New to home brewing

[kuehnau]

Hey guys, how's it going today?

So I am a newbie here and in the world of home brew beer. To be honest I am very picky about the beer I drink and there are very few brands I actually "enjoy".

A friend of mine picked up a Mr. Beer home brewing kit 6 months ago and wants to sell it to me, he said he "just lost interest". $25.00 for a delux kit with most of the stuff unopened seemed like a good deal to me so I said, "sure, why not?"

I don't have the kit yet, but I figured I'd stop by here and take a look and ask some questions. I'll be blunt, a lot of times, most beers taste like fizzy piss water to me and I have a tendency to stick to sweeter, flavored beers and ales.

So I am looking for some advice on brewing beer. I am not sure if any flavors like this would work, but me and a friend of mine were discussing stuff like Mountain Dew, Dr. Pepper or even something weirder like Maple Syrup or Honey Beer.

To be honest I've seen what the Mr. Beer kit looks like and it looks kind of cheap, but I am hoping I can make some use out of it. Kind of going through the forums here, it looks like people are saying you can brew more then beer in these, like liquor? Is that accurate?

Anyways, thanks for any advice or tips.

 

[tre9er]

If you can name some beers you like, brand name and variety, that would help come up with recipe ideas.

Liquor? Not so sure. You can make some strong beer known as "barley wine" or some honey "liquor" known as mead, but I'm not the authority on those varieties. The kits you get for Mr. Beer are generally going to be pretty normal ales though, like a Newcastle, Blue Moon, IPA, etc.

There is a Mr. Beer sticky somewhere, I'd read up.

 

[homebrewdad]

If you are picky about your beer, nor sure if you will be happy with Mr. Beer. More knowledgable folks will chime in.

Advice: don't start off with strange crap in your beer. To make good beer, you need to figure out the process. If you compound that by adding odd stuff, you have a good shot at ending up with bad beer, and a worse chance of somebody being able to help you pinpoint the cause.

For intance: So. Many. Newbies want to make fruit beers. Fruit beers are a pain. Fruit beers often turn out not so great for brewers who know what they are doing. Newbies are starting way behind the eight ball when trying to tackle fruit beers on try #1.

If you were using more standard brewing gear, I'd advise you to go online (or to your LHBS) and pick out a clone kit or something similar to a style that you like. Brew that, see how it goes, then go from there.

Incidentally - honey and maple syrup are not that strange to use, but you do need to understand how they work. Otherwise, you are liable to not get the flavor you expect, and simply end up with dryer, boozier beer.

 

[tre9er]

If you are picky about your beer, nor sure if you will be happy with Mr. Beer. More knowledgable folks will chime in.

Advice: don't start off with strange crap in your beer. To make good beer, you need to figure out the process. If you compound that by adding odd stuff, you have a good shot at ending up with bad beer, and a worse chance of somebody being able to help you pinpoint the cause.

For intance: So. Many. Newbies want to make fruit beers. Fruit beers are a pain. Fruit beers often turn out not so great for brewers who know what they are doing.

If you were using more standard brewing gear, I'd advise you to go online (or to your LHBS) and pick out a clone kit or something similar to a style that you like. Brew that, see how it goes, then go from there.

All. of. this.

Learn the craft with "normal" beers first (hence why I said if you could name some beers you like...). You're only complicating an already foreign process by adding strange things into your beer.

 

[JerseyJoe]

Honey Beer threads aka mead can be found here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f30/

I have never went the Mr. Beer route so I cant say much about it. Welcome to brewing

 

[homebrewdad]

Honey Beer threads aka mead can be found here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f30/

I have never went the Mr. Beer route so I cant say much about it. Welcome to brewing

I think the OP was talking about honey as a beer ingredient, not as the base fermentable (i.e. mead)... but if I'm wrong, OP, slap me into my place!

 

[kuehnau]

Hey, thanks for all the comments so far.

There is a specialty beer they sell only in the fall around here, I think it's "Summer Shanty" (not sure of the name) beer that has a slight hint of orange or citrus to it.

Also, if I have a choice, I'll drink Bud Platinum, a lot of people I know don't like it, but it seems a lot more mild and smoother to me then some of the other kind of beer a lot of my friends drink.

Also a local place in town makes a "Amber Ale" that tastes like apples that I really like.

I'll be honest, when my friend first got this Mr. Beer kit, he brought over some "bottles" (which I thought were too damn big) and I didn't really enjoy his beer, it was really, really thick and it had a sweet taste to it, but one I didn't really enjoy to be honest. I like sweeter beers and ales, but there was something off about the beer he did, so I am hoping it was just him.

 

[boscobeans]

Get a compllete recipe kit from mr. beer. Maybe the Sticky wicket ale.

Follow the directions and use just what is in the kit.. NO extras.

When you're done and the beer has carbonated and conditioned taste it.

Now you have a basis that you can work with. Too bitter, too bland, too flat, too dry...etc.. With this info there will be tons of ways to get you closer to what you want..

This goes for any starter kit you may decide to buy.. Start simple and make sure you record all the ingredients (quantity as well) and your brewing methods,like temperatures and type of equipment. This avoids questions that no one can really help you with...Like: I don't like my first brew so what can I do to make it better?

bosco

 

[kuehnau]

Get a compllete recipe kit from mr. beer. Maybe the Sticky wicket ale.

Follow the directions and use just what is in the kit.. NO extras.

When you're done and the beer has carbonated and conditioned taste it.

Now you have a basis that you can work with. Too bitter, too bland, too flat, too dry...etc.. With this info there will be tons of ways to get you closer to what you want..

This goes for any starter kit you may decide to buy.. Start simple and make sure you record all the ingredients (quantity as well) and your brewing methods,like temperatures and type of equipment. This avoids questions that no one can really help you with...Like: I don't like my first brew so what can I do to make it better?

bosco

When you say a "complete recipe kit", what exactly do you mean? Are you talking about the recipes or the refills?

Looking at it now, a lot of this stuff is pretty expensive, I can see it being an expensive hobby. I might have to just see what he has left in his kit and see if I even like doing this.

 

[homebrewdad]

When you say a "complete recipe kit", what exactly do you mean? Are you talking about the recipes or the refills?

Looking at it now, a lot of this stuff is pretty expensive, I can see it being an expensive hobby. I might have to just see what he has left in his kit and see if I even like doing this.

It can indeed be expensive. My next batch will cost me a little over $50 + shipping in ingredients alone, another $15 if I decide to buy one more case of bottles for it.

Then again, I'll have two cases of premium beer when it's done. There's no way that I could buy 48 bottles of craft beer for $60 or so.

 

[kuehnau]

I think I found what you were talking about, I am thinking I might pick up a refill kit of Witty Monk Witbier, it sounds nice.

 

[kuehnau]

I might just wait and see what's going on here. Thanks for the tips guys. I appreciated it.

 

[BeardedIdiot]

You can buy a recipe or you can buy a refill. A refill is just your most basic beer. It comes with a can of hopped malt extract, a packet of booster to add alcohol, and a packet of yeast for fermentation. It will be the most basic (boring) beer you can brew.

If you want something more interesting, get one of the recipes. There are hoppy recipes, fruity recipes, etc. Get something that looks interesting and along the lines that you would like.

NOTE: read the actual ingredients list before you buy. Many of the recipe kits do NOT include all the ingredients. I picked one that looked awesome, and then come to find out I have to buy extra ingredients that tripled the cost of the brew. I haven't even brewed it yet because it took so long to find the ingredients.

I have a Mr. Beer deluxe kit. I brewed my first batch with a Bewitched Red Ale HME, and an Amber Ale UME, plus a pack of booster. It actually turned out very similar to Killians Irish Red, or a Sam Adams (based on friends/coworkers comments and my own tasting). It was a decent beer for a first try from a Mr. Beer kit.

I am now buying more/larger fermenting vessels, but I think the Mr. Beer kit is a decent kit to start with, because you're only brewing 2.5gal of beer, rather than 5gal. If you don't like it, then you're only out a single case of beer, rather than 2.

However, if you like it, I'd start getting into larger batches, because the larger you go, the cheaper it gets.

Sorry for the long post.

 

[homebrewdad]

You can buy a recipe or you can buy a refill. A refill is just your most basic beer. It comes with a can of hopped malt extract, a packet of booster to add alcohol, and a packet of yeast for fermentation. It will be the most basic (boring) beer you can brew.

If you want something more interesting, get one of the recipes. There are hoppy recipes, fruity recipes, etc. Get something that looks interesting and along the lines that you would like.

NOTE: read the actual ingredients list before you buy. Many of the recipe kits do NOT include all the ingredients. I picked one that looked awesome, and then come to find out I have to buy extra ingredients that tripled the cost of the brew. I haven't even brewed it yet because it took so long to find the ingredients.

I have a Mr. Beer deluxe kit. I brewed my first batch with a Bewitched Red Ale HME, and an Amber Ale UME, plus a pack of booster. It actually turned out very similar to Killians Irish Red, or a Sam Adams (based on friends/coworkers comments and my own tasting). It was a decent beer for a first try from a Mr. Beer kit.

I am now buying more/larger fermenting vessels, but I think the Mr. Beer kit is a decent kit to start with, because you're only brewing 2.5gal of beer, rather than 5gal. If you don't like it, then you're only out a single case of beer, rather than 2.

However, if you like it, I'd start getting into larger batches, because the larger you go, the cheaper it gets.

Sorry for the long post.

Long? I thought this was a great post.

 

[boscobeans]

Complete recipe kit. THIS:

http://www.mrbeer.com/product-exec/product_id/99/nm/Sticky_Wicket_Oatmeal_Stout1


bosco

 

[kuehnau]

Complete recipe kit. THIS:

http://www.mrbeer.com/product-exec/product_id/99/nm/Sticky_Wicket_Oatmeal_Stout1


bosco

I am looking at the flavor profiles too and if they are at all accurate, well, this one looks like it'd be way too bitter for me.

 

[BeardedIdiot]

Also, I got my Mr. Beer kit for my birthday in early February. I brewed my first batch the first week of March. I ordered 2 kits that same night. I've already brewed 2 more batches. I will be brewing my 4th and 5th batches this week (using 3gal better bottles), and then my 6th batch will most likely be a 5gal batch of a Franziskaner Hefe clone.

You will likely get addicted, and start spending way more money than you can justify, to brew your beer.

The worst part when you're starting out, is discovering you can make good beer, and then realizing that its another 2 months before your next batch will be ready to drink...

 

[BeardedIdiot]

Long? I thought this was a great post.

Thanks. I'm still a newb myself (only 3x 2.5gal batches under my belt) but I've been lurking this site for a couple months before I joined, and I'm starting to get a clue as to what I need to know...

Ooh, I'm getting a clue soooo hard right now...