Mr Beer - Read all about it and ask questions

Schlenkerla · Feb 17, 2008

Ditto on the above...

5 gal batch ~ 2 cases of beer.

2 gal ~ 20 bottles

I like doing 5 gal for session style beers, bitters & pale ales that you can drink alot of w/o feeling too full.

The 2.5 gal batches are good for experimenting and making the seasonal beers, like a pumpkin ale or a rasberry wheat. Something you don't want alot of sitting around.

The 3 gal PET bottles from Lowes are $4.99 each w/ good brewing water. I've got 4 of them.

Revvy · Feb 17, 2008

Schlenkerla said:
Ditto on the above...

The 3 gal PET bottles from Lowes are $4.99 each w/ good brewing water. I've got 4 of them.

Plus if the water that's in them isn't RO, then you have some good water to brew with.

Hey Schlenkerla, I'd be interested in some of your session recipes, especially the bitters. If you don't have it posted anywhere, and don't mind sharing, I'd appreciate it if you pmned it to me...or posted it for all to share.

I haven't done a bitter yet....Plus I'd be interested in your Haus Amber...I've been fiddling with recipe to come up with one that I like.

flashover600 · Feb 17, 2008

I have the same problem on my latest brew. I opened a bottle last night and the beer basically poured itself. And with all the carbonization all the sediment off the bottom of the bottle got mixed in with the beer. Guess I'll be waiting longer next time

Monk said:
I agree. That much foaming isn't normal. Most likely, you followed the directions to the letter and ending up bottling too soon. Mr Beer likes you to think that things are very clear cut and consistent in brewing...but they're not. If the temp of your wort at pitching was a little low, or your fermentation temp was a bit low over the week or so in the fermenter, it's likely that the beer didn't ferment out completely and you bottled with some sugar still in the mix.

I did this twice before I realized what I was doing, back when I started.

Revvy · Feb 17, 2008

flashover600 said:
I have the same problem on my latest brew. I opened a bottle last night and the beer basically poured itself. And with all the carbonization all the sediment off the bottom of the bottle got mixed in with the beer. Guess I'll be waiting longer next time

How are you priming them? Are you using the "add sugar to the bottle" method? You might be over priming them...it's really hard to get the right amount of sugar in each bottle... Carb tabs are an option.

But better is to use a bottling bucket...Boil the amnt of corn sugar to 1-2 cups of water...add that to bucket then rack the beer onto it...making sure it mixes thoroughly throughout.

This little 2 gallon cooler costs under 10 bucks, and works great for bottling Mr Beer batches...as well as doing AG in your Mr. Beer (see a post of mine from yesterday)

flashover600 · Feb 17, 2008

I guess I must clarify that I don't use "Mr Beer", I use the food grade bucket method. I do use the bottling bucket, it works great. This is my forth batch and it's the only one I've had problems with. I'm starting to think from all the reading i've done this morning that the 1-2-3 method is the way to go, not the whole "the bubbles have stopped" way. I'm thinking I should have waited longer for fermentation.

Revvy said:
How are you priming them? Are you using the "add sugar to the bottle" method? You might be over priming them...it's really hard to get the right amount of sugar in each bottle... Carb tabs are an option.

But better is to use a bottling bucket...Boil the amnt of corn sugar to 1-2 cups of water...add that to bucket then rack the beer onto it...making sure it mixes thoroughly throughout.

This little 2 gallon cooler costs under 10 bucks, and works great for bottling Mr Beer batches...as well as doing AG in your Mr. Beer (see a post of mine from yesterday)

Schlenkerla · Feb 17, 2008

flashover600 said:
I guess I must clarify that I don't use "Mr Beer", I use the food grade bucket method. I do use the bottling bucket, it works great. This is my forth batch and it's the only one I've had problems with. I'm starting to think from all the reading i've done this morning that the 1-2-3 method is the way to go, not the whole "the bubbles have stopped" way. I'm thinking I should have waited longer for fermentation.

If you use the 1-2-3 method you'll get good results. Watching the airlock is not proof its done, but it has never failed me. If all things are going well and you can check it daily, you will know when its done. The two chambers of fluid in the airlock will be almost the same w/ a slightly lower level on the gas-pressure side. For this very reason is why I only buy the "S-Style Airlock".

Officially speaking, measuring the Final Gravity (FG) with a hydrometer 2 days in a row w/o change is proof its done. This is as long you are hitting the target gravity.

The only time I do this Final Gravity measuring is when I'm making something that has really long slow ferment. My 1st Apfelwein was fermented at 53'F. It took ~12weeks to hit 1.005 and another week to hit FG target of 1.000. 13 weeks is a long wait at times taking the measurement is really warranted.

Ramzev · Feb 17, 2008

OK, this is my first post. It looks like there is a lot of good info here I'll be spending a lot of time trying to figure this home brew thing out. To my question, I got a Mr. Beer and my first batch started 2 days ago but there isn't any bubbles in the air lock yet. Is this normal or did I do something wrong?
i followed the instructions as written so it should be woking, am I being too impatient?
Thanks for your input.

Dave

Revvy · Feb 17, 2008

Ramzev said:
OK, this is my first post. It looks like there is a lot of good info here I'll be spending a lot of time trying to figure this home brew thing out. To my question, I got a Mr. Beer and my first batch started 2 days ago but there isn't any bubbles in the air lock yet. Is this normal or did I do something wrong?
i followed the instructions as written so it should be woking, am I being too impatient?
Thanks for your input.

Dave

If you're using a newer style mr beer, there is no airlock just the small slits in the rim of the lid...so you wont see any evidence of activity..and if you have an older one that actually had an airlock, airlocks are really no indication that fermentation is complete...since it's a Mr beer, let it sit in the fermentor for 2 weeks....then bottlie it for 3...and referidgerate it for 2 days before drinking.

Ramzev · Feb 17, 2008

thanks for the reply, I suppose I have an old style because I have an airlock just like the one pictured a few posts above. I thought I should be seeing some activity, like bubbles, in it by now but there's nothing.

Dave

Revvy · Feb 17, 2008

you're lucky to have an older style then...As long as you followed instructions there is a really good probability that it is fine...It's really hard to screw up beer.

Since you have an older model, you could consider actually getting a hydrometer to test fermentation. But right now, just have patience...your beer is fine.

In the meantime, read this thread, read https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=54362 as well as other threads around here.. and also http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html

And start figuring out your next brew! That way when you bottle this one, the 3 weeks to bottle condition won't seem to drag on too long.

Ramzev · Feb 17, 2008

Again, thanks for the help, I must have an "inbetween" model, it did come with a hydrometer. This is the kit I have:
http://www.makebeer.net/kit.asp

I took the reading at the start (1.05)

thanks again, I'm sure I'll have more questions as I go.

Dave

Ramzev · Feb 17, 2008

OK, now that I pay more attention to what I have, I don't have a mr. beer I havr a Coopers. It that good or bad?

Revvy · Feb 17, 2008

Ramzev said:
OK, now that I pay more attention to what I have, I don't have a mr. beer I havr a Coopers. It that good or bad?

I think it's better than a mr beer...since it has an airlock.

Brakshop · Feb 17, 2008

NEWBY HERE,
I recieved a Mr Beer as a gift.
I have several questions, if someone can help?
I brewed the kit per instructions, but my tap was leaking I had to reach into the mix to tighten it up, is that a problem?
I replaced the kits yeast with fresh Dottinghams.
Today is the seventh day, very little foam left on the surface.
How do I know when its ready to bottle?
Is table suger ok to use for priming?

Thanks

Schlenkerla · Feb 17, 2008

Revvy said:
I think it's better than a mr beer...since it has an airlock.

I couldn't agree more, I think they dumbed down their design by taking it out of the design. I spoke to brewmaster Gene and he agrees, they took it out for simplicity sake, and lower cost. The owner and those marketing fools had something to do with it all

IMHO - It was really dumb!! What were they thinking?

Cheeto · Feb 17, 2008

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=46360

they covered Mr. Beer very well here !

welcome to HBT

Monk · Feb 17, 2008

Cooper's actually has great canned recipe kits too. The mixes are far superior to mr. beer, in my experience. I've tried the mexican cerveza and IPA. Both very good. I was quite surprised. I think the Cerveza includes some corn sugar, but the IPA was all malt (no added sugars).

cola · Feb 17, 2008

Schlenkerla said:
A big no. That's not normal. You bottled too early or added too much sugar. I'd put them all in the fridge now. Drink ASAP

The problem w/ MRB is that you really can't blindly follow the suggested days fermenting. These are only a guideline. See my post above and watch w/ the Youtube link.

Temperature and the amount of fermentables have the biggest influence on time. The age of your yeast has a good deal to do with it too. Older yeast means a slower start.

As for the time I'd always consider them a minimum. There is a general rule of thumb for fermenting ales.

1-2-3

1 week in the primary.
2 weeks in secondary.
3 weeks carbonating.

No secondary, go w/ three weeks. This assumes you are hitting the target temps and you're not making something w/ a crazy amount of fermentables. A High Alcohol Brew more than 6%

so foam is a sign of being underfermented?

Revvy · Feb 17, 2008

Cheeto1977 said:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=46360

they covered Mr. Beer very well here !

welcome to HBT

You do realize you just posted a link to the very thread you posted it on, don't you?

You've created an endless loop or time vortex or something...stop it before we get sucked in:fro:

Revvy · Feb 17, 2008

Brakshop said:
NEWBY HERE,
I recieved a Mr Beer as a gift.
I have several questions, if someone can help?
I brewed the kit per instructions, but my tap was leaking I had to reach into the mix to tighten it up, is that a problem?
I replaced the kits yeast with fresh Dottinghams.
Today is the seventh day, very little foam left on the surface.
How do I know when its ready to bottle?
Is table suger ok to use for priming?

Thanks

If you sanitized your hands by dipping it into your onestep before you stuck your hand in you should be ok, if not there's a slim possibility you could end up with an infection which would result in an off flavor...

Next time you reassemble tighten everything down and then sanitize it...Actually sanitize the spigot seperately first, then sanitize your hands and attach it to the mr beer, then fill the mr beer with sanitizer and check for leaks whil it is soaking inside with sanitzer,,,then turn on the spigot and drain out the sanitizer and sanitize the spigot. (It's also not a bad idea after to rubberband a small ziplock baggie over the pigot, to keep it sanitary during fermentation.)

It was a good idea to replace the yeast that came with the mr beer with fresher yeast...you never know how old the yeast in the plain silver envelope is.

If you read the last few posts in this thread ahead of your question, we were talking about when to bottle...since it's not a good idea to open up the mr beer to take hydrometer readings, letting it sit for 2 weeks will insure fermentation. Then bottle condition them for AT LEAST 3 weeks in a warm place, then chill them for AT LEAST 48 hours before drinking.

It's not really a good idea to prime with white sugar...most of us use Priming sugar, which is corn sugar...or Dry Malt extract {DME}, or you can use those priming tabs, putting one in each bottle...Table sugar often leads to a cidery taste in your beer...(Again look at the posts earlier today where we talk about using a bottling bucket.)

flashover600 · Feb 17, 2008

Ok, great! Thanks for the help. I will start checking my FG of my beer when I think it's done. So how do you tell when you've achieved your final gravity? when the numbers are consistent for two consecutive days?

Schlenkerla said:
If you use the 1-2-3 method you'll get good results. Watching the airlock is not proof its done, but it has never failed me. If all things are going well and you can check it daily, you will know when its done. The two chambers of fluid in the airlock will be almost the same w/ a slightly lower level on the gas-pressure side. For this very reason is why I only buy the "S-Style Airlock".

Officially speaking, measuring the Final Gravity (FG) with a hydrometer 2 days in a row w/o change is proof its done. This is as long you are hitting the target gravity.

The only time I do this Final Gravity measuring is when I'm making something that has really long slow ferment. My 1st Apfelwein was fermented at 53'F. It took ~12weeks to hit 1.005 and another week to hit FG target of 1.000. 13 weeks is a long wait at times taking the measurement is really warranted.

Revvy · Feb 17, 2008

flashover600 said:
Ok, great! Thanks for the help. I will start checking my FG of my beer when I think it's done. So how do you tell when you've achieved your final gravity? when the numbers are consistent for two consecutive days?

Usually 3 consequetive days.

Schlenkerla · Feb 17, 2008

cola said:
so foam is a sign of being underfermented?

Yes - Its usually form bottling too early or you added too much priming sugar. It can also be that you have an infection.

Odds are from the past discussion is that you bottled before it finished fermenting.

flashover600 · Feb 18, 2008

awesome! thanks all

Revvy said:
Usually 3 consequetive days.

Schlenkerla · Feb 18, 2008

flashover600 said:
So how do you tell when you've achieved your final gravity? when the numbers are consistent for two consecutive days?

You need to know what recipe calls for for Finished Gravity. (FG) Most MRB Recipes will not state a FG. Mainly because it really marketed for beginers who don't have a hydrometer. My guess is 1.008~1.012 normally.

I stated two consecutive days in a row. Revvy says it should be three. Yes- Being consistent is important here. Knowing its done. When its done you keep getting the same reading. 2 times or 3 times whatever you are comfortable with when you do the check.

If you don't what I mean by gravity & hydrometer look at this link.

http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixA.html

jasno999 · Feb 18, 2008

Revvy said:
It's not really a good idea to prime with white sugar...most of us use Priming sugar, which is corn sugar...or Dry Malt extract {DME}, or you can use those priming tabs, putting one in each bottle...Table sugar often leads to a cidery taste in your beer...(Again look at the posts earlier today where we talk about using a bottling bucket.)

That is funny cause I think the coopers drops are actually made up os 70% white sugar or something like that.

Revvy · Feb 18, 2008

jasno999 said:
That is funny cause I think the coopers drops are actually made up os 70% white sugar or something like that.

According to Copper's themselves, it contains 73% sugar, 23% glucose in a crystalized form....so it's not pure white sugar.

In some of the stuff that I just found looking for that info there seems to be a lot of people who don't like using them, and usually the complaints that they have call it a cidery taste as well.

I've never used it myself...but there are some applications that I might. Like deciding to prime half a batch of mead or Apfelwein and not wanting to mess with using a bottling bucket...Especially if there is any cidery taste present, it would be expected.

Plus it's a lot more accurate then measuring the sugar and putting it in each bottle, there's less chance of bottle bombs.

Thwizzit · Feb 18, 2008

don't fear the 5 gallon setup. Even though you may not drink all the bottles right away, the longer they sit, the better they will get. You'd be surprised how different the beer will taste after a couple of months in the bottle.

Click to expand...

That's good to know. I'm fairly certain I'll move up after a batch or two once I feel like I understand what I'm doing.

And with the higher grav beers such as barley wines..they often don't even become drinkable for a year.

Click to expand...

That's good to know too as I've read that four months was the time frame to drink it by. It's tough to make heads or tails of all the different things I've been reading and know which are accurate.

But before you commit, play around with the mr beer or the smaller carboy, work on your technique...even make up small batches of beer recipes found here and ferment them in your mr. beer....And then when you do step up to larger batches...

Click to expand...

That'll probably be the route I take once I get the first one under my belt

don't throw away the mr beer...you can use it for apfelwein

Click to expand...

Speaking of which, I have the Apfelwein recipe but it's not clear how to make it using the Mr. Beer. Do you just halve it or is there some other modifications to the recipe that need to be made for it to work in MRB?

Revvy · Feb 18, 2008

Thwizzit said:
Speaking of which, I have the Apfelwein recipe but it's not clear how to make it using the Mr. Beer. Do you just halve it or is there some other modifications to the recipe that need to be made for it to work in MRB?

2 1/2 gallons of applejuice and a half pound of the corn sugar will do it for the Mr. Beer...I'd pitch the whole packet of whatever yeast you choose...If you use montrachet it will be extreemly dry...if you want something semi sweet add a quarter pound of Lactose. Or research on Ed's thread what people have said about using different yeasts. Some of them won't ferment to complete dryness....

Thwizzit · Feb 18, 2008

Revvy said:
2 1/2 gallons of applejuice and a half pound of the corn sugar will do it for the Mr. Beer......

The original recipe calls for 5 gallons of Apple Juice and 2 pounds of Dextrose so I going to go with 2.5 Gallons of juice and 1lb of dextrose, will 1/2 pound be enough?

Mr Beer - Read all about it and ask questions

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