cooper's?mr. beer....stay with me now.

[TK-6393]

Hello, long time mead maker and about a year of beer making under my belt. Recently was gifted three Mr. Beer refill packs. Now before you say to pitch them and get a real beer kit, hear me out. I don't mind adding DME/LME, yeast, maltodextrose, etc.to it to make it better. Will this make it as good as a dedicated kit? No. I know this already. I have to make something decent with these as the gifter will be trying the results. Anyone have some recipes for this style of brewing? I'm open to suggestions. I was given a porter, stout and a Weiss beer kit. Thanks in advance!

 

[STMF]

Here is a link to alot of Coopers recipes.
http://store.coopers.com.au/brewing-info/recipes.html

 

[TK-6393]

Don't know how the heck I missed that but I did! Thanks. Does anyone know what they mean by "malt extract-smooth"? They use that term and a few others that I don't know what I could substitute in its place. Thanks

 

[day_trippr]

I believe "smooth" designates "un-hopped with plenty of malto-dextrins"...

Cheers!

 

[madscientist451]

Does anyone know what they mean by "malt extract-smooth"?

Here it is:

http://store.coopers.com.au/mr-beer-unhopped-malt-extract-smooth.html

 

[TK-6393]

So would I use an amber LME for a substitution? Pale and golden I can figure out but "smooth" and "robust" are odd to me

 

[Calder]

I just checked their site:

Mr Beer Unhopped Malt Extract - Golden: Opaque golden tones, velvety texture with a slight tartness.

Mr Beer Unhopped Malt Extract - Pale: Pale straw colour, subtle biscuit malt flavours,minimal effect on final beer colour.

Mr Beer Unhopped Malt Extract - Robust: Rich ebony colour, coffee and dark chocolate aromas with a robust toasty flavor.

Mr Beer Unhopped Malt Extract - Smooth: Reddish hues, coffee aromas, toffee richness of flavor with residual sweetness.

$3.39 for 8 ozs makes it a very expensive LME

My guess:
Golden - is what we might call Pale, light, or Extra light. Basically 99% 2-Row + 1% carapils.
Pale - is what we might call Amber. Basically 90% 2-row + 10% C60
Robust - dark LME with roast notes suitable for Stouts and Porters.
Smooth - 'dark' LME for reddish ales. Probably has Special B (or C180).

If it is 'smooth' you have, might be suitable for an Arrogant Bastard type IPA. Basically 90% 2-row, 10% Special B, 80 IBUs, all hops Chinook.

 

[madscientist451]

So would I use an amber LME for a substitution? Pale and golden I can figure out but "smooth" and "robust" are odd to me

Yeah that's what I'd go with, and don't worry, it will be beer.

 

[chris000]

according to their website on yeasts, they always provide the same ale yeast for everything, except of the weissbier (seems to be WB-06, since they sell that under the same description as the disclaimer for the "brewing yeast"). while not being my favorite, if that's the case it should be plenty suitable for those kits.
the kit information however has the description of the standard ale yeast (not going to work out).
Regarding the malt, I believe your "golden" is actually wheat malt extract (at least in part since they are normally less than 70% wheat).
https://www.mrbeer.com/brewmax-lme-softpack-golden
Oh, I purchased a few years ago some of those kits at a hardware store for $2.99 each (past shelf life...). With LME, remember to check for freshness if you have any expectation that it turns out the way it should...

 

[JohnSand]

I used to visit the MrBeer forum, there were plenty of recipes to modify.
Many former MrBeer forum members are now on BeerBorg forum, a few are members here also.
I think you could use those kits as a base. If you boiled them, the hop flavor and aroma should boil off, leaving gravity and bitterness. You could add more extract, even from a mash, and your own finishing hops. But I might treat it as an experiment, and go as simple as possible.
Let us know how it works out.