The Mr. Beer Hate?

Yakima 728
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looking back at my first brew in a Mr Beer ...its a lot of things. Cheap ingredients ,maybe not so fresh, yeast maybe not so perfect for the brew or again , not fresh. Water - I didnt consider water chemistry then and it didnt taste right , most likely due to chlorine. Stale hops pellets. I didnt have any kind of chiller, directions said to add cold tap water to cool the hot wort...so theres that, unpasteurized chlorinated tap water...a perfect setup for bad beer.
Disregard to pH ,temperatures or gravity...

Any or all of that .
 
Oh, the band-aid flavor. Using chlorinated tap water, what were we thinking? Why didn't the kits come with some campden tablets or at least instructions to use bottled water? Or maybe include a little packet pf mineral salts and instructions to buy some distilled water?
 
Jayjay1976 said:
Oh, the band-aid flavor. Using chlorinated tap water, what were we thinking? Why didn't the kits come with some campden tablets or at least instructions to use bottled water? Or maybe include a little packet of mineral salts and instructions to buy some distilled water?
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Exactly. if they would make these "starter kits" with a little more thought ,they could very well open up the hobby to more people . I think these little brown barrel kits are what puts people off from going beyond.
I'm still at the opinion that these kits do not make beer as the first time brewer wanting to scratch their itch would think it should. The same applies to opening up a can of campbells condensed soup that sat on the shelf and adding water and heating it up. Thats pretty much what you're doing with an extract kit. Did you make soup? yes, but could you have made better soup had you learned why and what scratch ingredients to use and in what amounts, most definitely.
 
fatslob said:
Starsan contains calcium blockers and sulfuric acid.
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/sulfuric-acid/default.html
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Ugh. Sulfuric acid is perfectly safe to consume at low concentrations. Properly diluted, StarSan has a pH just under 3.0 and is no more acidic or dangerous to drink than lemonade. It is used all the time in the food industry to modify pH which is precisely its use in StarSan.

Stop spreading your uninformed paranoid nonsense. Also, learn how to use an airlock before you end up drinking rubbing alcohol.
 
fatslob said:
Starsan contains calcium blockers and sulfuric acid.
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/sulfuric-acid/default.html
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Properly mixed Starsan contains so little of those that it is totally insignificant. One ounce in 5 gallons. Then you soak the item to be sanitized and let the Starsan drain off. What is left is probably something around a couple of milliliters. There were probably more dangerous chemicals on the last piece of produce that you ate.
 
Jayjay1976 said:
Ugh. Sulfuric acid is perfectly safe to consume at low concentrations.
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+1, it's the ph of 0 that will get you....i've heard of sulfate salts being used as food additives.....lye is dangerous too, but makes a great pretzel, and bagel......

edit: lol, as fate would have it, the next thread i checked out was about water chemistry, and made mention of someone's sulfate addition being low/high, i forget easily.....
 
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In the 80s craft beer started taking off. It scared the anheuser busch folks. They devized a plan to have brewers add a deadly chemical to their beer. In this way they could literally kill off the competition. Dont believe me? Look up when starsan was invented.
 
C93F2530-B958-4034-A6E4-017D27852603.png
 
Can we leave the Starsan alone and get back on topic: The Mr. Beer Hate
AFAIK, Starsan was never included in Mr. Beer kits.

@fatslob
You had already derailed your own thread on "White Spots," which apparently disappeared while you were boiling.
Then Starsan and Sulphuric acid became your diversion and beating stick.

We've heard enough of it.
We (still) live in a free country, you may use any sanitation product you see fit. And please inform yourself, properly.
 
Nothing wrong with Mr. Beer.
Frozen Toaster waffles are still waffles, right?
Maybe they aren’t as good as scratch-made fresh waffle iron waffles, but they’ll do in a pinch if that’s all you have the time or resources for.
I’d rather see a newbie start out with a Mr Beer than sit on the sidelines and critique another brewer’s product without any hands-on experience of the process.
 
Not sure anybody answered the question but, use distilled bottled water, replace corn sugar in main recipe with dried malt extract, sanitize the entire area around mr beer with spray bottle, make dark beers, use carb drops instead of sugar for bottling.
Git busy brewing.
 
rmchair said:
Not sure anybody answered the question but, use distilled bottled water, replace corn sugar in main recipe with dried malt extract, sanitize the entire area around mr beer with spray bottle, make dark beers, use carb drops instead of sugar for bottling.
Git busy brewing.
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Distilled water is OK with extracts, mineral additions to distilled could make the beer better but that is more advanced.
Replacing the corn sugar with DME is not necessarily a 1 for 1 switch.
You don't need to sanitize everything in the room. Only what touches the wort.
What if you don't want a dark beer.
Why drops instead of priming sugar? I don't do Mr. Beers but I prefer batch priming to the drops.

But yes, get to brewing.. Which I need to do....
 
kh54s10 said:
This was why I skipped right past the Mr. Beer kits - it seemed too much like mixing up a batch of Kool-Aid.
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Yes it is. I just finished my second Mr. Beer. American Porter. Granted it does simplify the process to mixing Kook-Aid but as noted it does allow many to try brewing. However, it is not very instructional on what is exactly occuring to make beer.
 
kh54s10 said:
Distilled water is OK with extracts, mineral additions to distilled could make the beer better but that is more advanced.
Replacing the corn sugar with DME is not necessarily a 1 for 1 switch.
You don't need to sanitize everything in the room. Onl
kh54s10 said:
Distilled water is OK with extracts, mineral additions to distilled could make the beer better but that is more advanced.
Replacing the corn sugar with DME is not necessarily a 1 for 1 switch.
You don't need to sanitize everything in the room. Only what touches the wort.
What if you don't want a dark beer.
Why drops instead of priming sugar? I don't do Mr. Beers but I prefer batch priming to the drops.

But yes, get to brewing.. Which I need to do....
Click to expand...
.
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Okay you dont do Mr Beers.
 
Mr. Beer hate comes from the perception that it is a product for beginners and gatekeepers.

My first beer did not use a Mr. Beer kit but did have many of the problems that are mentioned and associated with the kit. I had old yeast didn’t have solid sanitation practices and my process was less than robust, if not downright bad. My first beer was magical to me because I made it.

I am confident that if I made a Mr. Beer kit now, it would be delicious and my first step would be to throw out the yeast, hops, and LME. There though is the rub. A beginner needs simplicity to get that first beer behind them after that they will exponentially grow their knowledge and experience. The beginner should have the option of dumping ingredients into a saucepan to get started. The easier the better.

O gatekeepers, thrust aside your arms and lay them down. Welcome the weary travelers into your kingdom and share thy spoils. Tear down the walls and see the opportunity of the horizon. It is the gate you guard that limits your own potential.
 
Buick Beer Gardens said:
Brewed a Mr. Beer this evening. Not much to it. Kind of uninspiring really.
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Well, made two Mr. Beer kits this weekend. Both are actively bubbling after 24 hours. So there is that. No doubt the kit does what it is designed to do. Get people interested, make beer and grow a hobby.
 
One week past and my Mr. Beer American Porter is not visibly fermenting any longer. Mr.Beer Barvarian Wheat is still actively bubbling! Letting them go another 7 days.
 
AZCoolerBrewer said:
Mr. Beer hate comes from the perception that it is a product for beginners and gatekeepers.

My first beer did not use a Mr. Beer kit but did have many of the problems that are mentioned and associated with the kit. I had old yeast didn’t have solid sanitation practices and my process was less than robust, if not downright bad. My first beer was magical to me because I made it.

I am confident that if I made a Mr. Beer kit now, it would be delicious and my first step would be to throw out the yeast, hops, and LME. There though is the rub. A beginner needs simplicity to get that first beer behind them after that they will exponentially grow their knowledge and experience. The beginner should have the option of dumping ingredients into a saucepan to get started. The easier the better.

O gatekeepers, thrust aside your arms and lay them down. Welcome the weary travelers into your kingdom and share thy spoils. Tear down the walls and see the opportunity of the horizon. It is the gate you guard that limits your own potential.
Click to expand...

I remember when the first BIAB kits were being sold. They were like a burlap sack full of grains. Everybody (including me) scoffed at the idea.

There is a large kitchen store near me going out of business and everything is 20% off. They had a Mr. Beer kit and I looked at it. But it was $69 and 20% off still wasn’t enough for me to buy it. Maybe if it went to 50% off and its still there. Definitely something I do not need but it would be another toy to play with.
 
Buick Beer Gardens said:
Well, made two Mr. Beer kits this weekend. Both are actively bubbling after 24 hours. So there is that. No doubt the kit does what it is designed to do. Get people interested, make beer and grow a hobby.
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Absolutely. Great way to get involved in the hobby, it's how I started out 15 years ago. I don't do extract anymore but for my first 10 years all I used was my Mr. Beer barrels. I even used my 2 Mr Beer barrels to ferment with after doing small batch all grain. Until I got a kegerator this year, my small dedicated half fridge would only fit a Mr. Beer barrel for lagering. I sometimes still use them both as bottling buckets. And I just bought 2 kits for 2 old army buddies to introduce them to home brewing. Using Mr Beer kits is like when a kid starts riding a tricycle, then a bike with training wheels then as you gain experience on to a Schwinn 10 speed. Great way to go from just starting to your journey into all grain and kegging...my 2 cents on Mr Beer. [emoji482] Cheers
 
bwible said:
I remember when the first BIAB kits were being sold. They were like a burlap sack full of grains. Everybody (including me) scoffed at the idea.

There is a large kitchen store near me going out of business and everything is 20% off. They had a Mr. Beer kit and I looked at it. But it was $69 and 20% off still wasn’t enough for me to buy it. Maybe if it went to 50% off and its still there. Definitely something I do not need but it would be another toy to play with.
Click to expand...
Wal-Mart was selling Mr Beer IPA kits last week for $23. Might still be on sale
 
Buick Beer Gardens said:
One week past and my Mr. Beer American Porter is not visibly fermenting any longer. Mr.Beer Barvarian Wheat is still actively bubbling! Letting them go another 7 days.
Click to expand...


Took a gravity reading of the American Porter. 1.02 after 8 days. Never did take the OG. Tasted find with some bitter after taste. I will let it go a few more days.
 
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Buick Beer Gardens said:
Took a gravity reading of the American Porter. 1.02 after 8 days. Never did take the OG. Tasted find with some bitter after taste.
Click to expand...
It's only finished fermenting. Yeast still need to finish cleaning up byproducts. Give it another week. 15 years of brewing my rule of thumb is 3 weeks I don't care what style it is. 3-7 days ferment, 10-14 days to clean up, 3 days extra if a diacetyl rest is needed. Leaving a beer in for 3 weeks works wonders on the maturity.
 
Jayjay1976 said:
calcium blocker = a dense, solid calcified bone dome isolating @fatslob 's brain from reality by blocking any information from entering.
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i thought that was gangsters and high school kids?

edit: @IslandLizard sorry, i had to skip over almost an entire page to post that.....went back and started trying to catch up....
 

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