The rise of Mr Beer?

[Fusorfodder]

Has anyone else seen Mr Beer kits pop up all over the place? I noticed them in Bed, Bath & Beyond, Rite Aid (drug store chain), as well as a grocery store around here. I have never seen so many of the damned things.

 

[jfrizzell]

Christmas - Those things are always at BB&B this time of year.

 

[McKBrew]

It's that time of the year. They are about as common as inflatable snow globes right now. Whether or not we like them now, they have introduced quite a few people to brewing (including me) and their will be a ton of new members starting Christmas Day. Let's all remember to be nice and help out these guys and gals as they get started in homebrewing.

 

[Kauai_Kahuna]

Never used one, but to be honest, I have never been in a Bed, Bath & Beyond, or Rite Aid. But I would be a happy camper if my local grocery store carried the beer kits.
I could pick up two kits, add a good amount of honey and make a "KICK A.." braggot in 30 minutes. (Plus fermentation, conditioning, etc).
I'm not kidding, Milk, pizza, coffee, homebrew kit, I would be sooo happy.

 

[david_42]

My local hardware store carries them, but one of the employees is a homebrewer.

 

[BigKahuna]

I kinda want one.
I could do....Well....I guess......Oh, Never Mind. I guess I really don't.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

Long live Mr Beer! As kids we get building blocks for Christmas. They teach us the basics for building. As adults we get Mr. Beer. He teaches many of us the basics of brewing!

 

[Mutilated1]

Just wait till the first couple of days after Christmas when all the new Mr Beer owners show up to ask their questions.

I think they made a Mr Beer forum or maybe it was Mr Beer pinned topic last year.

 

[Revvy]

Just wait till the first couple of days after Christmas when all the new Mr Beer owners show up to ask their questions.

I think they made a Mr Beer forum or maybe it was Mr Beer pinned topic last year.

We have a sticky that some of us regularly help out on, that's where I put a primer on AG brewing for small batches in....with some recipes...

 

[talleymonster]

:cross:to quote another HBT member.....:cross:

If I ever see Mr. Beer in a dark alley, I'm gonna kick his ass.

 

[DeadDoc]

:cross:to quote another HBT member.....:cross:

hahaha nice!

I havent seen mr beer in store ever.. then again have never cared to look.

 

[quixotic]

I saw that Cabellas has Mr. Beer kits in their Xmas catalog now. They also have a nicer kit with a carboy, etc, but it meant for wine.

 

[talleymonster]

Oh yes, it's everywhere now. I even saw it at Harbor Freight the other day.

 

[BeerPressure]

Still havent been able to get my step-dad to go from Mr. Beer to 5 gallon extract kits, I dont think i ever will though.

 

[Revvy]

Still havent been able to get my step-dad to go from Mr. Beer to 5 gallon extract kits, I dont think i ever will though.

If he's happy, then why bother?

I betcha Charlie Papazian never slammed MR Beer. I bet he acknowledges its role in being a gateway in this hobby...In fact I wonder how many copies of his book can be attributed in one way or another to the Old Brown Keg...Either given as gifts along side it, or the next purchase AFTER the Mr beer Kit.

 

[BlackCoffeeandBourbon]

I bought a Mr. Beer for Christmas in 2004 at Target and brewed my first miserable batch of beer after I made a ton of mistakes. It turned out kind of flat but was still beer and I drank the entire crappy batch. I then went up 5 gal extract brews as I was bitten by the homebrew bug. I think I may give 1 or 2 to my friends this year to see if they catch the urge to brew.

 

[BeerPressure]

If he's happy, then why bother?

I betcha Charlie Papazian never slammed MR Beer. I bet he acknowledges its role in being a gateway in this hobby...In fact I wonder how many copies of his book can be attributed in one way or another to the Old Brown Keg...Either given as gifts along side it, or the next purchase AFTER the Mr beer Kit.

Personally, I havent tasted one of his brews that I enjoyed. He has told me he is more interested in trying to make wine. I will point him in the right direction for this, although I've never made wine.

 

[g_rath]

Mr. Beer, the gateway drug of home brewing.

I think that I tossed mine out after sitting in the basement for about 2 years. I never did make it. Just went right for the good stuff.

 

[Aleforge]

I know a few guys who got them as gifts years ago, they didn't take care when making up their batches and both turned out horrible! I think it scarred them for life as they both wrote off the homebrewing scene since.

Homebrewing is just a fad I was told. :cross:

Anyhow I guess if your not going to take enough time even with that you might as well stay away from the real deal.

 

[Brewsmith]

I saw a whole stack of them and the extract kits at Bevmo yesterday.

 

[farmbrewernw]

Mr. Beer can be a blessing or a curse, my dad had one and both of the beers he made were terrible, because of it he swore off homebrewing. On the other hand it got me interested in homebrewing at an early age and here I am talking about Mr. Beer.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

Not to knock Mr. Beer, but if you can't make good beer, why make beer at all? It never made sense to me. Of course I was into good beer before I was into brewing it...

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

Not to knock Mr. Beer, but if you can't make good beer, why make beer at all? It never made sense to me. Of course I was into good beer before I was into brewing it...

The point is that the WIFE buys you the Mr. Beer for Christmas. After that, the hundreds of dollars spent going AG, the weeks in the garage, the days of drunken bliss.......Thay are all HER fault for starting the obsession in the first place!! Don't you see the beauty of that deal!?

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

hmmmmm..... Maybe I love Mr. Beer......

 

[springer]

I have one sitting in my garage never opened. Was given to me 4 years ago for Christmas by my brother in law I had already started with dry malt extract kits from homebrewheaven . He was using the Mr. Beer up until this August when I talked my sister into buying him a starter kit for his birthday . Now he wants to go all grain

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

I have one sitting in my garage never opened. Was given to me 4 years ago for Christmas by my brother in law I had already started with dry malt extract kits from homebrewheaven . He was using the Mr. Beer up until this August when I talked my sister into buying him a starter kit for his birthday . Now he wants to go all grain

There's that avatar again!!

 

[jkarp]

Not to knock Mr. Beer, but if you can't make good beer, why make beer at all? It never made sense to me. Of course I was into good beer before I was into brewing it...

Thing is, you can make good beer with Mr. Beer. I took 3rd in a LHBS competition with a Mr. Beer recipe. There's nothing inherently bad (or good) about Mr. Beer beer. It's simply small-scale, extract brewing.

The reason so many Mr. Beer noobs fail is they can't follow directions. They genuinely think they're gonna get drinkable beer in two weeks with the thing.

The biggest downside to Mr. Beer is the cost. Like any pre-hopped extract though, it sure is easy to toss together. Ingredients to fermenter in under 30 minutes.

 

[springer]

There's that avatar again!!

glad to be of service

 

[BierMuncher]

Membership will jump substantially after Mr. Beer reveals himself from under the Christmas tree.

Mr. Beer got me hooked even though it was like drinking liquid bread...the farts were fantastic though.

Remember to acknowledge their desire to brew there own.
Reaffirm that Mr. Beer was where a lot of us started.
Gently suggest they look into basic HB kits from an LHBS.

 

[Saccharomyces]

I had two failures with Mr. Beer and ended up at Austin Homebrew. I still use my Mr. Beer fermenter for small batches. I just know better than to use the spigot for bottling.