Mr Beer - Read all about it and ask questions

[ericbw]

Nothing major. You may find the overall flavor of the beers with less yeast sediment to be cleaner and have a preference or you may not notice anything at all. I'd bet a BJCP judge would be able to tell the difference easily but they have trained palates looking for flaws. I used to cold crash and rack to secondary because of this in many of my beers. I would also sacrifice a fair amount of beer to stay away from the sediment. It's also harder to avoid bottle sediment in a 12oz bottle than in the mr beer 1L bottles. I just got a kegging system and am figure out the whole filtering thing right now. I'd say serve cold and pour all your beer servings at one time if you can.

You won't need to worry about filtering unless it's really a problem for you. Let it settle, cold crash if you want, then into the keg. The first few ounces will have sediment, but after that it is pretty clear.

 

[brockettbrews]

Which is better carb. Drops or corn sugar?????

 

[bpgreen]

Which is better carb. Drops or corn sugar?????

In my opinion, it doesn't make any difference. Drops, corn sugar, honey, table sugar, etc. All you're doing is providing sugar for the yeast to carbonate the beer. Use what works best for you.

 

[slym2none]

For priming, table sugar is best. It adds no flavour & is the cheapest.

 

[fedoradude]

Got a MBK for gift. Tried attaching the spigot per directions (hand tightened and not overtightened) but can't get it to stop drip leaking.

Emailed Mr. Beer but no response yet of course. So thought I'd ask here (and yes, I searched the thread for this subject). I don't see any cracking etc round the spigot hole, so how can you tell if you've overtightened it?

My first attempt it leaked so I dumped the water and tightened it as much as I could be hand. Still leaked and similarly to first leak.

Suggestions, anyone?

Thx

 

[bpgreen]

Got a MBK for gift. Tried attaching the spigot per directions (hand tightened and not overtightened) but can't get it to stop drip leaking.

Emailed Mr. Beer but no response yet of course. So thought I'd ask here (and yes, I searched the thread for this subject). I don't see any cracking etc round the spigot hole, so how can you tell if you've overtightened it?

My first attempt it leaked so I dumped the water and tightened it as much as I could be hand. Still leaked and similarly to first leak.

Suggestions, anyone?

Thx

Where is the leak? Is it leaking around the hole? If so, from the inside or the outside? Is it leaking from the spigot itself? Is it leaking from part of the spigot? How fast/slow is the leak?

 

[olephart]

Got a MBK for gift. Tried attaching the spigot per directions (hand tightened and not overtightened) but can't get it to stop drip leaking.

Emailed Mr. Beer but no response yet of course. So thought I'd ask here (and yes, I searched the thread for this subject). I don't see any cracking etc round the spigot hole, so how can you tell if you've overtightened it?

My first attempt it leaked so I dumped the water and tightened it as much as I could be hand. Still leaked and similarly to first leak.

Suggestions, anyone?

Thx

I had to trim the spigot hole at a 45°ish angle to match the angle of the gasket, (just the high side, my seams don't line up). I think I used a sharp utility knife and/or sandpaper. I don't think I trimmed the inside of the LBK, just the outside. Be careful and have fun.

 

[Oginme]

Take the MBK and hold it up so that the light is shining through the top hole. Now rotate it so that you can inspect the walls, floor and top of the keg with the light shining through it. Make sure there are no very light spots or dark, usually round, bits of the plastic which are obvious.

I received a keg a year ago which was so poorly cast that there were many such light spots, so thin that water was seeping out at a steady rate. I took pictures showing the spots and e-mailed them to the Coopers people and they replaced the keg right away.

 

[fedoradude]

Where is the leak? Is it leaking around the hole? If so, from the inside or the outside? Is it leaking from the spigot itself? Is it leaking from part of the spigot? How fast/slow is the leak?

It's a drip leak running down from behind the spigot and dripping periodically but noticeably (real specific, huh?) onto a dry napkin. No matter the tightening didn't seem to change the leak rate really. (Again, started hand tightening and then after first test tightened some more).

 

[olephart]

Is the surface of the spigot hole flat, or is one half higher than the other?

 

[olephart]

Is the surface of the spigot hole flat, or is one half higher than the other?

Like this...

 

[bpgreen]

It's a drip leak running down from behind the spigot and dripping periodically but noticeably (real specific, huh?) onto a dry napkin. No matter the tightening didn't seem to change the leak rate really. (Again, started hand tightening and then after first test tightened some more).

Don't over tighten. That can break the spigot. If it's a slow leak, it will probably stop. For your next brew, try to figure out why it's leaking. But for this one, let it ride and just do something to deal with the leaking liquid.

 

[fedoradude]

Is the surface of the spigot hole flat, or is one half higher than the other?

Looks flush top to bottom to me.

 

[olephart]

Looks flush top to bottom to me.

It wasn't, I had to do some trimming with a knife to match the angle of the rubber washer. I made two batches so far after It was trimmed and it didn't leak either time.

Mine was a Christmas gift. It shipped without the spigot. :banghead: I emailed MrBeer and they sent a replacement. I tried it out and found the leak... I didn't want to wait anymore so I trimmed the high spots around the hole to match the gasket angle.

 

[fedoradude]

It wasn't, I had to do some trimming with a knife to match the angle of the rubber washer. I made two batches so far after It was trimmed and it didn't leak either time.

Mine was a Christmas gift. It shipped without the spigot. :banghead: I emailed MrBeer and they sent a replacement. I tried it out and found the leak... I didn't want to wait anymore so I trimmed the high spots around the hole to match the gasket angle.

Ah. My mistake. I was referring to my spigot (installed) looked flush top to bottom.

Having seen your pics of the spigot hole, I'll have to check mine out for that mismatch. If mine's the same as yours, That'd explain the problem right there.

 

[fedoradude]

Like this...

Mine is exactly like you described yours to have been. Guess I'll have to get out my knife and carefully trim and retest.

Thanks for the tip. You'd think Mr. Beer's Quality Control would be better than that.

 

[olephart]

Yep, trim the high spots a little to match the angle of the rubber washer and give it a try for leaks.

 

[fedoradude]

Mr. Beer looked at my pics and have already sent a replacement keg. Hopefully no ridge in its spigot hole and I'll be on my way to brewin' my first batch!

 

[olephart]

Yes, Mr Beer was good about sending me a spigot to replace the missing one in my brand new kit ... Did you send them the pic's or did they see them here in the forum?

 

[fedoradude]

They may have seen them here, but I also emailed them the pics over the weekend.nestar:

 

[fedoradude]

OK. I've got my new LBK "keg" and ready to give it a whirl. One question from their video; it looks like they have 3 commercial gallon jugs of what looks to be distilled water? What's wrong with ordinary tap water? Do you need distilled water?

 

[jcaggiano]

You can use plain ol' tap water. Just need to find out if it is chlorinated or not or if the plant uses chloramines. Get yourself some Campden tablets if you aren't sure and boil the water first with half a tab added while it is boiling.

 

[fedoradude]

Well, crud! I've went through 2 Mr Beer LBK "kegs" and even reversing the washer on the spigot and cant' get either one to pass the leak test. So, guess I won't be brewin' any beer with a Mr. Beer kit. Grrr!

 

[olephart]

I am wanting to brew Briess Turtle on a Log; http://www.brewingwithbriess.com/Recipes/beer/display/turtle-on-a-log

(2.5 gal instead of 5 gal.)

But I'm not sure how long to ferment it for. The recipe uses Wyeast 1056 Ale Yeast, (Temperature Range 60-72 F. My local home brew only had Fermentis Safale US-05 (Temperature Range 53.6-77F [ideally 59.7-71.6 F]) . The Briess recipe says to “cool to 55-60 F and transfer to primary fermenter”, “top off with cold water, Oxygenate and pitch yeast” and basically stops there…
It's a dark ale, I think I'm going to ferment at about 60 F, the Yeast producer (Fermentis) recommends 59.7-71.6 F.

Any thoughts on how long to ferment?
Secondary fermentation, if so how long?

I tried emailing Briess about a couple of their recipes but only got a reply on one, after a couple of weeks.

 

[Oginme]

I would start at 62F to 64F and hold it there for a couple of days. Let it rise up to around 68F over about 4 to 5 days and hold for another 2 to 3 days. After that you can cold crash by slowly lowering the temperature to around 40F. I wouldn't bother with secondary -- it just offers another opportunity for infection and undesired oxidation exposure.

WY1056 typically finishes pretty fast from my experience. I usually ferment for around 10 to 12 days before the cold crash.

 

[olephart]

I would start at 62F to 64F and hold it there for a couple of days. Let it rise up to around 68F over about 4 to 5 days and hold for another 2 to 3 days. After that you can cold crash by slowly lowering the temperature to around 40F. I wouldn't bother with secondary -- it just offers another opportunity for infection and undesired oxidation exposure.

WY1056 typically finishes pretty fast from my experience. I usually ferment for around 10 to 12 days before the cold crash.

Thanks for the quick reply!

Days 1-3 @ 63°F,
4-8 @ 64°F - 68°F (5 = 65°F, 6 = 66°F, etc.)
9-11 @ 68°F
12 @ 40°F (cold Crash) :beard:

Sounds like a (Brewing) Plan.:rockin:

More time configuring (playing) with this new willhi temp controller.

 

[fedoradude]

I was sitting at my desk this morning thinking about this leakage problem round the spigot hole.... Then it struck me! What'd I have to lose gently taking some fine grit sandpaper to the overhang/lip along the mold seam that was causing the problem?

SO, tonight after work I gently sanded the spigot whole area flush and - I'm proud to say - I AM IN BUSINESS! The LBK passed the leak test and I got the first batch brewing!

Have it set inside an old Coleman cooler so it's dark and undisturbed for 2-3 weeks per the directions!

 

[olephart]

So Saturday I bottled my "Briess "3 Muskets Ale" with 5.5 oz of Briess Sparkling Amber DME, boiled in 2 cups of water for ten minutes, (2.5 gal batch). Today, Monday the plastic bottles I used are getting hard already. When I used those MrBeer carb drops it took a couple of weeks and they didn't have much carbonation. I'm not to worried about the glass grolsch bottles I used, I think the rubber washers would release pressure before they explode. But should I pasteurize them after about a week to stop the yeast, or let them go for the three weeks I was planning on?
Thanks.

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

I would just leave them go. Chances are the yeast ate all the sugars in the first few days the rest of the time will be waiting for the co2 to be absorbed into the liquid as the headspace and liquid reach pressure equilibrium.

 

[fedoradude]

Since I seem to be up and brewing with my LBK now. Anyone have any Mr Beer refill suggestions for my next batch?