Mr Beer - Read all about it and ask questions

[ThomasO]

I gave away my Mr Beer kit and bottles at Christmas to try to help somebody else get started. Then my wife gave me 3 Mr Beer starter kits for Christmas. I made the Bavarian Weis and am enjoying it now, but am looking at doing something else with the Irish Stout kit, perhaps adding oatmeal or something. I bought a 3-gallon glass carboy to work with in place of the LBK. Just trying to sort out what I can add to make the stout more than what it starts as. Thanks for the suggestions.

Tom Oxley

 

[skitter]

Coffee, Oatmeal, all good items

 

[brewski09]

I gave away my Mr Beer kit and bottles at Christmas to try to help somebody else get started. Then my wife gave me 3 Mr Beer starter kits for Christmas. I made the Bavarian Weis and am enjoying it now, but am looking at doing something else with the Irish Stout kit, perhaps adding oatmeal or something. I bought a 3-gallon glass carboy to work with in place of the LBK. Just trying to sort out what I can add to make the stout more than what it starts as. Thanks for the suggestions.

Tom Oxley

If you want to add oats to it make sure you mash them with a base grain. I like using Maris otter when I do this. Try about a half pound of each for starters on the Mr beer sized batch.

 

[ericbw]

You can do almost anything, including steeping extra crystal (C120, C80), more chocolate, or coffee malt. Adding coffee. Mashing base + oats. Or mashing wheat. Just be sure to add the extract at the end and not boil it too long.

 

[JimbobFFC]

Hi,
first time poster here, please go easy on me!
I bought Mr Beer a month or so ago, and have Canadian draft in it's second week of bottle conditioning after 16 days fermenting.
I bought some refills(pretty hard to source MRB refills in the uk, and next to no variety), I could only find Cowboy and an American Light. Turns out the cowboy was 3 months or so out of date...

I mixed both cans, added a pound of DME (but ditched the booster), and then used both sets of yeast. It seems to be fermenting nicely, masses of Krausen on day two...

My first question is, what's the likelyhood of this combination resulting in drinkable beer?
My second is, I've also ordered some hops which I was considering chucking in when they arrive tomorrow, should I brew these up or just chuck 'em in?

Thanks in advance!

 

[skitter]

Hi,
first time poster here, please go easy on me!
I bought Mr Beer a month or so ago, and have Canadian draft in it's second week of bottle conditioning after 16 days fermenting.
I bought some refills(pretty hard to source MRB refills in the uk, and next to no variety), I could only find Cowboy and an American Light. Turns out the cowboy was 3 months or so out of date...

I mixed both cans, added a pound of DME (but ditched the booster), and then used both sets of yeast. It seems to be fermenting nicely, masses of Krausen on day two...

My first question is, what's the likelyhood of this combination resulting in drinkable beer?
My second is, I've also ordered some hops which I was considering chucking in when they arrive tomorrow, should I brew these up or just chuck 'em in?

Thanks in advance!

Welcome! And you should have a drinkable beer from your experiment, it's more or less what I would have done.

As for the hops, wait till the krausen has died down for a day or 2 and then dry-hop with some of the hops you bought. I wouldn't use over .5oz in a tea-ball.

Only time I have dry-hopped was after 2 weeks of fermentation, I added the hops and let it continue another week before bottling.

 

[bpgreen]

Hi,
first time poster here, please go easy on me!
I bought Mr Beer a month or so ago, and have Canadian draft in it's second week of bottle conditioning after 16 days fermenting.
I bought some refills(pretty hard to source MRB refills in the uk, and next to no variety), I could only find Cowboy and an American Light. Turns out the cowboy was 3 months or so out of date...

I mixed both cans, added a pound of DME (but ditched the booster), and then used both sets of yeast. It seems to be fermenting nicely, masses of Krausen on day two...

My first question is, what's the likelyhood of this combination resulting in drinkable beer?
My second is, I've also ordered some hops which I was considering chucking in when they arrive tomorrow, should I brew these up or just chuck 'em in?

Thanks in advance!

As skitter already pointed out, that should be fine. For future batches, you can get a kit designed for 5 gallons and use half of it. I used to overfill to the bottom of the Q in the word Quart. That was 2.4 gallons on my LBK (there can be some variance from keg to keg, so measure yours).

 

[kevron]

Coopers owns MrB. The coopers cans are twice the size as the Mr.B cans. So if you are already doubling up Mr.B cans you could always dump 1 coopers can into your LBK instead. Coopers should be easier to get than Mr.B. My second batch in my LBK was a Coopers Irish stout with 2 lbs of LME. I split the can and the LME between 2 batches. Turned out great. I have a 2 liter of it left that is sitting in a dark place for another few months or so.

 

[brewski09]

Hi,
first time poster here, please go easy on me!
I bought Mr Beer a month or so ago, and have Canadian draft in it's second week of bottle conditioning after 16 days fermenting.
I bought some refills(pretty hard to source MRB refills in the uk, and next to no variety), I could only find Cowboy and an American Light. Turns out the cowboy was 3 months or so out of date...

I mixed both cans, added a pound of DME (but ditched the booster), and then used both sets of yeast. It seems to be fermenting nicely, masses of Krausen on day two...

My first question is, what's the likelyhood of this combination resulting in drinkable beer?
My second is, I've also ordered some hops which I was considering chucking in when they arrive tomorrow, should I brew these up or just chuck 'em in?

Thanks in advance!

You can dry hop during the end of fermentation. You are supposed to get stone fruit flavors from it. I've yet to try it as I'm still dialing in my recipe I want to try it out on.

I don't know what the cowboy is supposed to be, but I assume a coors type beer, so these should meld together fine. You can dry hop with anything, but some varieties will work better than others. What hops do you have coming? Cascade comes to mind as a great option. I also really like Chinook. Gives a mild pine followed by a nice Peña collada like tropical note. I would go with .25-.5oz (7-14g) in the Mr beer sized keg for the first try. I do 3-5 days and then bottle. As soon as it smells tasty, you can bottle it. If you can get some really fresh easy kent Golding's, that could be nice as well. No matter what you do, I like to bottle a couple and then dry hop so I better understand what my additions have done for future reference.

 

[MarathonMurse]

Hi,
first time poster here, please go easy on me!
I bought Mr Beer a month or so ago, and have Canadian draft in it's second week of bottle conditioning after 16 days fermenting.
I bought some refills(pretty hard to source MRB refills in the uk, and next to no variety), I could only find Cowboy and an American Light. Turns out the cowboy was 3 months or so out of date...

For future reference, check out the recipe section here. A TON of recipes have extract versions listed. You can brew any of these just as easily as a MR. B refill, at less cost and with better results.

Careful though, it's a slippery slope toward steeping specialty grains, then skipping the extract entirely and going all-grain.

 

[JimbobFFC]

You can dry hop during the end of fermentation. You are supposed to get stone fruit flavors from it. I've yet to try it as I'm still dialing in my recipe I want to try it out on.

I don't know what the cowboy is supposed to be, but I assume a coors type beer, so these should meld together fine. You can dry hop with anything, but some varieties will work better than others. What hops do you have coming? Cascade comes to mind as a great option. I also really like Chinook. Gives a mild pine followed by a nice Peña collada like tropical note. I would go with .25-.5oz (7-14g) in the Mr beer sized keg for the first try. I do 3-5 days and then bottle. As soon as it smells tasty, you can bottle it. If you can get some really fresh easy kent Golding's, that could be nice as well. No matter what you do, I like to bottle a couple and then dry hop so I better understand what my additions have done for future reference.

Thanks all for your replies and help!

I've been reading this thread over the course of a couple of weeks on the tube (subway) - we have wifi at each platform station so have been frantically loading 4/5 pages at a time which I can cover by the time I get to the next stop, and then reload the next five!

I wasn't too sure on hops, but I chose one from an ale over here in the UK which I like called Whitstable Bay, the hops are Hallertau hops and come in a brew bag (Edit: Whitstale Bay - Organic Gem and Hallertau hops are imported from New Zealand to blend with English organic malted barley in England's oldest brewery. The result is a zesty, deeply refreshing beer with sappy malt, floral, resinous hops, and tart citrus fruit)

I bought 20g which is about 3/4 of an ounce (ish) off the top of my head!

I won a used 5gal home brew kit on ebay yesterday (£11GBP - was £50 new, apparently hardly used) so I'm sure I'll be asking more questions on the other forums in due course.... Finding a "Bishop's Finger" clone is my first mission!

 

[brewski09]

Well, I've never had bishops finger, but start with a Google search, use the brewery's website if it has any data or description, and even try emailing them. I've had great results here in the states with sierra Nevada giving me a full recipe for a beer no longer in production and several other breweries giving out the framework recipe to get me started for beers currently in production. The organic gem may be a treat but I've never used it. The new Zeeland hallertau will be slightly different from a domestically grown one, but you would have to look up what people are saying about it. My best recommendation is to make a hop tea and taste/smell it and decide which one to use that way.

 

[JimbobFFC]

So, my first batch has been bottle conditioning for a few weeks. I put one in the fridge on Friday and drank it on Monday - I made beer!

It tasted ok but definite green apple flavours that I'm keen to lose! Will this take a few more weeks, a few more days, or really the longer the better?

I really want to get stuck into the first batch while my second is still fermenting!

 

[bzwyatt]

What ingredients did you use?

I thought my MrB beer was 'green' or maybe fermented too warm so had 'lots of esters', because it seemed sweet and a little fruity.

Then I had a Coors Light for the first time in a long time and it tasted kinda sweet and fruity too.

The flavors might condition out, or go away as the beer gets stale, but if it is an American Light kit, it might taste just how it is designed to and maybe you just aren't used to it.

 

[RickS]

What ingredients did you use?

I thought my MrB beer was 'green' or maybe fermented too warm so had 'lots of esters', because it seemed sweet and a little fruity.

Then I had a Coors Light for the first time in a long time and it tasted kinda sweet and fruity too.

The flavors might condition out, or go away as the beer gets stale, but if it is an American Light kit, it might taste just how it is designed to and maybe you just aren't used to it.

I have been told to let CAL bottle condition for at least 4 weeks. Is the Classic American Light, what you are talking about?

 

[JimbobFFC]

What ingredients did you use?

I thought my MrB beer was 'green' or maybe fermented too warm so had 'lots of esters', because it seemed sweet and a little fruity.

Then I had a Coors Light for the first time in a long time and it tasted kinda sweet and fruity too.

The flavors might condition out, or go away as the beer gets stale, but if it is an American Light kit, it might taste just how it is designed to and maybe you just aren't used to it.

Ah, thanks for the input! Maybe it is meant to taste like that...
It wasn't the American Light (the batch I have of that is in the LBK with a can of COwboy lager, some DME and hops), it was the Canadian Draft (I think that was what it was called) that came with the LBK...
From what I can gather from here, I think it's a fairly newer (Coopers) kit/HME as it was a larger can and came with no booster... Definite green apples though so am hopeful it'll condition out. I'll refrigerate one tonight to try on Saturday, and another on Sunday to try Tues/Weds and see if I can taste any difference.

 

[brewski09]

Okay, so that green apple flavor is acetaldehyde. It is usually an indication that the yeast didn't completely ferment out. It could be a yeast quality issue, a yeast nutrient/stress issue, a quantity of yeast issue, or a fermentation time allowed issue. From my experience, it is most likely poor quality yeast included in the kits. My suggestion is to get some good dry yeast. Danstar Nottingham is a great dry English stain and the fermentis us-05 is the go to american ale strain (it is actually the Sierra Nevada strain). If you go over 70-72F on fermentation temps they will throw non-green apple off flavors. Just think of bread yeast when your bread is rising and that's exactly the flavor I get in my beer when it gets too hot.


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[JimbobFFC]

Okay, so that green apple flavor is acetaldehyde. It is usually an indication that the yeast didn't completely ferment out. It could be a yeast quality issue, a yeast nutrient/stress issue, a quantity of yeast issue, or a fermentation time allowed issue. From my experience, it is most likely poor quality yeast included in the kits. My suggestion is to get some good dry yeast. Danstar Nottingham is a great dry English stain and the fermentis us-05 is the go to american ale strain (it is actually the Sierra Nevada strain). If you go over 70-72F on fermentation temps they will throw non-green apple off flavors. Just think of bread yeast when your bread is rising and that's exactly the flavor I get in my beer when it gets too hot.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

Cheers, I did use the enclosed MRB yeast on this one and my next batch, but already have some yeast, 5 Gal ingredients & kit en-route...

I think i'll let this one age a little longer and then drink it regardless. I'm going to need the bottles in a week or so!

Cheers all for your help & advice.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

Okay, so that green apple flavor is acetaldehyde. It is usually an indication that the yeast didn't completely ferment out. It could be a yeast quality issue, a yeast nutrient/stress issue, a quantity of yeast issue, or a fermentation time allowed issue. From my experience, it is most likely poor quality yeast included in the kits. My suggestion is to get some good dry yeast. Danstar Nottingham is a great dry English stain and the fermentis us-05 is the go to american ale strain (it is actually the Sierra Nevada strain). If you go over 70-72F on fermentation temps they will throw non-green apple off flavors. Just think of bread yeast when your bread is rising and that's exactly the flavor I get in my beer when it gets too hot.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

Actually the most common causes of Acetaldehyde is hot fermentation that stresses the yeast or oxygenation when beer is transferred after it ferments. These flavors can fade with time, but it usually is a very long time for that process to happen. I do agree with using a better quality yeast than what comes with the kits and try to keep your fermenting temperature closer to 65 degrees F.

 

[bpgreen]

Actually the most common causes of Acetaldehyde is hot fermentation that stresses the yeast or oxygenation when beer is transferred after it ferments. These flavors can fade with time, but it usually is a very long time for that process to happen. I do agree with using a better quality yeast than what comes with the kits and try to keep your fermenting temperature closer to 65 degrees F.

According to Palmer, acetaldehyde is an indication that the beer is too young and needs to age.

High fermentation temperatures are more likely to cause fusel alcohol and/or esters.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

According to Palmer, acetaldehyde is an indication that the beer is too young and needs to age.

High fermentation temperatures are more likely to cause fusel alcohol and/or esters.

Palmer knows his stuff, but there are more causes than what he lists. The BJCP website has flashcards that list off-flavors and the causes which they list as: Pre-mature removal from the yeast, premature flocculation, oxygen depletion, bacterial spoiliage, and oxygenation. My personal experiences with acetaldehyde have all come from batches that fermented hot and even 2+ months of aging did not fix the problem. Another article found online here also refers to hot ferments causing this.

 

[bpgreen]

Palmer knows his stuff, but there are more causes than what he lists. The BJCP website has flashcards that list off-flavors and the causes which they list as: Pre-mature removal from the yeast, premature flocculation, oxygen depletion, bacterial spoiliage, and oxygenation. My personal experiences with acetaldehyde have all come from batches that fermented hot and even 2+ months of aging did not fix the problem. Another article found online here also refers to hot ferments causing this.

While there are other causes of acetaldehyde, I would expect to find additional off flavors in a beer that fermented hot. I didn't mean to imply that the only cause of acetaldehyde is green beer. I just think that that's a more common cause than hot fermentation, especially for a new brewer.

If months of aging didn't fix the problem, it's unlikely that it's acetaldehyde, since that conditions out, since it's a precursor to ethanol. It can also be caused by oxidation, though, so if you oxygenated your beer while bottling it, that could prevent it from conditioning out.

 

[brewski09]

If we just take a step back and apply what we know about the Mr B kits, I think we can blame this on poor yeast and fix it quickly. If the OP has additional problems, then we can help with troubleshooting from there.

On a side note, those flash cards aren't made by the BJCP. They were made by members so unless they are citing sources, you can't take them to be 100% correct. Acetyldehyde may actually come from both places.

I'm moving on now. Cheers

 

[benrenden]

I have a question.
New to this, started with a cheap festa brew starter kit and plastic pet bottles purchased at my local homebrew supply store. Now ive moved on to kegging my beer and feel pretty comfortable fermenting wart and bottling or kegging.
My next step is to make it all from scratch, i was thinking of skipping a step and going straight to all grain ! Im really excited and was thinking of purchasing this kit soon ;
http://www.ontariobeerkegs.com/Comp...uipment_Kit_p/hbequipkit-7-completecooler.htm

I think i would be all set to start with all grain kits ( my goal is to eventually mill my own grains of course )..
My question is, the only thing im worried about is cooling after the boiling.... Should I also make sure to purchase a heat exchanger or does anyone have any comments ideas?
I also realize there are probably better deals in the state for the same type of equipment i linked, but here in Canada choices are more limited and thus site seems to have the best deals and its still cheaper than shipping from the states.

Thans, any ideas, comments would be appreciated!
Ben

 

[skitter]

I have a question.
New to this, started with a cheap festa brew starter kit and plastic pet bottles purchased at my local homebrew supply store. Now ive moved on to kegging my beer and feel pretty comfortable fermenting wart and bottling or kegging.
My next step is to make it all from scratch, i was thinking of skipping a step and going straight to all grain ! Im really excited and was thinking of purchasing this kit soon ;
http://www.ontariobeerkegs.com/Comp...uipment_Kit_p/hbequipkit-7-completecooler.htm

I think i would be all set to start with all grain kits ( my goal is to eventually mill my own grains of course )..
My question is, the only thing im worried about is cooling after the boiling.... Should I also make sure to purchase a heat exchanger or does anyone have any comments ideas?
I also realize there are probably better deals in the state for the same type of equipment i linked, but here in Canada choices are more limited and thus site seems to have the best deals and its still cheaper than shipping from the states.

Thans, any ideas, comments would be appreciated!
Ben

$20 - 16qt pot at Wally, $5 for 2x 5g paint strainer bag, all grain BIAB setup complete. Just wrap in blanket and coat for mash ti insulate.

 

[boydster]

For post-boil cooling, you can make a copper wort chiller pretty easily. Lately, I have just been letting the wort cool naturally overnight (no-chill) and I like the fact that I'm not wasting a lot of water. It also shortens my brew day a little, but then I need to take a couple minutes the following day to pitch my yeast.

 

[benrenden]

Huh, interesting.. Thought cooling wort quickly was almost a necessity! Thanks for the response. Im looking forward to being able to say "ive made it from scratch" thats fornsure!
Ben

 

[bzwyatt]

It is important for two primary reasons - reducing chill haze and reducing risk of infection by getting healthy yeast into wort asap.

If you dont care about chill haze and have good sanitation procedures... then...

 

[brewski09]

Violin through the 120-140F range seems to be the most important. If I'm not doing a whirlpool hop addition (also can be called a hop stand) I cool rapidly. Otherwise, I shoot for 170-180F for 20-30 minutes and then cool rapidly to 60-65F.


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[boydster]

It is important for two primary reasons - reducing chill haze and reducing risk of infection by getting healthy yeast into wort asap.

If you dont care about chill haze and have good sanitation procedures... then...

Chill haze is not an issue with no-chill, you can still get crystal clear beer.

 

[Jpendleton83]

I have a question, I brewed my second batch. I put the yeast in dry, the next day when I went to check on it, there was a mass amount of foam I know I probably put to much yeast in. Did I ruin my batch? What should I do?

 

[bpgreen]

I have a question, I brewed my second batch. I put the yeast in dry, the next day when I went to check on it, there was a mass amount of foam I know I probably put to much yeast in. Did I ruin my batch?

Although it's possible to overpitch, it's very unlikely in a homebrew setting. Commercial breweries use far more yeast cells in relation to the amount of beer than we do.

So the bottom line is that you didn't add too much yeast and you didn't ruin the batch. You've just got an active fermentation going on.

What should I do?

RDWHAHB (Relax, Don't Worry. Have A Home Brew.)

Let it ferment for a couple of weeks, then bottle it.

 

[The_Professor]

...I put the yeast in dry, the next day when I went to check on it, there was a mass amount of foam I know I probably put to much yeast in. Did I ruin my batch? What should I do?...

You should drink it all now!!!

Or do as bpgreen suggests above.

 

[ericbw]

I have a question, I brewed my second batch. I put the yeast in dry, the next day when I went to check on it, there was a mass amount of foam I know I probably put to much yeast in. Did I ruin my batch? What should I do?

There should be foam. With Mr. Beer, I usually have a thick head of foam, like in a glass of beer. That means the yeast is working. Let it do its thing for about 3 weeks. The foam should settle and the yeast should mostly drop to the bottom.

Did the foam come out the top? Make sure to keep it from getting too warm.

 

[kmind]

$20 - 16qt pot at Wally, $5 for 2x 5g paint strainer bag, all grain BIAB setup complete. Just wrap in blanket and coat for mash ti insulate.

I too, am looking to get into BIAB and feel like 2.5 gallons would be a good size for me as of now.

So I assume you think my 20qt pot would definitely be enough to brew a 2.5 gallon batch with? Also, the Mr. Beer fermentor should be sufficient, right?

 

[skitter]

I too, am looking to get into BIAB and feel like 2.5 gallons would be a good size for me as of now.

So I assume you think my 20qt pot would definitely be enough to brew a 2.5 gallon batch with? Also, the Mr. Beer fermentor should be sufficient, right?

Yup, I use 2 in a home made fermentation chamber. Check my blog in the sig, not the mr beer article lol

 

[kmind]

Yup, I use 2 in a home made fermentation chamber. Check my blog in the sig, not the mr beer article lol

Awesome! Any sort of calculator or something to figure out how much water to put in to start the mash? Or any rough guidelines you use?

I'm still pretty new to brewing so I'm not sure how much boil off/trub loss I typically encounter.

Also, why do you suggest 2 5gallon straining bags?

Thanks.

 

[skitter]

You have to get them in a 2 pack, that's the only reason, and you have a spare if it breaks. For a standard 2.5g batch with around 4-5lbs of grain it takes 3 * 3L bottles (i use ozarka thus the weird measurement of water) for the mash. I also heat 1 bottle in another pot towards the end of the mash to pour through the grain when mash is complete. Once all this and an hour boil is done I have 2.5g of wort left.

 

[skitter]

I also have a stick I use to measure with, prior to boil I make sure I have 3g, I lose .5g to boil and shrinkage

 

[kmind]

Awesome stuff. Thanks!