Mr Beer - Read all about it and ask questions

[Kirkwooder]

If this is your first brew ever it is likely that you don't have a hydrometer and one really isn't all that necessary. If the beer has stopped "working" and the foam on top has fallen back into the beer, it should clear up and the yeast and trube should be settle to the bottom of the little brown keg. If this has all happened, give it a week or so and bottle it up. Then give it another couple of weeks to carb. up. Then drink it!

 

[brewski09]

2-4 weeks depending on your patience. Many beers will do better if you can wait a little longer. It would help to know what kit it is and what temp you are sitting at.

 

[standard_lengthy]

I plan on using it as a tester for some cider batches. I've heard hopped cider can be good and while I don't want to try it on a whole 5 gallons, a smaller batch would be a good tester

 

[WhoDatDad78]

I picked up a mr. Beer kit off of amazon with a gift card from work. Started off with the extract kit that came inside the lbk. This is a coors light knockoff I'm assuming from the color of the beer and the mountains on the extract label. I read that the beer is supposed to come out below 4%ABV, so I improvised with 3/4 a cup of honey in the boil to give an extra 1%.
Now I did try a Mr Beer many years ago and it was an epic failure due to my excitement, I cut corners and had an infected brew.
This time I took my time and made sure to take sterilization to extremes.
A week and a half ago (1/2/16) I put the keg inside a spare cooler I had laying around after filling it with cooled wort and yeast and began the wait. The next morning to my excitement, the yeast had taken control and was actually foaming out of the lbk, awesome!
Everything has since started to calm down. Today I open the cooler and am hit with the most horrid smell of soured gym socks and sharp cheddar. Now, keep in mind the blowout is still in the cooler bottom as I didn't want to disturb the trub at the bottom of the cooler. Should I be concerned? Up until this AM, I was preparing to bottle on 1/16.

 

[bpgreen]

I picked up a mr. Beer kit off of amazon with a gift card from work. Started off with the extract kit that came inside the lbk. This is a coors light knockoff I'm assuming from the color of the beer and the mountains on the extract label. I read that the beer is supposed to come out below 4%ABV, so I improvised with 3/4 a cup of honey in the boil to give an extra 1%.
Now I did try a Mr Beer many years ago and it was an epic failure due to my excitement, I cut corners and had an infected brew.
This time I took my time and made sure to take sterilization to extremes.
A week and a half ago (1/2/16) I put the keg inside a spare cooler I had laying around after filling it with cooled wort and yeast and began the wait. The next morning to my excitement, the yeast had taken control and was actually foaming out of the lbk, awesome!
Everything has since started to calm down. Today I open the cooler and am hit with the most horrid smell of soured gym socks and sharp cheddar. Now, keep in mind the blowout is still in the cooler bottom as I didn't want to disturb the trub at the bottom of the cooler. Should I be concerned? Up until this AM, I was preparing to bottle on 1/16.

I don't think I've ever heard of a fermentation smell described as gym socks and sharp cheddar before.

To me, it often smells a lot like bread from the yeast.

I noticed that you said that you opened the cooler and got the smell. If the cooler was sealed, there could have been a buildup of CO2. That would probably have a somewhat acrid smell to it. I don't think it would remind me of gym socks or cheddar, but it would certainly not smell pleasant. It's also possible that the stuff that overflowed and collected on the bottom has been spoiling due to interactions with less pleasant microbes than the yeast you want to change the wort into beer. That could produce some unpleasant smells.

Also, since you had it tucked into the cooler and unattended, it may have fermented fairly warm since fermentation is exothermic. You generally don't want it to ferment at a temperature that is too high.

If I were you, I'd let it go until the 16th, then pour a sample into a shot glass and give it a taste. If it tastes more or less like flat beer (or maybe flat beer with a slight cider twang), I'd go ahead and bottle it. Actually, I'd probably bottle it anyway. A lot of tastes mellow out with some time in the bottle (although if you got fusels, I don't think those go away).

 

[slym2none]

I would definitely have cleaned up the cooler & wiped down the LBK. That's probably what you smell.

At least I hope so...

 

[WhoDatDad78]

I don't think I've ever heard of a fermentation smell described as gym socks and sharp cheddar before.

To me, it often smells a lot like bread from the yeast.

I noticed that you said that you opened the cooler and got the smell. If the cooler was sealed, there could have been a buildup of CO2. That would probably have a somewhat acrid smell to it. I don't think it would remind me of gym socks or cheddar, but it would certainly not smell pleasant. It's also possible that the stuff that overflowed and collected on the bottom has been spoiling due to interactions with less pleasant microbes than the yeast you want to change the wort into beer. That could produce some unpleasant smells.

Also, since you had it tucked into the cooler and unattended, it may have fermented fairly warm since fermentation is exothermic. You generally don't want it to ferment at a temperature that is too high.

If I were you, I'd let it go until the 16th, then pour a sample into a shot glass and give it a taste. If it tastes more or less like flat beer (or maybe flat beer with a slight cider twang), I'd go ahead and bottle it. Actually, I'd probably bottle it anyway. A lot of tastes mellow out with some time in the bottle (although if you got fusels, I don't think those go away).

I took a sample today when I got home. It does taste like beer with a very slight cider twang. It was very dark wort and now kind of looks like a lighter wheat beer. The funky smell is indeed just the overflow in the bottom of the cooler I believe, as the sample did not have a funky smell to it. Thanks for the reply.

 

[bpgreen]

I took a sample today when I got home. It does taste like beer with a very slight cider twang. It was very dark wort and now kind of looks like a lighter wheat beer. The funky smell is indeed just the overflow in the bottom of the cooler I believe, as the sample did not have a funky smell to it. Thanks for the reply.

I'm glad it's working out.

FWIW, time heals most wounds. There are a few exceptions (fusel alcohol production is one, "bad" hops is another), but in most cases, if you let a batch condition long enough, it will improve.

 

[WhoDatDad78]

Don't screw the lid on tight!

What is the lbk sitting in? I put mine in a cooler, but after some thought it may get too hot in there. Was trying to see what kind of temp control I could implement.

 

[brewski09]

It doesn't matter how tight the lid is, it's designed to vent through the lid. It was either too full or too hot. Or both.

 

[slym2none]

What is the lbk sitting in? I put mine in a cooler, but after some thought it may get too hot in there. Was trying to see what kind of temp control I could implement.

I use a cooler and have frozen bottles of water I switch out to keep temps were I want them.

 

[brewski09]

The plastic ice packs also work reasonably well

 

[bpgreen]

I use a cooler and have frozen bottles of water I switch out to keep temps were I want them.

Another option is a swamp cooler. I put the LBK in a cheap aluminum roaster, add a little water and drape a towel over the LBK, with the ends in the water.

The advantage of the swamp cooler is that it's sort of a set it and forget it system, so it works even if you leave town.

The disadvantages are that it won't work in high humidity (works great in the desert). And you can't really control the temperature; it's just going to be whatever temperature it cools to.

 

[skitter]

I use a home made fermentation chamber (check my sig) for 2 LBK's at a time

 

[WhoDatDad78]

So my "Classic American Light" with 3/4 cup of honey has been bottled and with any luck will be carbonated and conditioned in 3 wks. So I was at Target yesterday and saw mr. beer kits on sale for $19.99, so I figured, why not have another lbk? Anyway, after sanitizing the keg and brewing g the wort, I have the American Porter loaded and ready to ferment with the swamp cooler to maintain temp. This morning I went to peek and see if it had taken off like the previous brew. It was cold (likely 40°ish) and I saw no big signs of fermentation. I was thinking of putting a space heater in the room at 60° for the rest of the day. Thoughts?

 

[douglasbarbin]

40 degrees is definitely too cold for an ale yeast.

 

[brewski09]

Take off the swamp cooler and see what that does. You probably have to warm it up too because 40f is way too cold for the yeast (even true lager yeast should t be doing anything at that temp). It sounds like you may not need temp control this time of year and may even be lucky enough to be able to do lagers if you were so inclined. The space heater might not be a bad idea but check on the beer ever hour or so to make sure you don't overheat it.

Enjoy your new LBK

 

[WhoDatDad78]

Has anyone ever used the blue plastic carbuoys as a primary? It isn't the PET bottle type, but I actually have several of the #7 bottles at work that have been there for 6 months or so.

 

[bpgreen]

Has anyone ever used the blue plastic carbuoys as a primary? It isn't the PET bottle type, but I actually have several of the #7 bottles at work that have been there for 6 months or so.

Are you talking about the bottles that are made for water? If so, I wouldn't advise it. I knew somebody who tried it and had good results on a couple of batches, then had one basically burst open and he lost a full batch. Those aren't made to hold anything but water.

 

[WhoDatDad78]

Are you talking about the bottles that are made for water? If so, I wouldn't advise it. I knew somebody who tried it and had good results on a couple of batches, then had one basically burst open and he lost a full batch. Those aren't made to hold anything but water.

I don't THINK bursting would be a problem with the cap and airlock b/c these things have thicker plastic than Mr. Beer does. However I could be wrong. Has anyone had any experience with these exploding or lending a funky taste? I may just wait and go for a 5 gal plastic bucket setup....

 

[sigeprudy1901]

The issue with using a plastic fermenter that has a grade higher than 2 is with leaching chemicals and oxidation.

 

[bpgreen]

I don't THINK bursting would be a problem with the cap and airlock b/c these things have thicker plastic than Mr. Beer does. However I could be wrong.

It's not the pressure that's a problem. And it's not the thickness of the plastic that's a problem. Those things are made of the wrong kind of plastic. They're made to hold water. They're not made to hold beer.

Plastic fermenters are pretty much exclusively made of PET or HDPE.

 

[WhoDatDad78]

Are you talking about the bottles that are made for water? If so, I wouldn't advise it. I knew somebody who tried it and had good results on a couple of batches, then had one basically burst open and he lost a full batch. Those aren't made to hold anything but water.

I don't THINK bursting would be a problem with the cap and airlock b/c these things have thicker plastic than Mr. Beer does. However I could be wrong. Has anyone had any experience with these exploding or lending a funky taste? I may just wait and go for a 5 gal plastic bucket setup....

Cool, that is more what I was worried about. Confirmed what I was thinking. Thanks.

 

[douglasbarbin]

I don't THINK bursting would be a problem with the cap and airlock b/c these things have thicker plastic than Mr. Beer does. However I could be wrong. Has anyone had any experience with these exploding or lending a funky taste? I may just wait and go for a 5 gal plastic bucket setup....

Cool, that is more what I was worried about. Confirmed what I was thinking. Thanks.

What most likely happened is that someone used this for beer, and over time, the acidity of the beer ate through the plastic, since it was only designed to hold water (and not anything acidic).

You don't want to find this out the hard way. Just shell out the $10-20 or whatever for a fermenting bucket or carboy and be done with it. No sense in losing an entire batch of beer and getting it all over your floor because you were trying to save ten bucks...

 

[brewski09]

FYI, you can get 5gal hdpe2 food grade buckets for $2-3 if you look for emergency food storage containers. Winco here on the west coast has them. With a lid (you just have to drill a hole for the airlock & grommet) it was <$5. Or spring for the real lid for about $5 at the lhbs. FYI, don't ferment a 5gal batch in a 5gal bucket.

 

[bpgreen]

FYI, you can get 5gal hdpe2 food grade buckets for $2-3 if you look for emergency food storage containers. Winco here on the west coast has them. With a lid (you just have to drill a hole for the airlock & grommet) it was <$5. Or spring for the real lid for about $5 at the lhbs. FYI, don't ferment a 5gal batch in a 5gal bucket.

Walmart has 5 gallon food grade buckets with lids for a few bucks, as well. But I wouldn't try fermenting more than a 4 gallon batch in a 5 gallon bucket.

The Costco near me sells bulk wheat in buckets that are a perfect size for a fermenter for a 5 gallon batch. But the source is local, so YMMV.

 

[Kirkwooder]

The Costco near me sells bulk wheat in buckets that are a perfect size for a fermenter for a 5 gallon batch. But the source is local, so YMMV.

What kind of wheat? Malted, puffed, or for grinding into flour?

 

[bpgreen]

What kind of wheat? Malted, puffed, or for grinding into flour?

Just plain white wheat. Whole kernels, suitable for grinding into flour or crushing and adding in small amounts to a brew.

 

[pstant]

Like most on here I to had an interest in brewing beer. Never made the plunge until the girlfriend bought me a Mr Beer kit. Let me just say this little thing is quite nifty. Made my first brew of classic American light. Turned out quite well. I like most have learned time is of the essence. Let it sit for two weeks in the fermenter and three weeks of bottle conditioning. Now I have a pilsner brewing that I steeped some honey malt into it. Once that's out I've decided to do an apfelwein.

 

[slym2none]

Tip for cider or apfelwein - don't leave it in the LBK longer than a few weeks past fermentation's end. You do need to secondary this, even if it's just some glass apple juice or wine jugs. The LBK is not conducive to keeping a clean environment after a longer period of time - I got an infection in mine the one time I tried to make it.