Mr Beer - Read all about it and ask questions

Go buy acase of Grolsch, have a few, and brew! what's the problem? (;-)

bpgreen said:

I'd give it a week.

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or two

I have porter plus a softpack in my keg. Checked on it today and it 'boiled' over. Bubbly foam on the ceiling of the keg and some wort in the cooler, and I can see the liquid residue on the top of the keg where it came out of the lid.
Why did it do that?

How do I raise the alcohol content in a Mr.Beer mix? I am looking to do a little experimentation with the kit but I don't have the space for a larger set up. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

bzwyatt said:

I have porter plus a softpack in my keg. Checked on it today and it 'boiled' over. Bubbly foam on the ceiling of the keg and some wort in the cooler, and I can see the liquid residue on the top of the keg where it came out of the lid.
Why did it do that?

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Very active fermentation.

DaggerTalk said:

How do I raise the alcohol content in a Mr.Beer mix? I am looking to do a little experimentation with the kit but I don't have the space for a larger set up. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

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My advice is to go after flavor rather than ABV.

Any fermentable sugar will raise the alcohol level, but there are tradeoffs. If you use some sugars (white sugar, brown sugar, honey, syrup, etc) you increase the alcohol, but thin it out and give it a cidery flavor that can take time to condition out. A better way is to add malt (LME, DME). This will add flavor and body, as well as alcohol. However, the reason it adds body is that it has both fermentable and unfermentable sugars, so it also makes the beer sweeter. A certain amount is OK because it is offset by the hops in the HME, but if you add enough, you'll need to counter the sweetness with some hops for bitterness. And in order to get the bitterness, you'll need to boil the hops.

If you're going to do much along these lines, I'd suggest getting some being software, such as qbrew (free and screwy brewer adds the Mr beer ingredients-Google screwy Brewer and I think his blog comes up to the top).

Another free option is brewmate, but I haven't used it.

The best is probably beersmith, but it's not free. If you really start doing a lot of your own recipes, though, it's well worth the cost (I bought it and I'm the kind of guy who can squeeze a dime and get 11 pennies to drop to the floor).

And that is totally ok, right? Pressure shouldn't let any bad stuff into the keg. It is all good right? Maybe a good sign that the conditions are good, healthy yeast, all that?

Well, I finally took the plunge tonight. Me and a buddy brewed what we had in our kit, which was the Cowboy Lager AND American Blonde kits. We only used one booster. It's in the LBK now, and the plan is to leave it there for ~3 weeks or so.

We're both pretty pumped!

bzwyatt said:

And that is totally ok, right? Pressure shouldn't let any bad stuff into the keg. It is all good right? Maybe a good sign that the conditions are good, healthy yeast, all that?

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Sanitize anything that has been exposed and you should be fine.

bzwyatt said:

I have porter plus a softpack in my keg. Checked on it today and it 'boiled' over. Bubbly foam on the ceiling of the keg and some wort in the cooler, and I can see the liquid residue on the top of the keg where it came out of the lid.
Why did it do that?

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What was the temperature of the wort when you pitched the yeast, and what was the fermentation temperature? These might give us some insights as to why it went crazy.

Scott Birdwell
DeFalco's Home Wine & Beer Supplies
www.defalcos.com

I don't know the exact temp, only have the MrB sticker temp indicator. I didn't have as much cold water as they say to use, so it was a bit warm to start. Fermenting temp was actually a little low though, been kind of chilly here lately. But starting with a bit warmer water could do it?

bzwyatt said:

I don't know the exact temp, only have the MrB sticker temp indicator. I didn't have as much cold water as they say to use, so it was a bit warm to start. Fermenting temp was actually a little low though, been kind of chilly here lately. But starting with a bit warmer water could do it?

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Yes. Yeast are more active at higher temperatures. And fermentation is an exothermic process, so once the yeast got going, they could produce enough heat to keep fermentation temperatures significantly higher than ambient temperature.

bpgreen said:

Yes. Yeast are more active at higher temperatures. And fermentation is an exothermic process, so once the yeast got going, they could produce enough heat to keep fermentation temperatures significantly higher than ambient temperature.

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Agreed. And, even if the ambient temperature in your fermentation area is reasonably cool, the warm temperature at pitching time really kicks the fermentation in quickly and violently. Yeast reproduce noticeably more quickly at warmer temperatures, plus certain fruity esters are formed by this warm incubation temperature. With this rapid growth cycle, the fermentation may well kick in before your wort has had an opportunity to cool to ambient temperature. Fortunately, a rich porter might be able to mask some of the off-flavors from the warm temperature. You're probably all right. In the future, you might want to refrigerate any water you're going to be adding to the cooled wort to speed the cooling process up.

Scott Birdwell
DeFalco's Home Wine & Beer Supplies
www.defalcos.com

You guys always are great with the answers! Thanks!

bpgreen said:

If you're going to do much along these lines, I'd suggest getting some being software, such as qbrew (free and screwy brewer adds the Mr beer ingredients-Google screwy Brewer and I think his blog comes up to the top).

Another free option is brewmate, but I haven't used it.

The best is probably beersmith, but it's not free. If you really start doing a lot of your own recipes, though, it's well worth the cost (I bought it and I'm the kind of guy who can squeeze a dime and get 11 pennies to drop to the floor).

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Any apps for iPhone or ipad?

check Brewaide for android.

I don't use it or know what it is for really, but I think I remember guys saying it is cool...
(I just started, have brewed a few MrBeer kits)

Weather forecast in SoCal says it is going to warm up a lot, right about the time I'm bottling. Is it just as critical to keep the temp constant in bottles as in the keg?

skidoo2003 said:

Any apps for iPhone or ipad?

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I like brewpal.
It keeps track of your recipes and their progress.

I really like MrBeer. I ordered their swing top bottles and another refill, American ale. This is the second time I've ordered from them and they ship quick, update by email quick, everything is cool. I like their instructions and the book they sent with the refills. It is fun to read and informative. There is nothing to not like about them. Maybe that they say you can make beer in 2 weeks... That seems like a bad decision by whoever decided it would be a good thing to use to sell more kits... but everything else seems really cool about the company.

I started with a five gallon kit, then I got a mr. Beer as a gift. First batch was good. Now I plan on making a five gallon batch and the mr beer as a different beer to follow. That way I always have home brew ready! The best of both worlds!

I'm doing an American porter mr beer but tweaking it. I'm adding 1 lb of briess traditional dark DME and 1 oz willamette hop pellets for 20 min of boil. I also have a robust lme to add. Any idea what to expect with this? I'm mostly experimenting but would like any suggestions. Is this way too much "stuff" or should it turn out decent?

Do I need to do anything differently? Let ferment longer? Let condition longer? Use more priming sugar?

I am also using spring water from cub foods and using a Safale s-04 yeast from lhbs instead of under lid yeast. Hoping for good results!!!!

skidoo2003 said:

I'm doing an American porter mr beer but tweaking it. I'm adding 1 lb of briess traditional dark DME and 1 oz willamette hop pellets for 20 min of boil. I also have a robust lme to add. Any idea what to expect with this? I'm mostly experimenting but would like any suggestions. Is this way too much "stuff" or should it turn out decent?

Do I need to do anything differently? Let ferment longer? Let condition longer? Use more priming sugar?

I am also using spring water from cub foods and using a Safale s-04 yeast from lhbs instead of under lid yeast. Hoping for good results!!!!

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I didn't plug it into any software, but a rough guess is that you'll end up at about 5.5-6% ABV.

I'd do a hydrometer check at two weeks to see if it's finished. With a full packet of S-04, it probably will be.

Don't use more priming sugar. The purpose of priming sugar is to give the yeast something to eat and concert to co2 (and a little alcohol). I'm not a big fan of stouts, but if I remember correctly, they're lightly hopped, so you might want to use less. I'd suggest using a priming calculator to determine the correct amount of sugar to use.

Tasted my Patriot Lager this weekend. Three weeks in the fermenter (we had a cold snap here in SW Virginia that slowed down the process) and two weeks in the 12 oz bottles. Turned out to be my best Mr. Beer batch yet. Lesson learned: there's no harm in letting it take its sweet little time.

Man I am mad and sad...

I have two kegs going, patriot lager and american porter. I have them in coolers right now, weather is mild. I know it will be too hot in my area to brew without something extra to keep the proper temp, and I figured I had another month maybe before it gets hot. So these were my last two kegs before I did something else. But it is hot now! My kegs are overheating. I need to look into a way to regulate temps RIGHT NOW. I'm mad I probably wasted the $ and time on these batches, and sad I had some potentially good brew that got ruined. I will still let it go and try to keep it cool, see how it turns out, but I am not very hopeful...

bzwyatt said:

Man I am mad and sad...

I have two kegs going, patriot lager and american porter. I have them in coolers right now, weather is mild. I know it will be too hot in my area to brew without something extra to keep the proper temp, and I figured I had another month maybe before it gets hot. So these were my last two kegs before I did something else. But it is hot now! My kegs are overheating. I need to look into a way to regulate temps RIGHT NOW. I'm mad I probably wasted the $ and time on these batches, and sad I had some potentially good brew that got ruined. I will still let it go and try to keep it cool, see how it turns out, but I am not very hopeful...

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I used to put them in an aluminum roasting pan, put some water in it and drape a towel over the LBK, with the end in the water.

Or freeze some bottles of water and put them in the cooler with the LBK. Swap them out as they thaw. Add or remove bottles as needed to get the right temperature.

If you really want good control, a Johnson cooler and a freezer or fridge is great.

I see that Mr Beer recommends 3/4 teaspoon per bottle for table sugar when bottle priming. If i use corn sugar should i use the same amount or more? Also if i prime with corn sugar should i let it condition longer than when i used table sugar? I have let them condition for 3 weeks should the corn condition longer.

SulBruin3 said:

I see that Mr Beer recommends 3/4 teaspoon per bottle for table sugar when bottle priming. If i use corn sugar should i use the same amount or more? Also if i prime with corn sugar should i let it condition longer than when i used table sugar? I have let them condition for 3 weeks should the corn condition longer.

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You can use screwys calc to figure out the right amounts.

http://www.thescrewybrewer.com/p/brewing-tools-formulas.html#bpc

Most likely corn sugar will take a little more to prime, and a little longer to condition. Which is why many use table sugar. Most all is fermentable, dissolves easy, and is inexpensive.

SulBruin3 said:

I see that Mr Beer recommends 3/4 teaspoon per bottle for table sugar when bottle priming. If i use corn sugar should i use the same amount or more? Also if i prime with corn sugar should i let it condition longer than when i used table sugar? I have let them condition for 3 weeks should the corn condition longer.

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I've never used corn sugar to prime, so I don't know how much to use. I'd try an online priming calculator if I were you. Here's one example:
http://www.thescrewybrewer.com/2010/08/bottle-priming-calculator.html


I would condition for the same amount of time. I doubt if it makes much difference, but if it did, it would be more likely to need less time rather than more.

Ok here's a question. I used the muslin sack to boil hops in and now I'm ready to bottle, but there is some very visible floating debris in the fermenter. Can I/should I strain it prior to bottling? Seems to be quite a bit of it in there and it has been two and a half weeks since brew.

Thanks

Follow up question, what could I use to strain the debris out an then should I allow it to sit for a bit more prior to bottling after straining?

Doob said:

Ok here's a question. I used the muslin sack to boil hops in and now I'm ready to bottle, but there is some very visible floating debris in the fermenter. Can I/should I strain it prior to bottling? Seems to be quite a bit of it in there and it has been two and a half weeks since brew.

Thanks

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I would not try straining it. You would most likely do more harm than good because straining it would almost surely introduce oxygen, and at this stage of the game, that's a bad thing (unless you want beer that tastes like wet cardboard).

If you have a lot of stuff floating around, you can cold crash by putting the LBK in the fridge for a few days.

I decided to bottle my patriot lager tonight, after 19 days. I tasted it and it was really good! I was so worried about it but it was great! Had some cidery flavor, but after my last batch I know that will condition out and the flavor it had 'under' the cider was nice!
I also cleaned up the cooler with my porter that bubbled over and I poured a taste of that too, and it was great! Maybe it is the roast flavor so strong covering it, but I didn't taste any cider or other flavors, just really good porter!
I bought swing tops from MrB and they will come tomorrow, I feel like bottling the porter too... but I will wait until next week. Main thing though is my beer isn't ruined, it is good! I'm so relieved!

bpgreen you are a good guy, always answer my questions and others with good info, I really appreciate it.

jkn09 said:

Well, I finally took the plunge tonight. Me and a buddy brewed what we had in our kit, which was the Cowboy Lager AND American Blonde kits. We only used one booster. It's in the LBK now, and the plan is to leave it there for ~3 weeks or so.

We're both pretty pumped!

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Quick question for those with experience: any idea on what kind of "style" we should expect from this combination? I know the American Blonde is obviously a Blonde Ale, but I'm not sure what the Cowboy is, much less what the combination will be similar to.

Thanks in advance!

I did one similar, called it the Cowboy Blond. Added a 15 min hop boil and added some dme as well, and it came out very nice. Both kits are very light ales, so with the addition of the booster, you'll get a pretty light beer.

Good to know. Thanks.

I know this has probably been asked before but can you order 5 gallon kits and brew then split the wort into 2 seperate mr beer fermentors and then let it sit for 3 weeks and then bottle and condition for 3 weeks?

SulBruin3 said:

I know this has probably been asked before but can you order 5 gallon kits and brew then split the wort into 2 seperate mr beer fermentors and then let it sit for 3 weeks and then bottle and condition for 3 weeks?

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Keep in mind that the LBK is designed for 2.125 gallon batches, so if you split a 5 gallon batch, you'll either overfill the fermenter a bit or make a stronger beer. I used to overfill to about 2.4 gallons without a problem (on mine, that was to the bottom of the Q in Quart). You may get some overflow if you overfill, but if so, just make sure the lid is loose enough that the notches don't get plugged with excess krausen.

thanks. I was checking out austin homebrew supply website and most of the 5 gallon kits are 30 to 40 for 2 cases when you pay the same for 1 good recipe with mr beer. Guess i got to get a 5 gallon set up...

SulBruin3 said:

thanks. I was checking out austin homebrew supply website and most of the 5 gallon kits are 30 to 40 for 2 cases when you pay the same for 1 good recipe with mr beer. Guess i got to get a 5 gallon set up...

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You could get a 5 gallon setup (I did), but you don't need to. You can brew 5 gallons split between 2 LBKs, you just have to watch for overflow. With particularly active fermentation, you can overflow even without overfilling, and you can overfill without overflowing, also.

MrB instructions say sprinkle yeast in LBK. Their book I was reading says stir vigorously.

Does it make a difference, and why? I figured you'd want to stir it in but followed the instructions, figure yeast does its thing. Now I'm wondering if I shoulda stirred...