Keep or Dump?

[Jhedrick83]

So, I got a Mr. Beer kit for Christmas and excitedly brewed the first kit. I put everything together following all the instructions and leak tested it. When I went to check on it the next day, I noticed a little pool at the bottom on the outside. So I grabbed a tray, put the fermenter on the tray with some foil, and wiped it up. This morning I checked on it and there was a little bit more there but not much as you can see by the pic below. I already contacted Mr. Beer and right away they offered to send over a replacement LBK and LME kit. My question is whether or not I should bother keeping what I have fermenting or is it not worth it? Just not sure if the leaking out also means I have air and whatnot getting in raising the risk of infection. First time brewing anything, so I have no idea!

 

[Knightshade]

It might turn out okay...or if you have another "container" to put it into so you can let the ferment complete you might again...be okay. I guess there may be a possible cross contamination if what is leaked out is somehow able to mix w/the beer that is already in the container??

My bigger concern if it was me is if the damn thing just decided the hell with it and gave way. That would be a really big mess to clean up.

 

[Jag75]

I can't see how bad its leaking . If its not bad , bottle as soon as its done fermenting . Or just move to a different fv if you have one .

 

[Jhedrick83]

I got an email back from Mr. Beer. Ashley was kind enough to make sure that replacements were on their way and she said she thought the wort inside would be ok as long as I kept an eye on it.

I must say, the customer service experience with Mr Beer has been awesome.

 

[rodwha]

It would be much, much cheaper, and a better quality end product to create an extract recipe vs buying the Mr Beer kits. I’d be more than happy to help you work something up. It’s best to hit me up on CB as I don’t come here all that often anymore as it always has me resign in despite having it set to always logged in.

From MoreBeer one could buy a 3 lb bag of LME (Liquid Malt Extract) for $10.99, an ounce of hops for $1.99, and a packet of dry yeast for $4.49 ($17.47) and the yeast would handle 2 batches. It would be a very simple beer for that price but steeping grains and a muslin bag aren’t expensive. And this ^ would make a 2.25 gal batch which would easily fit in that fermenter.

Check out Welcome to How to Brew - How to Brew

*EDIT*

Just checked Mr Beer’s site and their refills run $20 but are on sale now. Seems they’ve made their products a bit more reasonably priced now (since Coopers bought them?).

I’d still advocate for buying the ingredients separately as it becomes more of your own creation and gives you the ability to use the hops as you see fit. I’m not sure if they’ve changed this too, but it used to be that Mr Beer hopped at very low rates and often weren’t even to specs for the style. The kits that use all extract are superior to the ones that use booster, which I just checked and see it’s what their standard cheaper refills use.