Mr Beer - Read all about it and ask questions

[bpgreen]

Oh, and don't use the yeast that comes with the kit, it's not good.

Actually, if you're concerned about temperature control, the yeast that comes with it is probably a good choice. It's pretty forgiving when it comes to temperature.

 

[brewski09]

They did change the yeast since I bought my last mr beer kit, but I still wouldn't be inclined to use it myself.

 

[TonyKZ1]

They did change the yeast some time ago, several years maybe? The yeast works fine and is a larger amount also. You might go over to the Mr. Beer forums and the BeerBorg forums to get a better or at least a different opinion of their products since they're looked down upon so much over here. They're very helpful and there's lots of recipes and different things to try.

 

[rich5665]

There's nothing wrong with Mr. Beer Kits. The extracts are better as well as the yeast since Cooper Brewing took them over. I use the Little brown Kegs to ferment small batches of All Grain BIAB, Partial Mashes and Extracts. Check out Mr. Beer Fans or the Mr. Beer Community if your not feeling the love here. Brewing with Extract kits whether it's Mr. Beer or BrewDemon is still home brewing. They've just made the process easier, that's all.

 

[soccerdad]

$3 MB kits at Academy Sports in Macon GA. I almost pulled the trigger as I have a 3 gallon better bottle that would likely ferment the 2 gallon batch quite well. They had 2 choices - an Oktoberfest Lager and a Berliner Weissbier. One thing that held me back is that I cool my fermenter with ice and it's about 167 degrees in south Georgia in mid August. I can do ale temps for 6 to 7 days in the summer, but lagering is out for me right now.

 

[TonyKZ1]

Thanks for posting this, I'll have to check our Academy Sports to see if they have any sales like that. You do know that the Mr. Beer Oktoberfest isn't really a lager, that's just part of the name, it uses normal ale yeast. I just brewed up a batch today.

 

[soccerdad]

You do know that the Mr. Beer Oktoberfest isn't really a lager, that's just part of the name, it uses normal ale yeast. I just brewed up a batch today.

I did not know that - might pass by there again this coming week. If I do I might grab a couple.

 

[skitter]

There's nothing wrong with Mr. Beer Kits. The extracts are better as well as the yeast since Cooper Brewing took them over. I use the Little brown Kegs to ferment small batches of All Grain BIAB, Partial Mashes and Extracts. Check out Mr. Beer Fans or the Mr. Beer Community if your not feeling the love here. Brewing with Extract kits whether it's Mr. Beer or BrewDemon is still home brewing. They've just made the process easier, that's all.

Likewise, 2 years into brewing and I'm still using the lbk's for fermenting due to space and 2.5 gallon batches are more forgiving with experimentation. Less beer to drink if you mess up.

 

[lazarwolf]

Ive been all grain and partial mash brewing for 25+ years. I just bought 3 more Mr. Beer Fermenters. I love them for 2 gallon batches. I havent had great experience with their ingredients, but the equipment is great.

 

[skitter]

I have been using the LBK for a year or more for all grain batches. I have a fermentation chamber built for 2 of them and as im still experimenting 2.5g batch is less wasted than a 5g

 

[rich5665]

Skitter do you have plans for your fermentation chamber? I want to build one for my LBKs, I've been using coolers as chambers since I started.

 

[skitter]

I could probably come up with some rough plans. It may be in my sig

 

[skitter]

Ok so I only have the pics in my sig and I do not have a measuring tape handy. I think I measured it out to be 1ft of clearance between each shelf, NOT including the 2x2's - 1ft of CLEARENCE I think I also did 18" wide of clearance on each chamber. Those planks are 1x4's. I made the ice chamber 6" clearance off the back and just used a 1x6 (with added insulation on one edge due to planks being 1/2" planed) cut just short to leave 1 inch of space at the bottom. All the insulation is the 1/2" Blue Polystyrene. If you cut it right, you end up with enough in one 4'x8' sheet to make dual layers on all sides, plus between the ice chamber and the fermenter chamber. That includes the bottom, I did it under the bottom shelf under the planks as well.

The Thermometer is a cheap $6 Ebay controller. It sucks slightly as it's in C, however that being said it kicks the temperature down 2 degrees C below what you set it when it trips, so plan accordingly. I remedied this huge temperature swing by using a small water bottle on the side with the lead taped to it so that the water bottle fluctuated quickly, leaving the kegs at a steadier temperature.

One fan runs constantly between the two fermentation chambers to keep the temps the same between them. One leading from the ice chamber is triggered off the temp probe.

Outside walls are just the thin as sin project board that I painted on the inside to prevent warping from moisture.

I would highly suggest adding some sort of water drain to the inside of the ice chamber for condensation. I have a washcloth soaking up all the water now until I get to redesign it. I have to swap it out every couple days.

I'll try to come up with a more detailed build pattern here sometime.

 

[jgbrown83]

every Mr Beer kit I have done tasted like cider except the one I replaced the yeast with safale 05

 

[Kirkwooder]

every Mr Beer kit I have done tasted like cider except the one I replaced the yeast with safale 05

I'm not at all fond of the Mr. Beer yeast and would recommend replacing it with 05 every time.

 

[bpgreen]

every Mr Beer kit I have done tasted like cider except the one I replaced the yeast with safale 05

Before Coopers bought them, using the supplied yeast meant seriously under pitching. I think the old yeast packets had something like 2 g. And since the kits often sat in less than ideal places, there's no way to know how much of that yeast was viable.

Even with those limitations, it was possible to get good results. You just had to let it ferment longer and also let it bottle condition longer. I used to use other yeast, but save the Mr Beer yeast. If I brewed a batch with the 2g packets, I'd use at least 3. That always worked well. I think the packets that ship now are 5g, which is much more reasonable, especially if you rehydrate (but if you rehydrate, make sure you do it correctly; doing it incorrectly can be worse than not rehydrating).

 

[brewshki]

Today is the one year anniversary of getting my mr beer kit as a birthday present. One year later, I received a cooler all grain system as a present. Just wanted to thank threads like this and to add another voice to how good mr beer is as en entry into the hobby.

 

[skitter]

Today is the one year anniversary of getting my mr beer kit as a birthday present. One year later, I received a cooler all grain system as a present. Just wanted to thank threads like this and to add another voice to how good mr beer is as en entry into the hobby.

My In-Laws still buy me the kits as gifts, I add stuff to em to make them more "beer-ish" however besides those kits I am still doing 2.5g AG batches in the LBK's. Not planning on upgrading anytime soon.

 

[NwMaltHead]

Just started my first batch in 4 years. Got a chocolate Porter ferming at about 65-67°f using Safale s-04. This temp seem ideal? Heard mixed things about said yeast.

 

[slym2none]

S-04 can be a beast, and you might get some overflow. If you can get the wort down to 62-63, it might be better.

Might being the operative word here.

 

[skitter]

Because I am too lazy to keep changing temperatures, as well as my fermentation chamber utilising two of the Mr Beer kegs, i usually ferment everything at 64-65 degrees. I use S04 and US05 pretty exclusively

 

[ericbw]

Just started my first batch in 4 years. Got a chocolate Porter ferming at about 65-67°f using Safale s-04. This temp seem ideal? Heard mixed things about said yeast.

I don't like the results if S-04 goes over about 70, but at lower temps, it comes out fine. But I don't really know what it adds. I only use it for one beer - a nut brown.

 

[NwMaltHead]

Will be bottling the Chocolate Porter in 7 days, SG staying steady at 1.006. Hydrometer sample tasting good, body is a little light, but good flavor.

 

[NwMaltHead]

I've got a Weissbier and something called California Dreamin lined up next while the Porter and Cider condition and carb.

 

[slym2none]

*edit*

Heh, mods are quick tonight!

 

[NwMaltHead]

Hey @slym2none cool to see you on here as well as the Mr Beer community.

 

[skitter]

NWMaltHead, what did you use as ingredients for your Cider? I made a cheapo with Musslemans Cider, sugar, Apple Juice Concentrate. Came out way to dry. Was thinking about adding some LME or DME to keep some of the sweetness

 

[slym2none]

Hey @slym2none cool to see you on here as well as the Mr Beer community.

There's a few of us here from the MrB site, although (if I may be so bold) I am probably the most prolific of those that post here.

 

[NwMaltHead]

Cool, I enjoy blogging about brews. Great way to learn.

 

[ericbw]

There's a few of us here from the MrB site, although (if I may be so bold) I am probably the most prolific of those that post here.

I always feel like there's not much activity over there.