The rise of Mr Beer?

[Revvy]

frakin double posting gremlin.....

 

[Revvy]

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.

Congrats, thanks for proving what I've believed all along, it's not the method, it's the brewer who makes great beer.

That's the point why SOME OF US rather than just diss the keg, actually help people on the MR beer Thread to make better beer. To teach instead of just putting it down...or making jokes about it. But nah, it's more fun to make jokes and trash something than it is to actually contribute what you know, to actually help somebody...

It doesn't take much to turn even one of those canned extract kits into a decent beer...with some proper information..

Hell, I just tasted a year old mr beer modded recipe, the last one I ever did using any of the mr beer lme (I think it was the california common)...With some crystal steeping grains, a couple pounds of amber (or maybe dark) Dme, and ounce of hops, a can of pumpkin which I had roasted in the oven, some brown sugar and mollases, and some spices, plus the knowledge I had gained from books and from on here, I made a decent Pumpkin Porter, which a year later, I would stack up with some of my best brews, including the partigyle pumpkin porter I am drinking now....AND i bet if I handed it to any of you haters you'd probably think it was a pretty good pumpkin beer yourself....

I'll say it again...it's not the ingredients, it's not HOW you brew, it's not WHAT you brew, nor is it what you brew with, it's the brewer that makes good beer.

You all diss it, even those who started with it...but don't forget one thing...when you made your one or two f-d up batches, you didn't know **** about brewing....and you followed the instructions (just like the people who follow the instructions on the Cooper's kits)..I betcha if you went back and brewed one of those kits, now, with everything you've learned SINCE you got that kit...I betcha you'd make a decent beer too...SO rather than blame MR Beer, why don't you look back at yourself as the rank amature you were back then, and maybe blame some of it on yourself as well, or cut Mr Beer some slack...

And at least to impart some of your wisdom to someone who got one of these with the anticipation of making good beer...Many of Those people that I first met and helped on that thread, are regular contributors on HBT now...and some are quite happy with the little brown jugs, and the beer they make...so why not support your fellow brewers?

But nah, it's waaay more fun to be EAC, or to hate than it is to help, isn't it???

 

[Pogo]

Originally Posted by springer
I have one sitting in my garage never opened.

Hey, springer...

I've never even seen a Mr.Beer kit, other than online.

I live in a dry county, surrounded by dry counties!

Would you consider selling that neglected kit of yours?

I'm mainly interested in having the fermenter to add to my fermentor arsenal. A two and a half gallon bottle could be handy to have when making country wines from odd sized amounts of fruits.

Pogo

 

[rodneypierce]

i honestly thought about snagging one of these, to make small batches of beer, or to try some others. I think that good beer can be made with one of these, as Revvy has said all along. I already have a standard home brew kit, but am seriously thinking about getting one of these.

 

[Beer_Guy]

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.
…

I think the biggest error MrBeer does, is not emphasizing the importance of temp control during fermentation. I know my first few failures almost turned me off to brewing. Glad I found this place.

Plus like Revvy said, my last MrBeer batch was a modified Porter. It wound up as a Robust Honey Barrel Porter and is VERY nice.

 

[The_Professor]

i honestly thought about snagging one of these, to make small batches of beer, or to try some others. I think that good beer can be made with one of these, as Revvy has said all along. I already have a standard home brew kit, but am seriously thinking about getting one of these.

It's pretty common for the Brewing Keg to be on sale (like now) for $10 bucks.

Anymore I do small batch all grain in mine. They work good to stick a small batch (1 keg) or 5 gallon batch (2 kegs) lager in the fridge for a while. (Talking secondary here)

 

[vandeg]

I've just seen a ad for them in the local newspaper, its surprising to see them in the Dunham's ad. It includes the fermenter, ingredients for first batch(i assume its for one batch), and several 2 liter bottles for $39.99(orig. $60, lol). I kinda thought that was expensive, being that I got mine 2nd hand w/just the fermenter and a ingredient kit for $20...

Does come in handy for small batches but I hope to pass it along to someone in hopes that they get involved with home brewing. Maybe white elephant gift for Christmas Party?

 

[rodneypierce]

It's pretty common for the Brewing Keg to be on sale (like now) for $10 bucks.

Anymore I do small batch all grain in mine. They work good to stick a small batch (1 keg) or 5 gallon batch (2 kegs) lager in the fridge for a while. (Talking secondary here)

just bought it! hey, quick question for yah. Would it hurt buying the clear one, so i can see whats going on inside???? Or, is the "no light = better beer" theory apply here also? I just noticed people do them in glass carboys...

 

[msa8967]

I am glad that Mr Beer is around because w/o it I might not have started this hobby. Before my first Mr Beer batch had finished frementing I was already reading this forum and jumping into 5 gallon extract batches. Now 18 months later I have about 15 extract/pm batches done and over 20 all grain batches done and a 4 tap keezer unit built.

I might never use Mr Beer again but its started one of my favorite hobbies (obsession really.)

 

[rodneypierce]

Mick, your in cedar rapids eh? Same here! I live on the NE side. one block in off boysen and C ave.

 

[The_Professor]

just bought it! hey, quick question for yah. Would it hurt buying the clear one, so i can see whats going on inside???? Or, is the "no light = better beer" theory apply here also? I just noticed people do them in glass carboys...

Technically the darker one is better. (Protects the brew from light). If it's in a dark closet or such the clear is probably okay. Now that I know what I'm looking at I don't really have any problem monitoring the dark keg. I can see if there is krausen, I can see the fill line, I can sample from the spigot...

 

[tradgunkie]

Was just at my local Whole Foods and saw a stack of these for sale. It looks like the All Grain version of Mr. Beer, but it only makes 1 gallon!

http://brooklynbrewshop.com/store/1-gallon-beer-kits

 

[dummkauf]

I spotted these at Cub Foods for the last couple weeks, it caught my attention since I've heard about them but never actually seen one

 

[rodneypierce]

Technically the darker one is better. (Protects the brew from light). If it's in a dark closet or such the clear is probably okay. Now that I know what I'm looking at I don't really have any problem monitoring the dark keg. I can see if there is krausen, I can see the fill line, I can sample from the spigot...

cool. I ordered 2 of the standard brown mr. beer kegs. Also went to austinhomebrew.com and ordered there franziskaner copy hefe weissen. Cant wait for it all to get here this week!!! Figure I will brew up the batch, dump it all, then transfer it to the mr. beer kegs to ferment.

 

[johnmcc]

they have always been avail here in Bed Bath Beyond and Rite Aid for years here, that's how I got mine, this year I've started seeing them in Total Wine. I brewed 12 batches before making the jump to 5 gallon and was pretty happy with the results, gave my 2 mini kegs to my brother in law, who still uses both.

 

[Indyking]

My hobby started about 1 year ago when I got a Coopers kit for Xmas from SWMBO... Coopers is significantly more expensive than Mr. Beer but way better. Their 6-gal fermenter is about the best one I have seen in the market and I always use it whenever I can without worrying about a blow off tube for any kind of wort.

The truth is, Coopers or Mr. Beer kits with their canned and hoped ingredients don’t really do good beers, but they are different from the tasteless American lagers many of us once thought were good. Different is not always better but it is enough to make you think outside the box. I thank SWMBO and Coopers for the quality beer I produce now several months and hundred dollars later...

 

[MetallHed]

saw them at Scheel's this weekend. and at a kitchen appliance store in the mall.