Before you dive into this weeks video lets make one thing clear, brewing should be fun. In the end if you enjoy the beer you make, then you’ve won. Plain and simple. These Brew Dudes make no qualms about how people make their beer. Brew and let brew. That said, we take a fun somewhat tongue and cheek look at the infamous Mr. Beer Kit this week. As lovers of homebrewing we should all be good stewards and embrace the many ways people can get into this hobby. Role film!
I got this kit because my brother in law didn’t want it. I think he got it through a christmas swap or something. He likes some craft beer but its not really his thing. Besides when he’s in town he likes to get his beer from me! (I hope.)
I know there are a lot of haters on the web regarding Mr. Beer. Really its nothing more than a better marketed and glitzy version of most of our first extract kits. They set themselves apart from the mainstream further by going to a 3 gallon batch size as well. I think this must cut down on shipping costs for the small extract cans they sell.
The basic boxed kit comes with 8 bottles and caps, a can of prehopped extract, a packet of dry yeast and a barrel shaped fermentor with a large lid and a spigot. Interesting the plastic fermentor is brown but somewhat transparent. So unlike the classic white pails most of us start with you are likely to see the fermentation (maybe you’d need a flashlight to be sure though). This kit came with an American Style Light Lager extract. I suppose its nothing more than some 2-row extract maybe some mashed rice or corn in the original grist hopped with something neutral.
I am excited to have a small fermentor in my arsenal of toys. Been thinking of some small batches and paying $25 dollars for a 3 gallon better bottle when a full size one is $28 just doesn’t seem right.
Anyway, I don’t bottle beer much anymore but the plastic bottles seem interesting. I might use these for some soda or something.
Have you ever used a Mr. Beer Kit? Did you get your start with a Mr. Beer Kit? Drop us a note and tell us your review.
BREW ON! (Anyway you can!)
Jake Woldstad
Hey, Guys,
I loved the video. My home-brew club was talking about trying to get 3 of the same kits and doing one kit following the directions, one kit the way we would do the same ingredients but use the processes we use as home brewers, and then the last kit kicked up with late hop additions and compare them over the course of a few months.
I agree that anything that gets people interested in brewing is a good thing, but I’ve not had many finished Mr Beer kits that turned out fantastic.
Erin
I have a Mr. Beer kit that I bought for my husband years ago. It was a birthday present and I always hoped he would start brewing. He read the directions, whipped up some brew and his first batch came out awful. The Mr. Beer went in the garage and was never touched again till . . . cue to years later I stated brewing. I was the chef of the family with a scientific mind and loved experimenting so as I started my brewing journey, and recently I remembered that Mr. Beer in the garage. Now I use it as yet another tool in my arsenal. Its nice to have a 2 gal. fermentor for small batches. It works, but I use it mostly as a primary. No airlock and somewhat cloudy brown plastic doesn’t tell you much about whats happening in there. The directions don’t talk about testing or allow much leeway and the product to me wasn’t drinkable. However, using good methods and testing, it is a very nice small fermentor.
Herb Meowing
Such ignorant assholes.
CG
Funny! We never started with a Mr. Beer kit, just good advice at the homebrew shop. It didn’t take long to switch to all-grain and our own recipes with a bit of research on our end, but my husband had also been brewing for a year or two before I even came along 🙂 I suppose it’s a good way to get your standard commercial beer drinker introduced to the idea without overwhelming them. Maybe it’s the McDonaldization of homebrewing though!