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Congrats! If you haven't already and can make some time, reading this entire thread will yield lots of information. On temp control, I am using a cooler filled with water about 1/2 to 3/4 up the side of the MB with an aquariam heater (adjustable) to maintain the water temp around 55 degrees F. This with the exthermoic action during fermentation keeps real close to where the temp should be for the particular yeast that I am using. I put two sanitized plastic baggies on the spigot secured with rubber bands to prevent water from possibliy getting by the spigot seal and into the fermentor. I also mix one step in the cooler water, but I don't think that it keeps the water sanitized for my usual 3 to 4 week fermenations. I ferment in my basement which this time of year is around 50 degress.

Cheers,
 
Thumper said:
Congrats! If you haven't already and can make some time, reading this entire thread will yield lots of information. On temp control, I am using a cooler filled with water about 1/2 to 3/4 up the side of the MB with an aquariam heater (adjustable) to maintain the water temp around 55 degrees F. This with the exthermoic action during fermentation keeps real close to where the temp should be for the particular yeast that I am using. I put two sanitized plastic baggies on the spigot secured with rubber bands to prevent water from possibliy getting by the spigot seal and into the fermentor. I also mix one step in the cooler water, but I don't think that it keeps the water sanitized for my usual 3 to 4 week fermenations. I ferment in my basement which this time of year is around 50 degress.

Cheers,
Click to expand...

Thumper - thanks so much for the tips. I forgot to add that when I pulled the cooler out of my tool shed, it was zero-degrees outside, so to warm it up, I tossed in a HotHands handwarmer packet. Before I bottled, the cooler temp came up to 60-degrees and after I put all my bottles inside, I tossed another one in. I put one in every couple of days and for some reason, between the furnace, hand warmers and luck, the temp has not dropped below 66.7....Go figure...
 
hi there , this time i have a question about corn sugar , MB calls for table sugar , but since my first batch didn't turn exelent i blame the sugar , lol , so i bougth corn sugar , yesterday i bottle my second batch and used the same amount of sugar 2 1/2 tsps of corn sugar , but i check the bottles today and they r already rock hard , i open the bottles just a little bit to let some of the preasure out , i don't want them to explode!!!! , i guess that i used too much sugar , is there any conversion table betewen table sugar and corn sugar ? opening the bottles a little bit to let de co2 escape is ok or wrong? again its been just one day since i bottle and i'm planing to let them there for about 2 to 3 weeks!
pogo wrote that he used 1/2 tsps for 12 oz bottle and since 1 litter is equal to 33.8 oz i should use 1 1/2 tsps of corn sugar , is this ok ?
really need help !!!! thanks again !.
 
Alright guys, here's my question for the collective wisdom here: I got a Mr. Beer for Christmas and immediately made the WCPA according to the Mr. Beer directions (using the Booster). THEN I found this web site and started reading, let it ferment for 2 weeks, racked into a bottling bucket on top of 1/3 of dissolved corn sugar and bottled it. It's been sitting for 2 weeks and has carbed up nicely. I chilled a few bottles and cracked one for the first time...and was underwhelmed. Good *psst* from the bottle, poured nicely, looked good...tasted like unfiltered Budweiser + a faint yeast taste. Except without any aftertaste.

So, will further bottle conditioning help the flavor on these at all, or is this as good as WCPA+Booster and Mr. Beer yeast is gonna get?

I've got a Fast Break Bock fermenting now that I used 1lb of Munton's extra light DME (leading to a spectactular boilover) and pitched Nottingham from my LBHS, so I've got higher hopes for that.
 
medic4070 said:
Alright guys, here's my question for the collective wisdom here: I got a Mr. Beer for Christmas and immediately made the WCPA according to the Mr. Beer directions (using the Booster). THEN I found this web site and started reading, let it ferment for 2 weeks, racked into a bottling bucket on top of 1/3 of dissolved corn sugar and bottled it. It's been sitting for 2 weeks and has carbed up nicely. I chilled a few bottles and cracked one for the first time...and was underwhelmed. Good *psst* from the bottle, poured nicely, looked good...tasted like unfiltered Budweiser + a faint yeast taste. Except without any aftertaste.

So, will further bottle conditioning help the flavor on these at all, or is this as good as WCPA+Booster and Mr. Beer yeast is gonna get?

I've got a Fast Break Bock fermenting now that I used 1lb of Munton's extra light DME (leading to a spectactular boilover) and pitched Nottingham from my LBHS, so I've got higher hopes for that.
Click to expand...

In my completely noob opinion, more time in the fridge conditioning is a good idea...I bottled mine on the 15th and am sending it to the fridge this coming week for conditioning. My "impatient test beer" was really, really good - great taste and carbonation. I may hold one back for another test, ;) but the rest is heading for the fridge for a week or two...
 
MassMark said:
In my completely noob opinion, more time in the fridge conditioning is a good idea...I bottled mine on the 15th and am sending it to the fridge this coming week for conditioning. My "impatient test beer" was really, really good - great taste and carbonation. I may hold one back for another test, ;) but the rest is heading for the fridge for a week or two...
Click to expand...

i would leave it out of the fridge to condition. then put them in the fridge 1 day before you drink to cold condition. i could be wrong but i think after you put them in the fridge "conditioning" is over. the remaining yeast wont do their thing in fridge temps.
 
Irishman78 said:
I am not 100% sure about the details, but can't you "cold condition" inside the fridge?
Click to expand...


certainly. i would advise cold crashing the whole keg in the fridge for a week prior to bottling. i would bottle for three weeks at room temp, and stick as many as you can fit for about a week to really clear up.
my one and only mr beer brew is clear as hell, but still tastes a bit like apple cider.
i wonder if i cleaned my fermenter good enough after i made hard cider in it ;)
 
all the wcpa tastes a little cidery if you follow the directions and add the booster. allowing them to condition at about 68 degrees for anywhere over 4 weeks will help you lose the cidery taste a little. but it will always be there if you use booster.
 
Congratulations--you are off to a good start.

Aging will probably help with the cidery taste. But this particular kit, especially with Booster instead of LME or DME, will tend to taste like Bud. Don't despair--you have lots of options for different recipes both inside and outside of the Mr. B system.

Con
 
SUCCESS!!
On Superbowl Sunday, I opened my first batch of Mr. Beer Canadian Draft. It was a little bit light on the carbonation (I used carb tablets instead of sugar), but overall it tasted great, and continued to give off very tiny bubbles the whole time I was drinking it (which of course didn't take long). Here are a couple of pictures from the milestone event: :tank:

Pouring the first bottle:
First_Homebrew_Taste0003.JPG


What a beautiful homebrew!
First_Homebrew_Taste0005.JPG


My homebrew in the Superbowl action (among the chips, dip, and snacks)
First_Homebrew_Taste0011.JPG
 
Nice! I'm looking forward to drinking a beer or three from my very first batch. Initial tasting was really good and now that I've given it some time, I think it will be even better! Congrats!
 
I'm going to use DME in my next batch, but was thinking about using the booster as well, to boost the ABV a bit. What can I expect with this? Will it still be cidery or with the addition of the DME will I be fine?
 
I can't tell you excatly as I don't know. I think that you may have an issue with a cidery taste because of the sugar in the booster, but I may be wrong. I an sure that one the experienced folks will give a straight answer.

Cheers,
 
Regardless of what anyone says, cidery flavors are not from sugar.

You will boost your ABV with adding booster to a HME and DME mix but you will also need about another week or two conditioning time to meld the flavors.
 
BigNastyBrew said:
Regardless of what anyone says, cidery flavors are not from sugar.
Click to expand...

WOW that's a bold and sweeping statement!
If you of said "Cidery flavours" are not from a balanced use of sugars then I'd agree.

Do you have any evidence or experience you can share to support the statement?
I'd love to be able to use a lot of sugar and not get cidery flavours.
 
IanIanBoBian said:
I'm going to use DME in my next batch, but was thinking about using the booster as well, to boost the ABV a bit. What can I expect with this? Will it still be cidery or with the addition of the DME will I be fine?
Click to expand...

I did this a couple of times with Mr. Beer batches and they came out pretty good. In fact several of their recipes call for using 2 cans of extract plus the booster.
 
The WEST COAST PALE ALE is excellent with a can of their PALE EXPORT UME. It gives it more body and a boost in ABV and tastes great.
 
IanIanBoBian said:
I'm going to use DME in my next batch, but was thinking about using the booster as well, to boost the ABV a bit. What can I expect with this? Will it still be cidery or with the addition of the DME will I be fine?
Click to expand...

it really depends on what kind of beer your making, but you can almost always be able to taste a difference. darker beers could prolly hide that a little better than pale colored beers.
however, i find that if your mr beer does have that cider taste, let it bottle condition for another couple of weeks. with bottle conditioned beers the longer you wait the better, it just has to be at the right temperature.
 
All I can say is: WOW! I put all but two of my bottles upstairs to chill out for a week or two, but snuck a couple in the kitchen fridge yesterday morning. I got home at 10pm after a loong day and cracked one open. The beer is terrific! Poured great, nice head, great carbonation and the taste is super! A bit of a "Sam Adamsy" finish, but the flavors are solid. I'm hoping the finish will wear out a bit over the next week or two, but otherwise, I am ecstatic about the finished product and am glad I added the Tyringham maple Syrup to the mix - makes for an excellent tasting Ale...By the way - the "buzz factor" was absolutely there! :drunk: I started this brew on Christmas day, primed, (with table sugar) and bottled on January 15th and kept it in a cooler next to my furnace until yesterday morning. Cooler temp remained consistently in the 66-degree range throughout the bottling process. I'm going to do an English Brown next and then pass this along to one of my friends when I set up a regular brew system....Anyone having trepidation about Mr. Beer should rest easy - it works and makes excellent beer! :tank:
 
Mr. Beer
I found it at bed bath and beyond after christmas like 2 years ago for 50% off. So I bought one and a refill pack cause they always give out 20% off coupons. That is what got me into this, which is probably by far the best hobby ever. Oh the best part was I was returning some stupid clock radio for a shower or something and got the Mr. Beer. And I do believe that those kits make some excellent beer and its great for doing some crazy experimenting without making 5 gals of something totally undrinkable.
 
does air/room temp have any impact on the alcohol content of home brewed beer? my kit is a mr beer kit I was just wondering if there is a way to maximize carbonation and alcohol content not described in the directions?
 
i just tried my first mr beer porter after 2 weeks and 6 days in the bottle and its pretty good. much better than the wcpa. its has a pretty light mouthfeel and a little watery taste, but there are also some chocolate and coffee to back it up. i think it will get much better with 3 or so more weeks in the bottle. i made this with 1 can creamy brown UME, 1 can of bewitched red ale HME. 1/2 oz. EKG hops with like a 5 minute boil and 1/2 cup brown sugar. fermented for 2 weeks in my mr beer keg, bottled in 12 oz. glass bottle and primed with coopers carb tabs.
 
Well,
I popped the top of my first ever home brew. It was the West Coast pale ale that came with my MB kit. I replaced the booster pack with 1 lb. of DME and left it in the fermenter for 4 weeks, bottle conditioned for 4 weeks.

The result is a really fine beer. No cider taste or other off tastes. While I am not a huge pale ale fan, I can drink this beer with no problem. I am not good at describing tastes either. The only thing bad that I noticed is that it seems to have a slight watered downed after taste. Nod real bad and doesn't really bother me. It had good head, good carb., and even left a slight lace on the glass. I am quite pleased with it.

It was hard waiting, but it sure is worth it.

Cheers
 
Okay, Mr. Beer fanatics, I'm back! I just put up my second batch of Mr. Beer brew in the fermenter. I decided to substitute 1 lb of DME for the booster along with a higher quality Safale yeast and have a couple of questions.

1. How long do people boil the DME before removing from the heat and adding the Mr. Beer extract can? I'm thinking somewhere around ten minutes is probably enough to sterilize everything, but wasn't sure. I went much longer, but I think it was overkill.

2. Does anyone else have a problem with their spigot not being tight enough? I'll hand tighten the thing and it seems like just banging the thing around and liquid sloshing in there is enough to loosen it up to the point it develops a very slow leak. I had my 4 quarts of cold water in the fermenter waiting for the wort and ended up tipping the keg up on end, dipping my hand in sanitizer and retightening several times. I finally think I got it, but noticed this to be a bit of a problem on my first batch as well.

Okay, enough questions. I can't wait to try this batch. I think I'll go sample a little more of my WCPA until then!
 
1. I boiled just the water for about 10 minutes, then added the DME and extract after pulling it off the flame.

2. I haven't run into this, my spigot seals up tight. You might try wrapping a couple layers of teflon tape around the threads, or just replacing the gasket. Maybe both. You could just try filling it up with water for a half hour or so before you brew again and just let it sit. If it leaks, tighten it more until it stops. At least this way you'll know you have a good seal before you pour in your wort.

Good luck.
 
I've been using a Mr. Beer fermenter (I know, I know) but I recently got an empty one gallon glass jug. I was thinking about using it for small batches of apfelwein. The jug just has a normal screw on cap. I'm assuming I should replace the cap?
 
MFDave said:
I've been using a Mr. Beer fermenter (I know, I know) but I recently got an empty one gallon glass jug. I was thinking about using it for small batches of apfelwein. The jug just has a normal screw on cap. I'm assuming I should replace the cap?
Click to expand...

Nah, go ahead and fill it up, get it nice and full, and just use that regular cap. Let us know what happens, pictures would be good! ;)
 
Hi , just pick up a pre-drilled stopper and an airlock . fit the airlock in the stopper (both sterilized ) and use it instead of the cap. put some liquid in the airlock when it's in the jug.
 
Shooter said:
Nah, go ahead and fill it up, get it nice and full, and just use that regular cap. Let us know what happens, pictures would be good! ;)
Click to expand...

Actually, you can fill it right up without worries. The lid is ported to allow gas to escape. There is no reason to go drilling holes and installing airlocks, as the CO2 is just going to escape anyway.

If you have a hard time believing this, try this out: fill your empty Mr Beer keg with water, then shake the heck out of it. Now go change your shirt, because water leaked out of the ported lid.

The Mr Beer keg is especially useful for Apfelwine, because it doesn't really have krausen like most beers do. Just a thin layer of bubbles.
 
CRISIS!

Okay, I admit - I made a rash decision, or at least one without thinking beforehand. I thought it would be a genius idea to drink store bought beer in order to collect bottles. The problem is, I now have 100+ screw on bottles, as opposed to the pop top ones that I hear are the ones you should use. As a matter of fact, I am reading that I should NEVER use the screw on bottles.

Now, I have one batch already bottled with these screw on bottles, and am planning on bottling a really good recipe tomorrow using more of them.

So, is what I am hearing just good advice, or will these batches be ruined?

Thanks in advance guys...
 
Well, assuming they don't explode, your batch shouldn't be ruined. There are a few different problems with screw-type bottles. First, they aren't designed to hold the amount of pressure you're applying to them as the beer conditions and carbonates. Second, it's almost impossible to get a good seal with a hand capper, though I'm told a bench capper will work on them.

So yeah, they might explode, they might pop the caps off, or they might be fine. Store them somewhere you wouldn't mind getting wet, wrap towels around them, put them in a box, and time will tell. Hopefully it should all be fine, just start collecting pop-top or ez-cap (Grolsh style) bottles.
 
Thanks llama.

Well let me give a bit more info. They have been bottled for 9 days, and a few of them, maybe 2-3 of them were pop top style. I JUST checked a few of them, and there has been none to explode, pop the tops, etc. Maybe I am lucky, who knows? But so far, so good. I just want to make sure that they will not suffer in the tase department due to my error in judgment.

Hey thanks for the quick response.
 
If it's been 9 days already, I'd say your probably in the clear. It's been my (limited) experience that most of what goes on (as far as carbonation) seems to happen in the first week or so. Using the screw tops isn't going to affect the flavor, as long as you have a good strong seal.

9 days in and no mess? I'd say you're in the clear.
 
Great! That is good because losing 20+ bottles of beer would have been disappointing.

Hey Llama,

The wife FINALLY made a positive comment about the whole Mr. Beer hobby I have gotten into. We are both CPA's, and therefore our busy season ends April 15th. She has asked for a batch of Apfelwein for the April 15th celebration. Are you using Mr. Beer to make yours, and if so, any advice or recipe tips?
 
My Apfelwine is in a 5 gallon carboy, I have a stout going in the Mr Beer keg. As long as you're scaling down the recipe properly, you could probably get 2.5 gallons out of your Mr Beer. Apfelwine doesn't get that massive krausen that some other beers get, just a thin layer of bubbles.

As for recipe tips, try saving a few bottles worth (maybe half a gallon) and simmer it on the stove with some spiced rum, a couple of cinnamon sticks, a bit of brown sugar, and a few chunks of orange and/or apple. I haven't tried this yet, but I'm certainly planning on it!
 

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