Mr. Beer With Dad

[Ringmaster]

Well i got a Mr. Beer awhile back and i kind of fuss over it.. a lot..

Anyway after 2 batches my dad wanted to give it a shot and i helped. He wasn't to sure about it at first with how warm it's been but i assured him with the swamp cooler trick it'd be fine and i'd help check it for him.

Anyway we sanitized, brewed everything up threw it in the fermenter. And threw it in the ice cooler with a couple of ice bottles filled with ice.

Now i'm a little worried because he said that he didn't want to put water in it. It's 80 degrees right now and it's night. How worried should i be and what's going to become of the beer?

 

[HatchetJack]

80 is too hot. I ferment all my MB batches in a 48 qt. coooler filled to nearly
the beer level with sanitized water. 3 caps of starsan or one pack of onestep
keeps the water crystal clear and germ free Twice a day I change out a 16 oz
frozen water bottle and the temps stay consistently 68-71 degrees.

 

[Ringmaster]

Hmm i used bleach on my last batch but the smell threw me off a bit.. worried about the spigot.

Starsan sounds like a safer bit.

 

[IrregularPulse]

There's no reason to use sanitizer as your water in the swamp cooler, but yes, 80° is too hot for proper fermentation, but the damage has been done to this batch. Most of fermentation can take place within a few days of pitching.

 

[Ringmaster]

yeah but there's a spigot on the fermenter.. kinda how they make Mr. Beer kits.

So dirty water is freaky

 

[Homercidal]

Not sure about a Mr. Beer. Personally, I'd start getting set up with a bigger fermenter and upgrade from Mr. Beer to a regular extract setup.

I surely would not want to soak my spigot in potentially dirty water either. However, I would not hesitate to put it in diluted (to proper strength) Starsan. Even bleach, with a good rinse afterward, would be better than just water I think.

 

[Ringmaster]

yeah i need to get my hands on starsan. They send a packet of onestep when you buy a refill so no extra sanitizer for the water.

I ran out and bought some bleach for my last batch but the smell really threw me off. Plus i got a thermometer i have to dig out of the water and i was really paranoid about touching the water after awhile.

Besides Bleach doesn't really smell the greatest. But i did cover the spigot with plastic when i did it.

I'm planning on getting a better kit, just not ready yet.

EDIT:
oh yeah i've been watching the temp, it takes a lot more ice but it seems to be working i guess it's kind of like a son of fermenter chiller effect. All the insulation just drops the air temp 10+ degrees. It's kind of surprising.