I did a Mr. Beer before starting AG and, at least at the time, I thought it turned out OK. I drank all of it happily (I was a staunch BMC’er at the time, if that matters).
Brewing is a pretty robust process—you can still end up with quite good beer even if you do things or make mistakes that the internet would have you believe should be fatal. But I think Mr. Beer suffers because it represents a stacking of a few too many compromises that, in sum, results in ho-hum beer. The crummy hopped extract, the yeast, the overly-simplified instructions that detail a ham-fisted “cook book” process, the probable inexperience of the brewer, the corner-cutting needed to fit the “kit” in a single nice-sized box at Walmart… it all adds up to be a bridge too far in the direction away from great beer.
Today, I think that I could probably use the basic Mr. Beer system and make a much better product than my first attempt, by adding in my homebrewing experience and a few carefully selected enhancements in process, equipment, and ingredients. But to really get to where I’d be proud of the result I imagine I’d have to augment the process so much that it could hardly be called “Mr. Beer” anymore.
I think the commonly cited raison d’etre for Mr. Beer is that it enables one to dip their toes into the waters of brewing to see if they like it; then, if they do, they can take it from there to greater heights. I’m sure some will disagree, but IMO, this is a bit of a fallacy, almost akin to claiming “Guitar Hero” is an effective means of enticing people to learn the real instrument. Mr. Beer is carefully designed to lend the impression that, over the course of a single afternoon, a complete blank-slate brewer can “make great beer at home.” To sell, it relies upon an appeal to the desire for instant gratification, which is precisely what brewing is not. Then, when one decides to investigate what is needed to really make good beer, they see all kinds of confusing and discouraging information they need to learn, equipment they need to buy, time they need to invest… and many, I reckon, tune out. Of course, we all know that homebrewing is very doable and not that difficult to learn by those motivated to do so, but if you’re wired to be of that mindset then you probably don’t need Mr. Beer training wheels in the first place.
“But wait, you said yourself that you started with Mr. Beer.” Technically I did, I guess—I got the kit for Christmas and used it once. I didn’t, however, get into homebrewing full force until at least 5 years later, and the dive into the hobby was inspired by tasting all of the great creations being served at a local brew pub; it had absolutely nothing to do with the fading memory of Mr. Beer.