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The American light and Canadian light should be basically the same beer, not sure about the Pilsner. Yes, the kits are as easy as they say. I'd pitch the old yeast into the trash and spend a couple of bucks on good dry yeast. The cleaning stuff they include isn't really a sanitizer but should...

I wouldn't dump it back in, it would suck to infect a batch because you're trying to be frugal. Better to get a refractometer and use the finishing gravity calculator at Sean Terrill's website.

It's about yeast health then if you "need" 3 weeks to ferment and 4 weeks to carb up. With healthy yeast you can ferment fully with cleanup of byproducts in 7-10 days safely. I've had beers fully carbed in under a week as well though I usually give it 2 weeks as the beer needs a short period to...

Good to hear fedoradude. In my experience it never really went away or I ended up with gushers. You can try cracking the cap on the mr beer Bottles to bleed some pressure a few times if your carb level gets too high.

Depending on what you are tasting in the beer the extra time may help but it may also do nothing. If you answer the previous questions about off flavors/mouthfeels we can help you work through it. Alternatively, one of us is probably pretty close to you and can maybe taste through it with you if...

1 they probably are the same beer 2 did they seem undercarbed (sweet/maybe slightly viscous/green apple) at all? If not then I'd venture it's mr beer preferring not to have bottle bombs/gushers 3 higher carbonation may help that. Also clean glassware with no residues. Also more malt and Pilsner...

If you read back over the last few months people have had similar issues with the spigots not fitting on correctly d/t issues with the plastic not being smooth on the hole. Mine would pop the gasket every once in a while if I over tightened it.

Maybe a light dryhopping?

1) I don't think BeerSmith has mr beer LME loaded but I'm pretty sure brew road has it (or an equivalent) loaded by someone. It's one batch on a different inferior platform, you'll be fine. Otherwise you can use a stock hopped LME on BeerSmith or do some math and try to figure it out (they give...

You can put the wort into any container you want. If the coopers DIY kit is for 2.5gal sized kits then just take any recipe and cut it in half. You'll learn what you have to modify as you go to make the beer you intend to make.

I'd age it in bottles. Less chance for oxidation and infection. Speaking from personal experience here.

1.015 may be the target final gravity

Overflow was par for the course in my experience. How's it taste? You may have a yeastyness like rising bread, that's from too hot of a fermentation. If it tastes tart/sour or has an acetic (vinegar) note you probably have an infection. Bottom line, taste what you have and see how much you like...

Be careful pasteurizing. You are taking an already over pressure bottle and heating it adding more pressure. I'd toss em all in a cold, cold fridge next to the coots mountains and just drink them all up soon.

I'd personally not go below 64-66 with wlp001/wy1056/us-05 as it can get a little fruity and solvent like in my experience. Just let it roll at 68f for a week and this will be done and any byproducts will be cleaned up quite well. Cold crash for a couple of days and package your beer.

Nothing major. You may find the overall flavor of the beers with less yeast sediment to be cleaner and have a preference or you may not notice anything at all. I'd bet a BJCP judge would be able to tell the difference easily but they have trained palates looking for flaws. I used to cold crash...

You'll have more sediment in the hazy bottles.

I've got my refractometer dialed in to the point I don't need to use the hydrometer anymore. I like the refractometer calculator on http://seanterrill.com/2012/01/06/refractometer-calculator/

Do tinctures with alcohol (neutral vodka works well) and add at bottling. It works great. For the raspberry, invest in a smaller bucket/carboy to referment in. FYI, the CO2 doesn't sit there in a layer indefinitely, it will dissipate.

FYI, you can get 5gal hdpe2 food grade buckets for $2-3 if you look for emergency food storage containers. Winco here on the west coast has them. With a lid (you just have to drill a hole for the airlock & grommet) it was <$5. Or spring for the real lid for about $5 at the lhbs. FYI, don't...