Might throw in the towel

[balrog]

+1 on time. It will heal a lot of wounds; not all, but many. Take notes and try to be as repeatable as possible and try not to change but one or two things each batch or you won't be able to tell what made things better.

 

[patthebrewer]

I've been brewing for mulitple decades now, but I too started on a MrBeer......the wife got me for christmas one year. Learned a lot on that thing....still have it and still trot it out every couple of years. Worry not and please don't give in....it takes practice but you will get it For some newer brewers there is a desire to hurry things up, or check on this or that. My advice is after you pitch the yeast.....try to forget it exists....for at least a month. Then toss it in the fridge a chill it for 3-4 days, this will get a lot of the yeast etc out of suspension. Next the MRBeer unit itself is really designed for extract kits with out much trub, and the trub gets above the tap...if you tilt the keg back away from the tap you'll get clearer beer (and IMHO better tasting). Also don't forget the yeast! Great yeast makes great beer, you can do a lot with White labs wlp001 or wlp002. Also don't feel like you need to rush in to BIAB or All grain. You can make REALLY good beer with good quality fresh extract Please don't judge extract kits by what MRBEER kits taste like. More Beer....Northern Brewer Etc make really good kits....and don't rule out your local brewing store. Practice makes perfect.....above all Relax Dont Worry, Have a Home Brew

 

[Nokie]

+1 on everything that's been said. I along with probably a few people here started with Mr. Beer.
Looking back it didn't make very good beer. But at the time I thought it was drinkable. I made probably 10 batches on it and I had found every batch got a little better.
The one good thing about those kits tho is it teaches you the process needed to do extract batches and the most important thing it teaches you about this hobby is patience.
I wouldn't give up... as long as it's drinkable you're on the right path. Keep making small batches and forget the ones you have made. Leave them in the closet for awhile. That will also teach you aging them is the key, and it'll build up your pipeline.
You'll be surprised on how much better they are after awhile.
We've probably all been in your shoes at one point or another. But no worries you're on a good path!

 

[JM-brew]

I would say one of the things that helped my brewing the most was learning more about the process. Looking back, the first year or so I brewed, I had no idea of what was actually going on. One of the previous posters mentioned getting Palmer's book. It's great! Also there are a ton of podcast. I highly recommend 'basic brewing' http://basicbrewing.com/ as a starting point. Very informative and entertaining. One thing I wish I would have done when I first started is keep things SIMPLE! It probably won't be earth shattering, but SMASH beers are great for honing your process and getting familiar with ingredients. They also can turn out a solid pale ale or ipa. Hope that helps. Happy brewing.

 

[IslandLizard]

Don't want to be that guy that skims through the posts and says read a book, BUT if you haven't already I highly recommend getting the new edition of How to Brew, I don't own a copy but i have read the online version and it doesn't stay updated, I personally want to get the latest edition because i have been Biab'ing for four years and i want to read John Palmer's section on it plus there is always something new to learn

Good luck and listen to the advice on here HBT has improved my beer big time [emoji482]

This! ^

Buy quality ingredients, stay away from anything that sounds like Mr. Beer and generally cans of Liquid Malt Extract (LME). Use either fresh poured LME or when you doubt freshness, use DME powder (Briess).

Control your fermentation temps, most ales 66-68F (water bath, swamp cooler, temp controlled refrigerator/freezer).

Avoid using secondaries, leave your beer for whole duration in the same vessel. There are only 3 exceptions, but they are advanced brewing.

Clean your equipment well, use Starsan as your (rinse free) sanitizer for anything that touches your chilled wort and beer.

 

[Rhaop]

I would say one of the things that helped my brewing the most was learning more about the process. Looking back, the first year or so I brewed, I had no idea of what was actually going on. One of the previous posters mentioned getting Palmer's book. It's great! Also there are a ton of podcast. I highly recommend 'basic brewing' http://basicbrewing.com/ as a starting point. Very informative and entertaining. One thing I wish I would have done when I first started is keep things SIMPLE! It probably won't be earth shattering, but SMASH beers are great for honing your process and getting familiar with ingredients. They also can turn out a solid pale ale or ipa. Hope that helps. Happy brewing.

I need to check out basic brewing, i've been catching up on brew strong since last year, that show started in '08 I think and i'm up to '14, that's a lot of brew talk!! lol

Cleaning first (pbw, oxiclean free)
Then sanitize (starsan)
Healthy yeast (us-05)
And steady fermentation temps 60's

All of which the HBT'ers have been pushing, good advice