Sweet beer with Mr. Beer...

[edbstratt]

Hi there-

So, I recently purchased the Mr. Beer kit (yea yea yea...) and I couldn't be more excited to try some home brew!! However, one issue has come up:

I'm making the standard High Country Canadian Draft that came with the kit, and followed the instructions verbatim: fermented for 14 days until there was sentiment on the bottom of the fermenter and the beer was no longer sweet, bottled and primed with the right amount of sugar, and let the bottles sit in a dark room-temperature controlled closet for 9 days. Yesterday, 9 days into the carbonation step, the bottles were ROCK hard -so I refrigerated one for a few hours to sample the fruit of my labors. Unfortunately, the brew was rather sweet (although the carbonation was spot-on). That said, to eliminate the sweetness, do you recommend I continue to let the rock hard bottles sit in the temperature controlled closet for a few more week, or put them in the fridge to condition, or...? Also, do you recommend I slightly reduce the amount of primming sugar used on my next batch? Thank you!!

 

[RICLARK]

Hi there-

So, I recently purchased the Mr. Beer kit (yea yea yea...) and I couldn't be more excited to try some home brew!! However, one issue has come up:

I'm making the standard High Country Canadian Draft that came with the kit, and followed the instructions verbatim: fermented for 14 days until there was sentiment on the bottom of the fermenter and the beer was no longer sweet, bottled and primed with the right amount of sugar, and let the bottles sit in a dark room-temperature controlled closet for 9 days. Yesterday, 9 days into the carbonation step, the bottles were ROCK hard -so I refrigerated one for a few hours to sample the fruit of my labors. Unfortunately, the brew was rather sweet (although the carbonation was spot-on). That said, to eliminate the sweetness, do you recommend I continue to let the rock hard bottles sit in the temperature controlled closet for a few more week, or put them in the fridge to condition, or...? Also, do you recommend I slightly reduce the amount of primming sugar used on my next batch? Thank you!!

How much PS did you use? Also from what I have hear about Mr.Beer is that it all is sweet....

 

[edbstratt]

Exactly what was recommended -2.5 teaspoons per 32oz. bottle.

 

[RICLARK]

Exactly what was recommended -2.5 teaspoons per 32oz. bottle.

I really dont know much about Mr.Beer but If that is what they Reccommend than that is what you should use, Now if 1 of those Pet bottles blow up odds are that it was not done fermenting and you should let the next batch sit longer.

 

[edbstratt]

And I take it the only *true* way to identify whether the fermentation process is complete is via a hydrometer (vs. tasting..) -correct!? Thanks, again, for your help (and patience)!

 

[Yooper]

Yes, that's correct. The only way to know for certain if fermentation is over is through specific gravity readings that don't change over time.

 

[GloHoppa]

Did you use table sugar or corn sugar or something else? Also since the Mr. Beer kits come with the cans of pre-hopped malt extract, I have noticed with my batch of WCPA that the hop flavors are muted at best. This could very well be the source of your sweetness with it just being unbalanced due to the "hops" in the can of malt extract.

Also I used table sugar in my priming for my WCPA, and it is definitely noticeable in the finished product. My best bet would be to let them condition a little longer

Or do what I'm doing and not care since I'm brewing a 5gal batch right now anyway

Congrats on makin your beer though!

 

[TheJadedDog]

Mr. Beer tends to make sweet beer. I think there is a lot of unfermentable sugar in the extract that comes in the Mr. Beer ingredient packets. Unfortunately I doubt there is much you can do about it at this point. I'd recommend upgrading to a starter kit if you want to make a decent product.

 

[edbstratt]

Fair enough.

All said, should I cold condition in the fridge???

 

[bradsul]

If you're happy with the carbonation level you can go ahead and stick it in the fridge, yes. That won't solve the sweetness issue but at least you won't start pouring full glasses of foam either.