Mr Beer - Read all about it and ask questions

431brew said:

I am not certain that this is the right place for this post...it is MRB related and recipe related. Anyway, I am one remaining MRB recipe away from going to 5 gal batches and getting away from the MRB kits.

The very first beer I made was the MRB West Coast Pale Ale and, after seeing all the neg comments about it and MRB, I wasn't expecting much. However, I was very patient with it and by the time I drank the last one, I knew I wanted to make a 5 gal version of it (without buying two recipes from MRB!). It was not bitter, didn't leave an aftertaste, and the low ABV made it enjoyable for SWMBO. To me, it was just a very smooth, clean tasting beer.

How would I go about breaking down MRB's WCPA to determine what is needed to make my own 5 gal. version? I found this recipe https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?p=594726#post594726 and at first thought it was close until I compared the profiles.

Is this a trial and error thing, or is there a way to actually figure it out the first time?

Thanks!

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Well first the recipe you found is for a Pilsner, Not an ale so it won't be similiar to what you're looking for.

Well the first challenge in recreating it in 5 gallon batches is that MR Beer uses Pre Hopped liquid malt extract, so figuring out exactly what they use is going to be difficult..

Obviously the easiest way would be to order 2 WCPA kits and make a double batch...but that would be more expensive and not as much fun to figure out

First thing is to look at the "numbers" for the wcpa.....it's on the website...

West Coast Pale Ale

Flavor: Balanced
Alc/Vol: 2.3%
SRM (Color): 3
IBU (Bitterness): 10


Alc/Vol -- Strength given in percent of alcohol by volume.

SRM -- Color based on Standard Reference Method, where as:
(fruits may give some additional color.)
- Golden Beers are between 0 - 6
- Amber Beers are between 7 - 12
- Dark Beers are 13 and over

IBU -- Shown in International Bittering Units, where:
- No bitterness 0 - 9
- Modest bitterness 10 - 19
- Noticeable bitterness 20 and over

Unfortunately they don't give OG and FG so it makes it more challenging....BUT we can still break down the recipe somewhat by what we do know....We have the Color, we have the bitterness and we have the ABV...so it is possible to break it down in brewing software, even a free one like beercalculus....

First there are Pre-hopped extracts made for 5 gallon batches that can be used and will be close in taste...thugh not perfect... Cooper's and John Bull have pre hopped extracts in 3.3 pound cans....but these are ranked in terms of color...like Light, Amber, etc....I'm assuming WCPA would use a light pre hopped extract....

Even better would be a recipe that is unhopped and you add the right hops...That's my goal for you...to get you to a standard beer recipe rather than a prehopped one, that way you can control it and fiddle with it, and even when you're ready you can convert it to all grain!

It's hard to figure out what bjcp style the beer is...Is it a california common, and hybrid americanized IPA, or Pale Ale? The Color is so light and the bitterness (the IBU's) is so light..It's hard to match it to a bjcp style.


The first step would be to compare it to a commercial example, then go from there...Does it taste like any of these?

Redhook Blonde, Catamount Gold, Widmer Blonde Ale, Coast Range California Blonde Ale, Fuller's Summer Ale, Hollywood Blonde, Pete's Wicked Summer Brew, Deschutes Cascade Golden ,Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Stone Pale Ale, Great Lakes Burning River Pale Ale, Full Sail Pale Ale, Three Floyds X-Tra Pale Ale, Anderson Valley Poleeko Gold Pale Ale, Left Hand Brewing Jackman's Pale Ale, Pyramid Pale Ale, Deschutes Mirror Pond,Mendocino Red Tail Ale, North Coast Red Seal Ale, St. Rogue Red Ale, Avery Redpoint Ale, Anderson Valley Boont Amber Ale, Bell's Amber, Hoptown Paint the Town Red, McNeill's Firehouse Amber Ale,Genesee Cream Ale, Little Kings Cream Ale (Hudepohl), Sleeman Cream Ale, Liebotschaner Cream Ale (Lion Brewery), Dave's Original Cream Ale (Molson), New Glarus Spotted Cow Farmhouse Ale, Wisconsin Brewing Whitetail Cream Ale, Goose Island Summertime, Crooked River Kölsch, Harpoon Summer Beer, Capitol City Capitol Kölsch...

These are different commercial examples of Cream ales, Pale Ales, Kolsches, amber ales and hybrids...

If you can get me to a commercial beer that reminds you of it, I can get you to a 5 gallon recipe.... even a direct clone of one...

More likely we'll find 2 or three and cobble them together and plug the numbers in, and hit it pretty close...

I love beer detective work!!!!

WOW. Way to take the wheel on this one Revvy!

shafferpilot said:

WOW. Way to take the wheel on this one Revvy!

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LOL....

I guess I got a little carried away :blush:

I'm in the process of doing a little beer detective work on my own (actually with my GF) She's researching a book on ancient sumerian/egyptian goddess religions and how they spread to Ireland (possibly). Anyway she came across the "recipe" for the first beer ever written about (in the tale of Gilgamesh) which was brewed in Ancient Sumeria.... Several people including Anchor and Dogfishead have brewed what they believe the recipe could be...But my GF thinks they're misreading some of the ingredients on the tablets.....

So I've been doing kinda the same sort of process I mentioned about 431's WCPA and trying to come up with a recipe.....To start I'm going to brew a clone of the Anchor version (which hasn't been made since 1989 or 1990 I guess)...And see how that tastes....

The kicker is that there's no way in heck that I'm going to brew a 5 gallon batch of something that could potentially taste like crap...or kill me

So guess where I'm going to brew my test batches in???



So I will be doing a few small batch AG brews in the ole brown keg, after all!:rockin:

(only not the kind of beer I planned on doing....)

What malt extracts are pre hopped?
thanks

timgman said:

What malt extracts are pre hopped?
thanks

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The ones I know are Coopers, John Bull, Brewmaster's and Munton's are the ones I know of.... Info can be found here. http://www.thebeeressentials.com/beer/beer-hopped-malt-extract-kits-index.shtml

But why use them when you can actaully hop your own? It's cheaper and you can control the types and the level of bitterness. Plus with pr-hopped you're not going to get the hopflavor and aroma that you would get by adding a flavor and aroma addition of hops.

Somewhere I read how much alcohol content different ingredients add to a Mr. Beer mix, i.e. HME-2.3%, UME-2.3%, booster-???%, 1 cup honey-???%, can of fruit-???%, etc. I can't find this information anymore. Does anyone else have this and can you share it please?

Thanks!

Gee, Revvy... wasn't looking for this kind of response! Thanks for all of the effort!

Revvy said:

Obviously the easiest way would be to order 2 WCPA kits and make a double batch...but that would be more expensive and not as much fun to figure out

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Yep, the MRB kits are expensive!

Revvy said:

I'm assuming WCPA would use a light pre hopped extract....

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Yes, all of the basic MRB recipes are pre hopped.

Revvy said:

Even better would be a recipe that is unhopped and you add the right hops...That's my goal for you...to get you to a standard beer recipe rather than a prehopped one, that way you can control it and fiddle with it, and even when you're ready you can convert it to all grain!

Click to expand...

That is my goal for me, too!

Revvy said:

The first step would be to compare it to a commercial example, then go from there...Does it taste like any of these?

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I will have to visit the World Market store about an hour from here, and go on a shopping/drinking spree. None of the flavors that you provided can be bought in this small town. I have never tried any of those!

Thanks for the response and the investigative work. I will try to get some of these sampled over the weekend.

mmc said:

Somewhere I read how much alcohol content different ingredients add to a Mr. Beer mix, i.e. HME-2.3%, UME-2.3%, booster-???%, 1 cup honey-???%, can of fruit-???%, etc. I can't find this information anymore. Does anyone else have this and can you share it please?

Thanks!

Click to expand...

mmc...These are listed in the book that came with the MRB kit...near the back, I think. I think my book is in a box in my bedroom closet. I will try to dig it out tomorrow and list them for you if you do not have the book. I would do it now, but SWMBO is asleep and will get pissed if I wake her up.

431brew said:

mmc...These are listed in the book that came with the MRB kit...near the back, I think. I think my book is in a box in my bedroom closet. I will try to dig it out tomorrow and list them for you if you do not have the book. I would do it now, but SWMBO is asleep and will get pissed if I wake her up.

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I'm can't find my book (don't remember getting one actually) so I'd appreciate it if you could find the information for me. I thought I saw it on-line somewhere. Thanks for your help!

mmc said:

Somewhere I read how much alcohol content different ingredients add to a Mr. Beer mix, i.e. HME-2.3%, UME-2.3%, booster-???%, 1 cup honey-???%, can of fruit-???%, etc. I can't find this information anymore. Does anyone else have this and can you share it please?

Thanks!

Click to expand...

mmc.... out of the book; not sure how accurate:
1.21 lb can MRB LME (hopped or unhopped) = 2.3% abv
2 cups booster= 1.4% abv
1.5 cups white or brown cane sugar= 1.5% abv
1 cup honey or molasses= 0.9% abv
1 cup real maple syrup= 0.7% abv
15 ounce can fruit in syrup= 1.0% abv

431brew said:

mmc.... out of the book; not sure how accurate:
1.21 lb can MRB LME (hopped or unhopped) = 2.3% abv
2 cups booster= 1.4% abv
1.5 cups white or brown cane sugar= 1.5% abv
1 cup honey or molasses= 0.9% abv
1 cup real maple syrup= 0.7% abv
15 ounce can fruit in syrup= 1.0% abv

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Thanks...that's exactly what I was looking for.

mmc

yeah, mr beer is awesome; look what i just read on their website

America's #1 selling Home Brewing System -- Mr.Beer® has taken the science out of brewing a great tasting beer at home!

Good thing we got that pesky science out of making brew at home

I've graduated from Mr. Beer to 5 gallon extract batches. I had terrible luck with Mr. Beer in the past. It was probably mostly due to using table sugar as priming sugar - per the Mr. Beer instuctions and me not knowing any better (prior to joining here).

Revvy was a huge help to me when I needed answers to questions about using up the remaining ingredients. He took the time to tell me how HE would do it and pointed out the mis-information that Mr. Beer's instructions feed you.

Well, I just made a Hill Town Honey Wheat from the remaining ingredients and bottled it last night (brewed on Feb 23rd) and took a sample. WOW, I'm not going to lie, it tastes GREAT. Even without carbonation.

I had my doubts since I made a lot of vinegar and cider from failed Mr. Beer recipes in the last year. Well if they would have tasted like THIS I would have been brewing a lot more. Again, without the help of people like Revvy and Yooperbrew I don't know where I would be.

This hobby rocks! Thanks Revvy, Yooperbrew, and all those who helped.

BTW - I also tasted my first 5 gallon extract batch - an IPA - INCREDIBLE! I can't believe how good it is.

I am on my last MRB recipe myself, and tweaked the last one using info that I got here. I have been acquiring equipment along the way to make the transition to 5 gal brewing. I am doing this not because of the MRB quality or taste, but because I want more involvement, a greater challenge, and, most importantly, MORE beer without buying two kits. MRB is not economical when you have to have the kits shipped to you.

MRB got me started and, to be honest, the three batches that I have made tasted pretty good. You cannot follow the directions word for word and drink the beer in two weeks. (Well, I guess you can, but they taste better with age as will any beer.) I do not taste a difference in the beer I carbed with cane sugar versus corn sugar. The biggest taste difference is in the age of the beer and that is going to be true with MRB or our own 5 gal brew.

Hey Guys,

I got a Mr. Beer from my wife that she bought on sale at a local drug store for $7.50. It has been sitting around the house for a couple of weeks and I finally got around to making the first batch. I have had thoughts of home brewing for a while, mostly for economic reasons but also because I love the taste of the Belgian pilsners such as Palm or going into the southern Netherlands Dommelse Pils. But it was a Mr. Beer on sale that got me going.

Hopefully, with guidance from this forum, I can eventually learn to make something I will like. If it works out, I will be the envy of all my beer drinking buddies. Plus I already know that 8.5 quarts per month is not enough beer. I am assuming that it will take three weeks to a month to brew this batch.

riethoven said:

Hey Guys,

I got a Mr. Beer from my wife that she bought on sale at a local drug store for $7.50. It has been sitting around the house for a couple of weeks and I finally got around to making the first batch. I have had thoughts of home brewing for a while, mostly for economic reasons but also because I love the taste of the Belgian pilsners such as Palm or going into the southern Netherlands Dommelse Pils. But it was a Mr. Beer on sale that got me going.

Hopefully, with guidance from this forum, I can eventually learn to make something I will like. If it works out, I will be the envy of all my beer drinking buddies. Plus I already know that 8.5 quarts per month is not enough beer. I am assuming that it will take three weeks to a month to brew this batch.

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Welcome to the forum AND more importantly welcome to youe new obsess...er, I mean, Hobby!

Just toos out the instructions that came with the mr beer and read through some of the posts on here, and your beer will be fine...the fact that you realize that your beer won't be ready in 2 weeks, but more like 2 months, means that you got a good head 0n your shoulders!

6 weeks minimum is the length of time for a simple, basic, not to high of a gravity beer to be drinkable....It really rests on 2 factors, the style of the beer, and the fickleness of the process.....Beer is a living thing...it is the byproduct of the life cycle of yeasts eating sugar, pooping carbon dioxide and alchohol, and reproducing (to eat and poop more)...And we get to benefit from that life cycle...But since it is a living dynamic process, it has it's own agenda and timeframe......

Revvy said:

means that you got a good head 0n your shoulders!

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and will end up with a good one on your beer!

Starting new batch this week. (Bat.#2)This is an experiment, so I might need suggestion for this recipe, I have 1 can of MB Vienna lager, 1 can MB Mallow Amber UME both are 1.21 lbs cans and a 3.3 lb. can of Muntons Drk malt extract, and a package of nottingham yeast.. The lager and Munton has hops in them. so no grains or addtional hops will be used (This is a poor boy's recipe) What I have on hand.
I'll be fermenting in a 3 gal carboying using my Mr Beer keg for bottling. or would a 5 gal. carboy be better? and how much water should I use with this much extract? would this be a good 4 gal. batch? and will I need blow-out tube w/this much fermentables?

thanks always in advance,
Jeffery


Bat. #1 Irish Stout carb. & cond., Drinking a bottle a week to test
this is the 2nd week and bottles are more carbed than last week end & tastes better than last week.

Question....

I am preparing to start a new batch using a pre hopped standard Mr Beer refill. My wife likes "honey lemon" beer. Can I just add lemon juice and honey to the wort? Does it need to be cooked? Will it affect the ABV?

Any input is appreciated.

SimpleMan said:

Question....

I am preparing to start a new batch using a pre hopped standard Mr Beer refill. My wife likes "honey lemon" beer. Can I just add lemon juice and honey to the wort? Does it need to be cooked? Will it affect the ABV?

Any input is appreciated.

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Don't boil your honey. Nice warm water to dissolve is all you need. Honey will ferment a little slow, so be sure fermentation has stopped before you bottle. I would hold the lemon until bottling at very least, and maybe add it fresh to the glass.

Just add the honey directly to the cooled wort before pitching yeast? How much extra time do you think it will take to ferment?

Sorry for all the noob questions...but hey...I am a NOOB!

SimpleMan said:

Just add the honey directly to the cooled wort before pitching yeast? How much extra time do you think it will take to ferment?

Sorry for all the noob questions...but hey...I am a NOOB!

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There's no way to tell how long it will take...beer is alive and has it's own agenda. It will probably take 2-3 weeks to ferment out.

I wanted to brew muntons wheat lme (3.3) #'s
I thought it was pre-hopped.. I was wrong....
I really wanted to brew.. I would not have another chance for at least 2 weeks....
here's what I did... I used a west coast pale ale kit.... without the "booster".. I added the 3.3 #'s of Muntons wheat extract and split the wort between 2 mr beer kegs.
I used the Muntons yeist packet between the kegs in classic mr beer fashion (no starter)

I am hoping there is enough hop flavor in that 1.2#'s of "MR BEER" to balance t he wheat.... I'm more of a malty beer fan anyway. But I don't want to drink pure sugar. When should I take a hydrometer reading .. now?

OK; What do you think the odds of this thing tasting OK are?
thanks...
timg the idiot beginner fool / mr beer hacker

jllund62 said:

Starting new batch this week. (Bat.#2)This is an experiment, so I might need suggestion for this recipe, I have 1 can of MB Vienna lager, 1 can MB Mallow Amber UME both are 1.21 lbs cans and a 3.3 lb. can of Muntons Drk malt extract, and a package of nottingham yeast.. The lager and Munton has hops in them. so no grains or addtional hops will be used (This is a poor boy's recipe) What I have on hand.
I'll be fermenting in a 3 gal carboying using my Mr Beer keg for bottling. or would a 5 gal. carboy be better? and how much water should I use with this much extract? would this be a good 4 gal. batch? and will I need blow-out tube w/this much fermentables?

thanks always in advance,
Jeffery


Bat. #1 Irish Stout carb. & cond., Drinking a bottle a week to test
this is the 2nd week and bottles are more carbed than last week end & tastes better than last week.

Click to expand...

interested in your progress as I'm doing a similar experiment....
thanks much............
timg

I figured you guys would all think I'm crazy...
hehehe

Actually thanks to this site, when my wife bought me a mr. beer for christmas, I told her we needed to return it and then I got me a big boy brew kit instead.

THANKS HBT :thumbs up:

Actually I bought 2 more mr beer kegs... I have 2 kids awife and a busy job. I enjoy the fact that with a minimal time investment I can bottle / brew. I am now using 3rd party extracts and hops though..... as mr beer ingreedients are $$$$$


timg

timgman said:

Actually I bought 2 more mr beer kegs... I have 2 kids awife and a busy job. I enjoy the fact that with a minimal time investment I can bottle / brew. I am now using 3rd party extracts and hops though..... as mr beer ingreedients are $$$$$

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I have 2 Mr. Beer kegs as well. I also picked up a 5 gallon set up to make a batch of Apfelwein. I'm also supplementing my remaining Mr. Beer ingredients with 3rd party Malt Extract, Hops, Nottingham and White Labs yeast and I have to say it makes some very tasty brew.

I've got a 6 gallon Mr. Beer kit and a Whispering Wheat Weizenbier and Octoberfest Vienna Lager(boosters with both). I found this stuff while helping clear out my parents basement and my dad doesn't use it anymore. The cans I've got are for the 2 gallon kit. I'm not really sure if I should pick up maybe another of the whispering wheat and a can of their west coast pale ale to make a batch of honey wheat and then another can of the lager and some of their pale export UME to make some 2 Hellenbock(each batch would also use some pellet hops in a hop sack). I would really like to get the buckets but I really only have room for this right now and I figured if I could end up with 12 gallons of some good beer for around $40, that wouldn't be too bad. I had also thought about just getting rid of the Mr. Beer cans and picking up some Coopers but being able to see the recipe on the Mr. Beer site makes it much easier(and makes my mouth water a bit).

Hill Town Honey Wheat
Flavor: Balanced
Alc/Vol: 5.1%
SRM (Color): 7
IBU (Bitterness): 24


2 Hellenbock
Flavor: Hoppy
Alc/Vol: 6.4%
SRM (Color): 14
IBU (Bitterness): 13

To be completely honest, I drink anything from Pabst Blue Ribbon to the newest micro-brew the local beer joint(really a restaurant but I've only had a liquid diet in there) has on tap. Any ideas?

Check the bottom of your ingreedient cans for an expiration date.