Mr Beer - Read all about it and ask questions

[HatchetJack]

MB sells ready made cans and it is simple so you pay for that convenience.
You can make really good beer using the MB fermenters. Just think of it as
half a normal batch. The process and complexity is the same.
I dont think the Coopers is lacking, I have made some pretty good beers
using their products by adding dried malt extract ect.. and find that it's
much better than BMC and can compare well to craft brews sold in stores by
steeping grains and dry hopping. Of course it's not as tasty as all grain but gosh you
have to start somewhere to get the process down.

 

[BrookdaleBrew]

I had a Mr. Beer Oktoberfest kit that had been sitting in my closet for the past 2 years along with my Mr. Beer fermenter. Today I decided 'what the heck' and boiled it up. I threw the booster pack in the garbage and substituted light DME. I also threw in a pinch of columbus hops I had sitting around for the last 10 minutes of the boil.

Will it turn out tasting like crap? Probably, but hey, at least it's not sitting around my closet collecting dust.

 

[bovineblitz]

I had a Mr. Beer Oktoberfest kit that had been sitting in my closet for the past 2 years along with my Mr. Beer fermenter. Today I decided 'what the heck' and boiled it up. I threw the booster pack in the garbage and substituted light DME. I also threw in a pinch of columbus hops I had sitting around for the last 10 minutes of the boil.

Will it turn out tasting like crap? Probably, but hey, at least it's not sitting around my closet collecting dust.

I did that too with 2 year old MB extract. It tasted HORRIBLE. I dumped it all.

I suggest you taste before you bottle and save yourself the trouble of bottling if it's disgusting.

 

[beerocd]

If you used something better than the mr beer yeast packet, you may be ok.

 

[bovineblitz]

If you used something better than the mr beer yeast packet, you may be ok.

In my case I pitched a smack pack, was still disgusting.

 

[beerocd]

Can't find the article right now. Think it was in Zymurgy where a dude brewed up some 10 year old extract and made decent beer. Pretty sure the key was the yeast. Maybe some yeast nutrient. Old extract is low in FAN.

 

[lumpher]

If you used something better than the mr beer yeast packet, you may be ok.

hehe.. munton's all the way

 

[ScrewyBrewer]

I've been brewing with the Mr. Beer system and supplies for about 6 months now. I have brewed 21 recipes since then and produced some really good tasting beer.

A friend of mine has a complete 15 gallon propane brewing setup that can crank out 10 gallon batches on a Saturday. I have 6 2 gallon fermenters that I use to crank out 12 gallons of beer on a Saturday producing 6 different recipes.

It's clear to me that the convenience of brewing with the Mr. Beer rig far outweighs any taste benefits that might be gained from using the more traditional propane powered method.

I'll leave it to the individual brewers out there to decide which brewing method works best for their particular lifestyle and free time commitment to the hobby.

The Screwy Brewer

 

[Justibone]

I've been brewing with the Mr. Beer system and supplies for about 6 months now. I have brewed 21 recipes since then and produced some really good tasting beer.

A friend of mine has a complete 15 gallon propane brewing setup that can crank out 10 gallon batches on a Saturday. I have 6 2 gallon fermenters that I use to crank out 12 gallons of beer on a Saturday producing 6 different recipes.

It's clear to me that the convenience of brewing with the Mr. Beer rig far outweighs any taste benefits that might be gained from using the more traditional propane powered method.

I'll leave it to the individual brewers out there to decide which brewing method works best for their particular lifestyle and free time commitment to the hobby.

The Screwy Brewer

I've heard similar before. I also prefer smaller batches.

 

[Chris6]

The fermentors work fine(Minus Spigot) just use different ingredients than Mr Beer's.

Also a quick question, I need to upgrade my pot, its not big enough,however I don't want to spend the money just yet on a nice one. Would I be able to use a lobster stock pot(19QT) for the time being?

 

[lumpher]

The fermentors work fine(Minus Spigot) just use different ingredients than Mr Beer's.

Also a quick question, I need to upgrade my pot, its not big enough,however I don't want to spend the money just yet on a nice one. Would I be able to use a lobster stock pot(19QT) for the time being?

i went to academy and got 1 of their 28 qt pots for 19.99. has worked great for years. been using it for mash water regurlarly

 

[Chris6]

looks good, what metal is used alluminum?

 

[AlbuquerqueJoe]

My first batch of partial mash beer was a brown ale. I made it after just two batches with the Mr. Beer kit. It was a stuck fermentation. I read a lot of posts that said the Mr. Beer yeasts is no good, and that repitching a dry yeast on a stuck ferm wouldnt work, but I put on pack of Mr. Beer yeast into 5 gallons of Brown Ale and the next day the bubbles were coming through the airlock and the krausen was starting to reform. Yay Mr. Beer yeast!!

 

[Justibone]

Sometimes the Mr. Beer yeast are bad because you don't know how long that kit has been sitting somewhere, and at what temperature. Mr Beer yeast that haven't been cooked in a Texas storeroom or sitting like the Lost Ark of the Covenant in some massive warehouse somewhere are probably good to go.

 

[petey_c]

Got back into HB'ing again. Tried two batches about 10 years ago with a kit I got from a place called EC Kraus. First batch was ok, but I drank it too early. Second batch ruined (not enough sanitation). I gave up for awhile. Got Mr. Beer for Christmas. I brewed my first batch last month (Canadian Draft). I bottled about 6 days ago (3 weeks in the keg at 80 degrees (I'll be installing an A/C to keep the basement cooler. My 18 y.o. son has a room down there, so that's my reason to SWMBO for the A/C.)), though it feels like it's been longer. The bottles are nice and firm and have cleared up nicely. Went to two LHBSs; 1 for bottles, caps and sanitizer and the other for Nottingham yeast and John Bull dark. (It wasn't 'til after I got home to find out that JB has been discontinued.) Brewed the JB yesterday. What a difference! After 18 hours of fermenting at 77 degrees, there's lots of foam. Also have a Cooper's 5 gal. kit that I'll start next week. I'm slowly plodding through the Mr. B thread (page 62 out of 180+) and learning some. I also read on another website that someone uses a single beer bottle, poured from keg before putting the top on, as a hydro test bed. Put a paper towel in the opening and test your beer from there. Patience is a virtue and I'm having a hard time being virtuous.

 

[Justibone]

If the beer bottle is tall enough, yes, you can use it for hydro testing.

Patience is a virtue, but when you've got a pipeline going it will get easier.

Glad you came back to the hobby -- you might be stuck this time!

 

[merddyn2002]

I'm now a partial extract 5 gallon brewer, but i started out (in beer) with mr. beer. It actually made surprisingly good beer. I still use my Mr Beer tank to test small recipes.

GREAT way to get into the hobby.

 

[AlbuquerqueJoe]

so my krausen is completely brown, no white in it at all. I am brewing a brown ale with amber malt extract, roasted barley, and light brown sugar. I had a stuck ferm because I racked it to the secondary too soon. I added some yeast in the secondary when all activity stopped. The SG was 1.031. The original yeast was Wyeast slap pack and then i added some Mr. Beer yeast to take care of the stuck ferm. It formed Krausen overnight. The krausen is big and I have plenty of activity in the airlock again, but it is completely brown. No funny smell. What do you think?

 

[lumpher]

so my krausen is completely brown, no white in it at all. I am brewing a brown ale with amber malt extract, roasted barley, and light brown sugar. I had a stuck ferm because I racked it to the secondary too soon. I added some yeast in the secondary when all activity stopped. The SG was 1.031. The original yeast was Wyeast slap pack and then i added some Mr. Beer yeast to take care of the stuck ferm. It formed Krausen overnight. The krausen is big and I have plenty of activity in the airlock again, but it is completely brown. No funny smell. What do you think?

should be fine. don't pay attention to the color of the krausen. the darker the beer, the darker it will be. i would expect a brown color with that ale. i've brewed dark beers that had black krausen

 

[FromZwolle]

I've had just about every color of krausen, with absolutely no affect on the beer: white, yellow, orange, brown, purple, green, pink. all of tasted great in the bottle.

 

[AlbuquerqueJoe]

Alright! Thanks!

 

[Tallmanbrewer]

Yeah, it's funny...as long as the yeast works the end result is always...BEER!!!

 

[Tallmanbrewer]

I've brewed around 20 or so batches with Mr. Beer...never had one that was undrinkable nor have I had one that the yeast were dead. I liked some more than others but I think that is normal. I just started drinking the Belgium Trippel (their spelling) that I made and added two booster packs to it and it REALLY packs a punch! I put them in 500ml bottles too! Should have used 12 oz bottles...I think it's really good though! Just can't drink more than two of them!

 

[Justibone]

I *have* had a bad batch with Mr. Beer, and it put me off brewing for ten years... so the most important thing is not to give up.

 

[Tallmanbrewer]

Agree wholeheartedly! The same goes for all levels of brewing...just because you get one bad batch doesn't mean the next one will be bad too. I just brewed started drinking my first 5 gal batch with my upgraded equipment...watermelon wheat with honey and maple syrup...light refreshing with a hint of watermelon. Great drink when I come in from cutting grass!

 

[AlbuquerqueJoe]

Whats the ABV on that? I guess that the watermelon doesnt have too many fermentable sugars (may be wrong), but the honey and maple could really cause it to pack a punch, huh?

 

[Ampsonic]

Hello All!

Getting ready to bottle my first Mr. Beer Batch. (Bewitched Red Ale with 1lb of DME instead of booster). I bought some corn sugar to use instead of table sugar. How much should I use? I was going to gently stir it into the barrel and then bottle. If i do this, how long should I let it settle after stirring before bottling?

Thanks!!

 

[Tallmanbrewer]

Hello All!

Getting ready to bottle my first Mr. Beer Batch. (Bewitched Red Ale with 1lb of DME instead of booster). I bought some corn sugar to use instead of table sugar. How much should I use? I was going to gently stir it into the barrel and then bottle. If i do this, how long should I let it settle after stirring before bottling?

Thanks!!

It will be a bit more troublesome to do it that way...the MR. Beer kit is designed to add the sugar to the bottles and transfer the beer from the fermentor to the bottles without stirring up the trub on the bottom.

You could transfer the contents to a secondary container (sanitized of course), clean your fermentor out, sanitize it, add the sugar to the fermentor, then transfer the beer back into the fermentor and stir. I'm assuming you don't have a seperate bottling bucket (yet)!

That's the downside (and plus side) of Mr. Beer...it is a fermentor and bottling bucket in one.

It's a standard 2 gallon batch, right?

 

[Tallmanbrewer]

Whats the ABV on that? I guess that the watermelon doesnt have too many fermentable sugars (may be wrong), but the honey and maple could really cause it to pack a punch, huh?

It was almost 7% according to the hydro...not too bad. It all depends on how much honey and maple syrup you add. You're right, the watermelon didn't seem to add much to it (other than flavor) but the honey and maple syrup did! It is really easy to drink (a little too easy) It's gone before you know it. Great summertime beer. I may brew it again with blueberries/blackberries instead of watermelon. Who knows?!!

 

[Ampsonic]

It will be a bit more troublesome to do it that way...the MR. Beer kit is designed to add the sugar to the bottles and transfer the beer from the fermentor to the bottles without stirring up the trub on the bottom.

You could transfer the contents to a secondary container (sanitized of course), clean your fermentor out, sanitize it, add the sugar to the fermentor, then transfer the beer back into the fermentor and stir. I'm assuming you don't have a seperate bottling bucket (yet)!

That's the downside (and plus side) of Mr. Beer...it is a fermentor and bottling bucket in one.

It's a standard 2 gallon batch, right?

Yep, 2 gallon batch. I can add it directly to the bottles if that is best. I have 2 gallons going into 8 bottles 1 liter bottles. Can anyone help with a Tbls or tbls amount for each bottle?

 

[Justibone]

A few sites to help:

http://kotmf.com/tools/prime.php
http://www.franklinbrew.org/tools/carb.html
http://www.collectionsoft.com/mybrewcollection/bp0.html

Any of those do it for ya?

 

[Ampsonic]

A few sites to help:

http://kotmf.com/tools/prime.php
http://www.franklinbrew.org/tools/carb.html
http://www.collectionsoft.com/mybrewcollection/bp0.html

Any of those do it for ya?

Perfect!

At a CO2 volume of 2.5 (75 degrees), it says 1.8oz of corn sugar

1.8oz = 10.8 teaspoons = 1.35 teaspoons per bottle.

Thanks!

 

[Tallmanbrewer]

Perfect!

At a CO2 volume of 2.5 (75 degrees), it says 1.8oz of corn sugar

1.8oz = 10.8 teaspoons = 1.35 teaspoons per bottle.

Thanks!

Sounds about right...you'll be able to tell for your next batch if you prefer your beer more or less carbonated and can adjust this measurement accordingly. If you only have 8 bottles to bottle, I would definitely add to the bottles! Those things will get rock hard in a few days. Resist the urge to open them for at least 2 weeks...more if possible but who are we kidding? Your fist batch...you'll be lucky to make it a week! But, after you taste it, keep in mind it gets better with age. Let it sit another week then try it again and you'll be amazed at how much better it tastes.

Tilt your bottles to the side a bit while you fill them so it doesn't splash too much. Adding a bunch of oxygen at this point by splashing it around will make off flavors and make the beer not last as long in the bottle. (Mine doesn't last long enough to tell a difference) :rockin:

You'll have to turn your bottles upside down after you fill and cap them to gently dissolve the sugar at the bottom of the bottle. Don't shake it up, just roll it around a little to get it all dissolved.

Hope that helped! Enjoy your first step into obsession!!!

 

[Ampsonic]

Thanks! That's all great advice.

Resist the urge to open them for at least 2 weeks...more if possible but who are we kidding? Your fist batch...you'll be lucky to make it a week!

Fortunately, I'm about to be out of town for almost a week and a 1/2! Perfect time to bottle condition!

 

[Tallmanbrewer]

Thanks! That's all great advice.



Fortunately, I'm about to be out of town for almost a week and a 1/2! Perfect time to bottle condition!

Would also be a good time to get that 2nd batch mixed up and in the fermentor!

 

[AlbuquerqueJoe]

3/4 teaspoon per 16 oz bottle, so for a liter about 1 3/4 teaspoons, but you would still be pretty safe with just 2 teaspoons. Are they plastic bottles?

 

[Ringmaster]

umm.. how important is temperature control?

 

[AlbuquerqueJoe]

Extremely important. A fluctuation of 5 degrees (usually not unless its a rapid change), and 10 degrees will give you some off flavors. I ruined a batch of Mr. Beer when the temp jumped up 15 degrees. Tastes like solvent now!

 

[petey_c]

This stuff is like liquid crack.....
I now have 3 Mr. B kegs running. I came across a good deal on Craig' s list. 2 Mr.B kegs (keg-ettes?) 7 bags of one step, seven cans of beer mix (Canadian draft, WCPA, stout and some others), bottle caps and capper for $15.00. So I started 2 more brews. 1) WCPA with two cans and 1/2 Lb.of DME and 2) 2 cans of the Canadian draft with 1/2 Lb. DME. The cans (and probably the yeast) were a little out of date, so I figured what the hell. This is the time to experiment. The batch I made 2 days ago is foaming away. The other batch I just put in the basement about an hour ago. I tasted the WCPA this morning and it was great....

 

[Justibone]

Temperature matters more during fermentation, it's not that bad a thing during carbonation. If your beers aren't carbing up, usually it's because they are too cold, so keep that in mind... but fermentation temps are *critical*.