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WhoDatDad78 said:
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.
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I use a cooler and have frozen bottles of water I switch out to keep temps were I want them.
 
slym2none said:
I use a cooler and have frozen bottles of water I switch out to keep temps were I want them.
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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.
 
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?
 
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 :mug:
 
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.
 
WhoDatDad78 said:
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.
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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.
 
bpgreen said:
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.
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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....
 
WhoDatDad78 said:
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.
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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.
 
bpgreen said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
WhoDatDad78 said:
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.
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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...
 
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.
 
brewski09 said:
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.
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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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
slym2none said:
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.
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Thanks. I haven't heard of anyone else having issues with infections for ciders. I'll keep it in mind. I was thinking 4-6 weeks in the LBK. Thoughts?
 
That sounds pretty good.

There are always those SlimLine 2.5G containers at one of the big box stores you can drill a hole in the top of and put on an airlock. That's my plan when/if I ever try cider again, to use one of those as a "secondary".

:)
 
slym2none said:
That sounds pretty good.

There are always those SlimLine 2.5G containers at one of the big box stores you can drill a hole in the top of and put on an airlock. That's my plan when/if I ever try cider again, to use one of those as a "secondary".

:)
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I wouldn't advise using a slimline as a secondary. Those are only meant to hold water.

Using them as a bottling container is one thing, but they're the wrong kind of plastic for fermentation.

And I think they'd be an even worse choice as a secondary since they're pretty permeable. If you use a secondary, you want it to be less permeable, not more.
 
One of my co-workers got a mr.beer kit for Chrismas and brought me in one of the (american lights?) and I drank it last night. I was super impressed that it was a mr. beer kit to be honest. Just chiming in this thread to say that!
 
Being taken over by Coopers did MrB a world of good. I made their IPA and added some Carapils, DME, and FF7C hops. It was pretty good! That would have been my third batch, I believe... good times...
 
Mr Beer kits nowadays I think make a decent beet as long as you follow their pamphlet directions. The nice thing about it is that you can also add other malts, add hops, specialty grains, or herbs and spices and create a masterpiece.
 
I posted a separate thread on this, but since it's related to the Mr. Beer I thought I'd ask here too.

I currently have a 5 gallon batch of stout in my primary fermenter bucket and I picked up a few Mr. Beer's on clearance and was thinking of splitting that batch and using the Mr. Beer barrel as a secondary to try different flavors, but as I just read above I'm concerned that it might expose the beer to too much air. I was only planning on letting them sit another week after transferring.

Does anyone have any advice? The flavors I'm planning on trying are a cacao tincture, a vanilla and cacao tincture, and maybe one with raspberry puree.
 
West_Coast_Brew said:
I posted a separate thread on this, but since it's related to the Mr. Beer I thought I'd ask here too.

I currently have a 5 gallon batch of stout in my primary fermenter bucket and I picked up a few Mr. Beer's on clearance and was thinking of splitting that batch and using the Mr. Beer barrel as a secondary to try different flavors, but as I just read above I'm concerned that it might expose the beer to too much air. I was only planning on letting them sit another week after transferring.

Does anyone have any advice? The flavors I'm planning on trying are a cacao tincture, a vanilla and cacao tincture, and maybe one with raspberry puree.
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I don't think the LBK is a good candidate for secondary fermenter.
 
I've used my MBKs many times for secondary fermenation, particularly when adding fruit. It works pretty well, but I would not plan on cold crashing afterwards.
 
Oxidation is really an over rated problem. The LBK will work fine for what you are wanting to do. As long as you are not doing Barley Wines that need months of aging , a LBK should work very well for a secondary.

Take extra care when transferring to the LBK to avoid any unnecessary introduction of oxygen and you will be fine! If you really wanted to cover all bases, ad a small amount of fermentables to the beer when transferring, so that the beer produces a new layer of co2 on top of the fermenting beer.
 
Do tinctures with alcohol (neutral vodka works well) and add at bottling. It works great. For the raspberry, invest in a smaller bucket/carboy to referment in. FYI, the CO2 doesn't sit there in a layer indefinitely, it will dissipate.
 
I just bought a Mr. Beer classic kit unused for $15 at a second hand shop. It has the American light beer ingredients which doesn't interest me (God knows how old it might be too) much but I assume I can use the CO2 drops for something else. My main curiosity is whether there is a gasket for the top lid as it doesn't seem to be all that airtight. Also do people drill a whole in the lid and put in an airlock?

I may just use it as a bottling bucket, I dunno. Seemed like a no brainer for $15.
 
If it was airtight, then it would get pressurized by the escaping CO². The top where the lid screws on actually has grooves in the threads to allow gases to escape. Putting an airlock on one would be pointless because of that feature.

I have two of the LBKs now, I use them for fermenting beer. They each fit in a cooler so I can put ice-bottles in to control the temps, and I can shove them in the fridge for cold-crashing.
 
Has anyone here made the Hacked Root Beer recipe? I have with my kit the American light extract which I believe is the base, I was thinking to get the extra ingredients from Mr. Beer to make the Hacked Root Beer but not sure how it all goes together. I know you can just get the kit but I don't want another can of the extract.
 
Holiday101 said:
I just bought a Mr. Beer classic kit unused for $15 at a second hand shop. It has the American light beer ingredients which doesn't interest me (God knows how old it might be too) much but I assume I can use the CO2 drops for something else. My main curiosity is whether there is a gasket for the top lid as it doesn't seem to be all that airtight. Also do people drill a whole in the lid and put in an airlock?

I may just use it as a bottling bucket, I dunno. Seemed like a no brainer for $15.
Click to expand...

You can actually make something pretty decent with that American light kit if you add some things to it. Steep 1/2 lb of crystal 60 grain (in a mesh bag) in 160*F water for 30 min. Bring that to a boil and toss in 1/2 lb of light DME. You can add maybe .3 oz of Saaz or similar flavor hop (in a hop bag) and let it gently boil for 15 min. Kill the boil, add the Mr/ Beer stuff and proceed as usual. After cooling and pitching, try to keep it in the mid-60's.

The LBK lid is made to let the CO2 escape downward through the threads while keeping nasties out. No need for an airlock. It does a good job as a little fermenter.
 
BigFloyd said:
You can actually make something pretty decent with that American light kit if you add some things to it. Steep 1/2 lb of crystal 60 grain (in a mesh bag) in 160*F water for 30 min. Bring that to a boil and toss in 1/2 lb of light DME. You can add maybe .3 oz of Saaz or similar flavor hop (in a hop bag) and let it gently boil for 15 min. Kill the boil, add the Mr/ Beer stuff and proceed as usual. After cooling and pitching, try to keep it in the mid-60's.

The LBK lid is made to let the CO2 escape downward through the threads while keeping nasties out. No need for an airlock. It does a good job as a little fermenter.
Click to expand...

Heh heh, actually I was just gonna ask what else I can do with the kit vs tossing the extract, thinking about a partial mash. If I'm going partial mash I'm looking at 1/2 lb of crush grain max no more or less? How much water is appropriate for the BIAB mash? I was also considering one of their better yeast packets but don't know if it's worth it. I think I might just brew this one out for the hell of it and then move on. I'm eventually looking at BIAB or otherwise all-mash 2 gallon batches.

Are people happy with the spigot and bottling cane set up Mr. Beer now sells? I was actually thinking of putting on a better spigot though I hear that would mean making a bigger hole to accomodate.
 
Holiday101 said:
Ah good. I was thinking as I expand I may just use the fermentor as a bottling bucket.
Click to expand...

Yep, that'll be fine. Quite a few people do that with the LBKs. I've now got a 2.5G Slimline (basically a square water jug) to use as a bottling bucket. I was using a 2G bucket for my 1G recipes but happened upon this 2.5G slimline deal so now I can use to bottle my 1-2G recipes.
 

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