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Well they were extract batches and it's well water so no chlorine. And it's not harsh just a little annoying probably because I brew lighter session type beers mostly. Maybe I will just give all grain a shot and see how it turns out before I start fixing something that aint broke. Just a...

Thanks, I tested the water out of my filtered tap not boiled. I have noticed that my beers are hop sensitive. Even dryhopping or adding some hops at flameout seem to put the dry bitter aftertaste over the top and I love hops. The aftertaste is worse if I add a small amount of honey but still...

Preparing to start brewing all grain and I have a question. I used some aquarium testing strips to check my water. I know a lot of brewers do not worry with testing but my extract and partial mash batches have all had a faint annoying dryness on the finish. Just kind of leaves me thirsty...

The sour taste could be coming from the water if you just top off with tap or spring water. My beers improved tremendously by bringing the full amount of water to a boil before adding the extract, cooling in an ice bath, aeration and piching at 70 or below. Also submerging your fermenter in...

I just built my first mash tun last night with a braid. I robbed about 2 ft of #12 copper wire out of some scrap romex or home wire. Then I coiled it tightly around an ink pen and streched it out like a spring and inserted it inside the braid.

Brewing in the south is tough business. Winter, it rains and cold everyday. Spring arrives and the pollen and bugs go wild. Summer, it's just too hot to do anything outdoors with the dewpoint matching the temps everyday not to mention the yellow jackets and mosquitos. As soon as September...

Ok, so what kind of time should I be looking at to drain the mash for a 5 gallon batch. Sorry for the dumb questions but I'm just trying to prepare for all grain. The locking spigot is 3.95 plus shipping but I had an extra one. I just thought I might could utilize it and save from all the...

Question about the ball valve, how important is the adjustable valve to the draining process. The reason I am asking is I had a high flow upgraded Mr Beer valve laying around that fits perfectly into the igloo round cooler with about 1/2" of threads left inside the cooler that I could attach...

MB sells ready made cans and it is simple so you pay for that convenience. You can make really good beer using the MB fermenters. Just think of it as half a normal batch. The process and complexity is the same. I dont think the Coopers is lacking, I have made some pretty good beers using...

Tumbleweed, your lid is fine. The fermenter has notches in the threads and releases co2 when it reaches a certain pressure inside. It will leak if turned sideways or upside down because of the liquid pressure. Fermentation may take 24 hours or so but you already have foam so that is good...

Most people that start with the MB products eventually move away from their refill kits and start splitting 5 gallon batches, creating their own ect...so you could just get by with buying a couple fermenters and scraping up the brew tools and pots at the dollar store. The great thing about MB...

I dont think they steered you wrong Ken. Those Coopers kits make some fine beer with malt added. I have some of the Autralian Pale ale fermenting now. It's an easy way to get started and get your process down before moving on. Be leary of the directions on those canned kits as they make it...

I slowly stir the top of the wort with a wisk while adding the DME and it disolves fine with no clumps. Dumping it all in at once makes it all clump together.

I have only been brewing for 6 months so I dont know how critical it is that the water be completely free of "whatever" But we are all pretty thorough with sanitation in every other step. But yet not many want to think about the water being sanitized or sterile. I have seen spring water on...

I brew 2.3 gallon batches stovetop usually two at a time. Normally I split up the Coopers HME cans between 1-3 lbs depending on what I am trying to achieve plus DME and steeping grains. Anyway my first few batches were twangy/ off flavors ect.. So I started bringing the full volume to a boil...

I try to bottle at least one 2 liter sprite bottle per MB batch. I brought 4 of them on vacation and no problem staying carbed till the next day after being opened. Also, those little feet/stands act as wells capturing the yeast ect..

I have brewed up about a dozen batches of coopers with no apply or cider flavors. I never use sugar or booster, only DME and sometimes steep some crystal 10 or 20. Also I bring the full volume of water to a boil and never top up with tap water. Sure all grain taste better but coopers can be made...

I have an extra large kitchen island/bar and after wiping it down 2 or 3 times with a spray bottle of one step sanitizer, I then spray it down good and wet once again. Then I shake out the sanitized bottles and invert on the wet sanitized countertop. I use warm sanitizer in the bottles so they...

2 cans makes a much better beer depending on which refill. Some of the stronger versions may be too bitter for your taste. It all depends on what you like to drink. Some of the guys at Mrbeerfans.com swear by two cans of wcpa for a first brew. Most guys dont use that booster. 1lb of DME plus one...

My apologies, 3/4 teaspoon not ounces, per 12 oz bottle. I meant teaspoons, sorry.