively near 150F and a thin porridge consistency you are good. As far as the pitching rate, I go with the Mr. Malty pitching rate calculator from Jamil Zainasheff. There are a few threads on HBT that talk about over pitching, but the conversation is mostly about the proper/correct/right pitching rate if you are looking at keywords to search under. Lager pitching rate should also work. Also check out some back issues of the can you brew it show on the brewing network. Very helpful.

Just curious what directions you used. It may have been the Wyeast ones. My LHBS carries white labs and I did my Oktoberfest with the WLP002 the first time and cry havoc the other times. One of my best recipes actually.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Home Brew mobile app
 
brewski09 said:
I think the Munich malt is a great idea. If you were anywhere relatively near 150F and a thin porridge consistency you are good. As far as the pitching rate, I go with the Mr. Malty pitching rate calculator from Jamil Zainasheff. There are a few threads on HBT that talk about over pitching, but the conversation is mostly about the proper/correct/right pitching rate if you are looking at keywords to search under. Lager pitching rate should also work. Also check out some back issues of the can you brew it show on the brewing network. Very helpful.

Just curious what directions you used. It may have been the Wyeast ones. My LHBS carries white labs and I did my Oktoberfest with the WLP002 the first time and cry havoc the other times. One of my best recipes actually.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Home Brew mobile app
Click to expand...

For the Munich malt my water was 160 degrees and I let them steep for 60 minutes. I used 1 pound of the malt and yes it was as you described.

I did follow the directions on the Wyeast package. I did find more on correct pitching than anything else. Will try to limit my search keywords next time.

Thanks again.
 
2 weeks in the mr beer keg i will be bottling saturday using the Skitt walmart method.
I think after a yr in the basement my yeast was dead cause it didn't really foam up much but i am gonna give it a try
 
I can't take credit for it, it's buried back on page 200 or something :p but it helped me get into the right process and all my bottles have been evenly carbed
 
I tried one bottle of the Czech Pilsner, was awesome. I tried a second the next night, ciders taste, so I guess I'll let it condition some more.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Home Brew mobile app
 
I have a Diablo IPA with a Pale LME Soft-Pack that I want to use. I know that the HME is pre-hopped so the bittering hops are there. I am looking to add some flavoring and aroma. I am thinking about doing a 15 minute boil with .5oz of cascade and another .25oz at flame out.

Any ideas of suggestions on this idea?
 
TxFireBrew said:
I have a Diablo IPA with a Pale LME Soft-Pack that I want to use. I know that the HME is pre-hopped so the bittering hops are there. I am looking to add some flavoring and aroma. I am thinking about doing a 15 minute boil with .5oz of cascade and another .25oz at flame out.

Any ideas of suggestions on this idea?
Click to expand...

Bring water up to boil, remove from heat, add LME Soft-Pack (NOT the HME). Stir well, re-apply pan to heat, bring to a boil. Add .5oz Cascade, boil for 10 minutes, remove from heat, add Diablo IPA can, add to fermenter. Top off fermenter and add your .25oz to the keg.
 
skitter said:
Bring water up to boil, remove from heat, add LME Soft-Pack (NOT the HME). Stir well, re-apply pan to heat, bring to a boil. Add .5oz Cascade, boil for 10 minutes, remove from heat, add Diablo IPA can, add to fermenter. Top off fermenter and add your .25oz to the keg.
Click to expand...

Use a bigger put that you think you need because of boil overs. I think you could get away with .25oz at 15 minutes. Another .25oz with 5 minutes or less to go. Then dry hop with the remaining .5oz after fermentation is complete. Alternative hoops are centennial, simcoe, Amarillo, citra (some people think it tastes like cat piss), mosaic, or blends like zithos and falconers flight would be really nice here. Cascade is a good hop, but I'm bored of it. I would do .5oz of Amarillo and Simcoe as a dryhop together personally.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Home Brew mobile app
 
today is the day I bottle my first batch from Mr Beer. Just making sure I do this right. Don't use table sugar. Use dextrose. Don't batch prime, just do the individual bottles. And Since im using the 1 liter bottles, use 2 1/2 tbs per bottle.

Then I put the bottle up to the spigot from the Mr. Beer, pour in and leave about an inch of head space. Cap them and then flip around a few times. stick back in the closet for 2 weeks.

Is this right or am I off? I just don't want to mess it up now after surviving the already popped yeast pack that came with the kit. Thanks guys
 
Blake_Smash said:
today is the day I bottle my first batch from Mr Beer. Just making sure I do this right. Don't use table sugar. Use dextrose. Don't batch prime, just do the individual bottles. And Since im using the 1 liter bottles, use 2 1/2 tbs per bottle.

Then I put the bottle up to the spigot from the Mr. Beer, pour in and leave about an inch of head space. Cap them and then flip around a few times. stick back in the closet for 2 weeks.

Is this right or am I off? I just don't want to mess it up now after surviving the already popped yeast pack that came with the kit. Thanks guys
Click to expand...

Sounds good to me...you can use table sugar if you'd like, I find it easirer to pour into the bottles.
 
Table sugar is fine if you dont have dextrose. Dextrose fermentation "cleaner". Fill bottles at an angle to avoid mixing air into the beer. Sanitize the inside of your spigot too. I dipped a q tip in sanitizer.

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I had gotten this kit about 5 months ago now each brew ive made hasn't ever lost the cider taste however im determined to get this right ive followed the directions to a T. although the thermometers always die within a week. it might be that ive only made lagers I have no clue any help on this would be great I know what the cider taste is that acetaldehyde stuff however I don't understand why it never goes away ive just been told not enough conditioning time although I had one of my 5 month old beers still have this taste can anyone explain what im doing wrong?
 
miked22 said:
I had gotten this kit about 5 months ago now each brew ive made hasn't ever lost the cider taste however im determined to get this right ive followed the directions to a T. although the thermometers always die within a week. it might be that ive only made lagers I have no clue any help on this would be great I know what the cider taste is that acetaldehyde stuff however I don't understand why it never goes away ive just been told not enough conditioning time although I had one of my 5 month old beers still have this taste can anyone explain what im doing wrong?
Click to expand...

What your doing wrong is following the directions :)

Read the write up in my sig, keep the beer in your primary fermenter for 2 weeks at 65 degrees, bottles for 3, and only use 1/4c sugar when bottling. You should end up with less of a cider flavor.
 
So is a cooler fermentation temperature better than warmer, obviously.

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I try to keep my fermenters as close to 62 as I can, actual fermentation temp
 
trefilov22 said:
So is a cooler fermentation temperature better than warmer, obviously.

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Click to expand...

Yes, to an extent, too cold and it won't ferment. If you are using Mr. Beer yeast, I believe mid 60s is good, if you're using other yeast, follow the temperature on the package. Also, using a different yeast from the Mr. Beer yeast can produce better results, but isn't necessary.
 
+1 to what skitter said. The instructions are kinda crap. If you are doing a true lager, you need to be in the low 50's. If you are able to keep the temp reliably at 68F, I would probably but some better yeast. Look for the Fermentis US-05 dry yeast. It's the dry version of what sierra Nevada uses. It has a good neutral profile, especially at 68. Also, the Danstar Nottingham yeast is a great dry version of a highly used British ale strain. The Fermentis S-04 is the British Whitbread strain (ferments pretty cleanly and pretty completely as well, just don't let it get over 70F unless you like your beer tasting like bread).

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Home Brew mobile app
 
S-04 is one of my favorites, it ferments out a bit more on the malty side which fits my palate
 
skitter said:
S-04 is one of my favorites, it ferments out a bit more on the malty side which fits my palate
Click to expand...

Not a huge s04 fan. To easy to get bready notes. Notty is nice though. I actually use cry havoc as my house strain. Very versatile, but liquid so harder to use due to having to maintain for cost reasons.

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Ok, winter in texas is mild but my sons closet if he remembers to close it is 66 ambient, add the swamp cooler and you get 60 degree fermentation. S-04 works fine at this temp, nottingham is too dry for my taste. Trying US-05 now
 
bottled my first beer today it was a mr beer recipe from a kit that was in my basement for at least a yr
I let it ferment for 2 weeks . it did not foam much but it looked like smelled like beer and tasted like flat beer
I will let it sit for 3-4 weeks in the mr beer 1 liter bottles before i try it

not sure if i want to continue or not with the craft i am kinda 50/50 on the whole thing. had to at least make the effort since my kid gave me the kit but i dont wanna spend any money on equipment since i am not a fan of all the cleaning and sanitation
any thoughts
 

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