Just Call Me Mr Beer

[Ben]

One of my Christmas gifts was a Mr. Beer. Kinda neat and well timed, because as I've mentioned elsewhere I've for the most part given up soda and will have a beer with meals nowadays. I've actually thought of maybe doing some brewing, sort of for the opposite of what most probably get into it for, to make a low ABV beer that tastes good for consumption with lunch and dinner. Not that I also wouldn't be making some good stout and weisenbeer as well.

I've done some googling and understand the Mr Beer is kinda looked down upon by those who are really into home brewing, but I figure it will be an easy way for me to experiment with the process and see if I like it. I know zero about home brewing, but I'm gonna give it a try and I'll let you guys know how it goes in six weeks or so. 

[Devonai]

Good luck, as long as you get something drinkable that costs even a fraction less than buying it, you win.

I have sometimes urged one of my best friends to come on here and show off his home brewing outfit.  A few of his creations could have won contests, they were so perfect.  Others were more akin to a hops IED, or drinking rusty pennies through a dirt filter.  Still, as the years have gone by, he has more successes than failures.

[just Warren]

Wow. Good concept. I'm not much of a beer drinker but the hard cider kit sounds great.

Does this portend the era of the nano-brewery?

Sure, there are lot's of home brewers now but this might cause a massive increase in that number and as a result all manner of trading opportunities. Local exchange clubs and perhaps getting onto local restaurant menus as a limited amount, limited quantities option.

Of course it also means that in a year or so these things will be showing up in thrift stores country-wide.

Have fun with yours and we expect updates.

[charby]

I have a 5-6 gallon brewing equipment and I've always wondered about a Mr. Beer for making small batches for fun. I expect a full review from you.

Others were more akin to a hops IED,

I'm so going to have to remember that line. :)

[Ron]

I experimented with MrBeer and had mostly decent results.

The one batch I didn't care for was due to my adding too much lemon zest. Also I started drinking it too soon. Originally it was too lemony (like a Leinenkugel Summer Shanty) for me as well as a little green. After it set a while bottle conditioning it was much better.

MrBeer beers have a distinctive character or flavor. Have you ever noticed you can almost always tell you are drinking a Samuel Adams product regardless the style? Same type of thing going on. It isn't a bad or off flavor but after a couple/few batches of different Mrbeer brews you start to notice the common flavor.

I would follow the directions and if you are going to change anything buy a good yeast recommended for the style you are brewing. The MrBeer "taste" might be due to the strain of yeast.

[Ben]

Thanks for the tips Ron! I'm gonna probably start the fermenting today.

[KD5NRH]

I've owned two of them, in addition to a much larger brewing setup based on 5 gallon buckets.  The smaller fermenters were handy for testing recipes, and after I quit drinking, I used them to make custom vinegars.  Homemade ginger vinegar is pretty handy in the kitchen.

[Balog]

Sanitation is the most important thing. Fresh ingredients is next. Do that and it'll be ok.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/mr-beer-read-all-about-ask-questions-46360/

[KD5NRH]

I should add, do *not* intentionally make vinegar around any brewing process that isn't intended for vinegar.  It will cross contaminate very easily, and everything will be vinegar.

[AJ Dual]

I experimented with MrBeer and had mostly decent results.

The one batch I didn't care for was due to my adding too much lemon zest. Also I started drinking it too soon. Originally it was too lemony (like a Leinenkugel Summer Shanty) for me as well as a little green. After it set a while bottle conditioning it was much better.

MrBeer beers have a distinctive character or flavor. Have you ever noticed you can almost always tell you are drinking a Samuel Adams product regardless the style? Same type of thing going on. It isn't a bad or off flavor but after a couple/few batches of different Mrbeer brews you start to notice the common flavor.

I would follow the directions and if you are going to change anything buy a good yeast recommended for the style you are brewing. The MrBeer "taste" might be due to the strain of yeast.

It's that canned wort malt syrup they use. Despite the flavors or types, it all has the same base.  Most of the brew stores have different kinds of malt extract brewing bases too.

My father made one batch with the Mr. Beer we got him for Christmas last year. It came out okay, just undercarbonated. He still has the other three cans in the multi-pack we got him, but meh... he enjoyed it, got the "beermaking" bug out of his system, and sated his curiosity, so even if it never gets used again, I call it good.

[zxcvbob]

I just started brewing again 2 months ago after a 15+ year hiatus.  I've brewed twice so far (not including the cider, sake, and lemon wine),  3 gallons of Belgian dubbel and a 4-gallon Englishish pale ale.  I'm doing all-grain mashes this time, which is not impressive because I haven't worked up to 5 gallons yet.    Both beers are almost ready to bottle, but not quite.  (The Belgian is taking an awfully long time)

What size is the Mr. Beer, about 5 liters, or a little bigger than that?  It might be a good system for making minimally carbonated British ales and serve right from the fermentor.  In any case, I think you'll want to move away from the kits pretty quickly to save money, better selection of yeasts, and have fresher ingredients.

[Ben]

What size is the Mr. Beer, about 5 liters, or a little bigger than that?  It might be a good system for making minimally carbonated British ales and serve right from the fermentor.  In any case, I think you'll want to move away from the kits pretty quickly to save money, better selection of yeasts, and have fresher ingredients.

Two gallons. That was one of the complaints of people who are really into brewing - if you're gonna do it, do bigger quantities and make it worthwhile. If it was my own idea to get into it, I would have done some research and possibly done what the experts recommended, and spent a bit more money for the "good" equipment. But as a Christmas present that was probably purchased at Amazon or BevMo or somewhere, it's already here so I'll give it a try.

As AJ alluded to in his post, I'll either get the bug out of me in a batch or two and quit, or really like it and invest in "real" equipment. Though on the Mr Beer forum, it's suggested that buying better ingredients and using the Mr Beer will also give superior results compared to what comes in the kit.

[zxcvbob]

"Go big, or go home" 
There are folks at HBT that do ONE gallon all-grain brewing.  You could do that easily on your kitchen stove, and boost it with malt extract (or for some styles, sugar) to get to 2 gallons.  (Partial mash brewing)  With small batches, you gotta be more efficient with your time is all -- or maybe you don't if you really like the process.  I can boil 4 gallons on my kitchen stove, so that's my practical limit.  If I get a bigger pot, the stove probably can't quite handle it.

Eventually I'll have to get something set up so I can boil outside.  (probably an electric kettle made from a bucket)  In the winter here, boiling a gallon of water into the air in the kitchen is not a problem.  Any other time of the year and Mrs Z. would run me out of the house.

I'll bet there are people at HBT that use Mr. Beer and there's probably a subforum for it.

[Ben]

Well, I got the first batch into the fermenter. It took me twice as long as it should have because I was super paranoid about sanitation. For instance, I ended up boiling water in the malt pot twice to make sure it was sterilized. :)

I was originally going to use one of the two recipes included with the kit as a "sacrificial brew" in case I screwed up the first time, but one of them was a Czech Pilsner, which I don't know anything about, so I'd have no idea if I had a poor batch (unless I REALLY screwed up of course), and the other looked to be some kind of Corona imitation, which I guess if it tasted bad, I got it right. 

I ended up using the wheat beer kit I got as an additional gift since I know my wheats, and I'll be able to tell if I did well or not. Anyway, now the waiting begins.

Thanks for that link and all the time it has sucked me out of Bob!   They have like a 500 page thread there on Mr Beer.

[SADShooter]

Good luck. My intro to homebrewwing was a gifted Mr. Beer as well. Strangely enough, their Blueberry Ale was one of the best and most memorable beers I have brewed. A few others were swill. After about 4 months I was ready to venture to the nearest specialty store and get a big boy starter kit.

[MillCreek]

I am still watching this: http://www.picobrew.com/Shop/productdetails.cshtml/0

[zxcvbob]

I am still watching this: http://www.picobrew.com/Shop/productdetails.cshtml/0

That looks like a great system for a commercial small brewer to use for prototyping new recipes.  As a homebrewer who never has to have the beer turn out the same way twice, I *like* using homemade primitive equipment.  (I do need to get a digital thermometer tho')

[Balog]

Well, I got the first batch into the fermenter. It took me twice as long as it should have because I was super paranoid about sanitation. For instance, I ended up boiling water in the malt pot twice to make sure it was sterilized. :)

I was originally going to use one of the two recipes included with the kit as a "sacrificial brew" in case I screwed up the first time, but one of them was a Czech Pilsner, which I don't know anything about, so I'd have no idea if I had a poor batch (unless I REALLY screwed up of course), and the other looked to be some kind of Corona imitation, which I guess if it tasted bad, I got it right. 

I ended up using the wheat beer kit I got as an additional gift since I know my wheats, and I'll be able to tell if I did well or not. Anyway, now the waiting begins.

Thanks for that link and all the time it has sucked me out of Bob!   They have like a 500 page thread there on Mr Beer.

I linked the super long Mr Beer thread earlier. 

[Balog]

I am still watching this: http://www.picobrew.com/Shop/productdetails.cshtml/0

Even with a pretty significant savings per batch it'd take a long time to recoup $1800.

[Ben]

I linked the super long Mr Beer thread earlier. 

This is my new standard reply when I don't catch stuff. I need to make an APS specific macro for it. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79YUknp1T7I

[Scout26]

I've owned two of them, in addition to a much larger brewing setup based on 5 gallon buckets.  The smaller fermenters were handy for testing recipes, and after I quit drinking, I used them to make custom vinegars.  Homemade ginger vinegar is pretty handy in the kitchen.

I thought Mormons didn't drink?

[KD5NRH]

I thought Mormons didn't drink?

I was raised Methodist.  Wasn't much good at it, though.  Something about non-church-sanctioned, inappropriate coed activities during lock-ins.

[Ben]

Well, so far so good. I bottled last night. A taste of the beer in the fermenter gave me a bit of a "Summer wheat" taste (flat, of course) with the fruit overtones. I was a bit surprised, as the yeast that came with the kit has a 68-76 deg range, and the beer fermented in the lower range, which should have made it more clovey. Though I wasn't around for a week of the fermenting, so temps could have inched up a couple of degrees the first week. I did keep the fermenter in an ice chest to help moderate temp fluctuations.

They sell better yeasts at the Mr. Beer site, which I will probably use on the next batch instead of the included yeast. The Safbrew WB-06 wheat yeast has a 59-75deg range, so I'd be able to keep the fermenter in a closet under the staircase, which stays a pretty constant low-mid 60s.

Anyway, two more weeks sitting in the bottles, then I'm gonna stick them in the fridge for a week or so before the first taste test.

[Firethorn]

You kept it in a cooler?  That might inch up the temperature all by itself - yeast produce heat, the cooler would help keep said heat within.

[Ben]

You kept it in a cooler?  That might inch up the temperature all by itself - yeast produce heat, the cooler would help keep said heat within.

Yeah, that was the recommended storage method for the fermenting keg in the DVD that came with the kit. For the week I was there to check it every day, temp in the cooler got down to around 67 when I checked first thing in the morning, then up to around 69-70 in the late afternoon. I was actually getting concerned about the yeast going dormant, but certainly heat from the yeast could have upped the temps.

I'm starting the next batch when I know I can be around for the first full week, when most of the activity is going on, so I'll have a better idea of the temp range.