How to improve a Mr. Beer Kit?

[pshankstar]

I have one last Mr. Beer kit that I would like to make, but I would like to try and improve it if possible. The kit I have is the American Lager Deluxe Refill. Seems like these Mr. Beer kits I have received as a gift do not taste nearly as good as what I have been brewing over the last year. For example, I love IPAs but the Diablo IPA Kit I could not drink. I ended up giving it to a friend who doesn't yet fully appreciate craft brews but enjoys all the home brews I have shared with him, and he drank it all and asked for more.

Any how, I would like to see if I can improve this last Mr. Beer kit if possible and would like some recommendations. Right now I have some Cascade hops (home grown from a friend) and some safale us-05 yeast. So I was thinking some of the Cascade hops might be good to dry hop with (say 0.5 oz) and probably half of a safale us-05 yeast packet. I'm curious to know if any steeping grains would be good to add? If so, what kind of grains and how much? I do not think any additional LME or DME would be needed, but I'm no expert. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Also - My plan is to keep the Mr. Beer equipment to start making some small test batches in the future since it seems like a decent setup to do this with. But no more Mr. Beer kits will be purchased and hopefully given to me as a gift.

 

[chickypad]

Well "improve" is relative, so you kind of need to say what you're after. Do you want keep the ABV about the same? Are you willing to do a boil? If not you're locked into the 17 IBU. Just swapping out the yeast for 05 will probably improve the quality of the beer, you could certainly just do that plus add a little dry hop. If you really want to turn it into and APA though I would do something like this (assuming a 2.5 gal batch):

- steep 0.5 lb of the crystal of your choice
- boil with a 60 min hop addition (maybe 0.5 oz cascade? use software to target more like 30-40 IBU total for the beer)
- add another 0.5 oz at 10 min and flameout
- dry hop with 0.5 oz
- consider adding an additional 0.5 lb DME to boost the ABV more into the 5.5% range

 

[frazier]

I also started with a Mr. Beer LBK, and really enjoyed it. Basically, the recipe "kit" is a can or two of pre-hopped LME. If you really want to use it up, I would get a quarter to half a pound of Crystal 20 or Crystal 40, crushed, and steep it in a strainer bag at ~~150. After 30 minutes or so, strain it out and add your LME, and do your boil. Dry-hopping with the Cascades would be great.

What I found was that virtually any 5-gallon recipe (how many thousands of those are there floating around?) can be cut in half and brewed in the LBK. You can direct-pitch liquid yeasts without need of a starter; or just go ahead and pitch a packet of dry (I never bothered splitting a packet in half, due to sanitation concerns, but YMMV).

Cheers!

 

[kh54s10]

I was going to say the best way to improve it would be to just throw it away. But chickypad's advice seems sound.

A little bit of steeping grain, quality yeast and different/more hops would go a long way.

 

[pshankstar]

Thank you guys! I'm really up for doing anything such as increasing the IBUs and ABV. Ultimately I would like to use up this last kit and make it "drinkable" for me. I think I will pick up a half pound of crystal since two of you recommended the crystal. I'm wondering if I should pick up another ounce of hops to go with the one ounce of Cascade (whole cones) I have on hand. Now, do I get another ounce of Cascade or do I get something else to help compliment it?

Thanks again guys! I really appreciate the input!

 

[kh54s10]

For adding the hops I would probably dry hop and I would not invest much $ in a popular expensive hop. Look for a cheap one of the characteristic that you want.

Cascade = flowery, citrus & spice with grapefruit fragrance. So look for something that has a similar description.

 

[chickypad]

Lots of choices to go with cascade - centennial, chinook, simcoe are a few. I'd probably use a small amount of whatever you get for bittering since you'll know the aa's (as opposed to your homegrown hops), then throw the rest in with the cascade for late additions and dryhop.

 

[pshankstar]

Ok, so I picked up an ounce of Galena hops (13.9 AA). From what I have read the Galena hops seem to have some fruity characters but also good for bittering. I also picked up 0.5 lb of Crystal 60L to steep for 30 minutes or so before the boil. The LHBS had Caramel 20 & 40, but the lowest Crystal was 60L, so that is why I went with that.

I figure I would do .5 oz for 60 minutes and the other .5 oz at 10 minutes of the Galena hops. Then I will weigh .5 oz of the Cascade hop cones I have on hand for dry hoping after a week or so (7-10 days) in the fermenter. Let it dry hop for another week or so (7-10 days) before bottling. If I do a 2 gallon boil and try to top off close to 2.5 gallons in the Mr. Beer fermenter it should put me in the neighborhood of 86 IBUs +/-.

Also, I realize I have some extra Extra Pale DME on hand (usually for making yeast starters). I think I will add a .5 lb of this DME into the boil too, to increase the ABV.

Does this seem like a good idea/plan to use up this last Mr. Beer American Lager Deluxe Refill kit? Thanks everyone!

 

[chickypad]

It all sounds good except the 86 IBU. With the extra DME you'll be about 5.7% abv or so, I'd cut the IBUs to the 40-50 range. Also just FYI the terms crystal and caramel are pretty much interchangeable. There will be slight differences between maltsters in terms the flavors provided, but in general you can sub in any cara or crystal malt at the same L.

 

[pshankstar]

It all sounds good except the 86 IBU. With the extra DME you'll be about 5.7% abv or so, I'd cut the IBUs to the 40-50 range. Also just FYI the terms crystal and caramel are pretty much interchangeable. There will be slight differences between maltsters in terms the flavors provided, but in general you can sub in any cara or crystal malt at the same L.

Thanks for the input. Now that you say crystal and caramel are pretty similar I believe I have read that before. Geeze I guess I didn't think hard enough about it when I was at the LHBS. Oh well, isn't that part of the fun of home brewing to experiment? Cheers!

 

[pshankstar]

I wanted to let everyone know who chimed in on suggestions to improve this Mr. Beer kit that I bottled the beer on 1/1/16. We are getting together with some friends on Friday the 15th so I figured I would take a couple over to crack open and try them out. I know they may not be fully conditioned yet, but hey what the heck! I'll also bring over some other home brews I have, such as the Strawberry Blonde Ale, Kiwi Express IPA by Northern Brewer and a SMASH Session Ale by Northern Brewer too!

I'll take pictures and make notes to report back! Cheers!