Mr. Beer Help!

[mmandikas227]

I purchased a Mr. Beer variety 3 pack last night and the yeast is shot. Would yeast used in winemaking work for a Mr. Beer refill kit? Thanks in advance!

 

[Subdivisions]

Do you have a homebrew shop nearby? Get some beer yeast if so. Safale US-05 is very common and makes a good beer. I wouldn't use a wine yeast on beer. It'll probably ferment but I don't think the end result would be as good as with beer yeast.

 

[Calder]

Wine yeast will not do very well ... flavors/complex sugars/attenuation. You might be better off with bread yeast than wine yeast, but still not recommended.

Not sure Mr.Beer yeast is very good, but why do you say it is shot?

Get a pack of decent beer yeast. Use half for 1 batch, use the other half for the second, and use the cake of one of them for the third one. One pack ($4 maybe) should be all that you need.

 

[RM-MN]

How did you determine that the yeast is shot? Dry yeast is pretty hard to kill, that's why it is sold as dried yeast. You'll often see bread yeast (another dried yeast) sitting on the store shelf.

If you added the yeast and didn't see immediate results, that doesn't mean the yeast is bad. All yeast goes through a growth phase where there is no outward sign of life and this can take quite a while. I've pitched good yeast and waited up to 36 hours to see that it is working. It always has turned out to be fine.

 

[jrcrilly]

If the kit were so old that dry yeast failed, I'd be concerned about the LME.

 

[slym2none]

Mr. Beer uses Cooper's yeast. I don't think it's a bad product, but I prefer other yeasts over it. Unless it's just old, it's definitely "decent" and "good" to use as a brewing yeast.

 

[ericbw]

We don't know if you made your beer yet, or if it's out of date, or if you pitched and it's been sitting and not bubbling - how do you know it's shot? If you go it "last night" it might take longer to get rolling sometimes.