What is in the Mr beer stuff that makes it ferment in 5 days and carbonate in 3 days? I have no experience on this stuff but a guy I work with uses this system. His beer tasts bad and always has off flavors. I dont dog him out on it because he is doing some thing but I do try to encourage him to step up and do real brewing.

Um, I think you answered your own question. There's nothing "in" it that makes it ready so fast. Thats why it tastes like crap.

lmao we got Mr. Beer in convenience stores up here recently, and now we have people saying their brewers. its funny to listen to them talk. but to somewhat answer your question, Eric, I'm pretty sure the "airlock" starts to seize up and block out the hole in the cap while fermentation is at its peak and giving off more co2,making it carbonate faster while its still finishing up.

i started with a Mr Beer kit over 4 years ago. Yes all the beer has the same off taste and its defiently not the extract twang. I think it has something to do with the "booster" pack that comes with the kit. I remember the directions and nothing said anything about it workig that quick. All my kits said 2 weeks in the "keg" fermenter and then 2 weeks in the bottle.

Why not do the guy a favor and get him a big extract kit and a large bucket so he has no reason to not move on and then he will see that he can make better beer.

oh, right you guys have the one with the little keg type thing. i was talking about the bottle brews they have

Aidan what inthe heck are you talking about? bottle brews?

this is what we are talking about.

http://www.mrbeer.com/category-exec/category_id/181

please show us what you mean by bottle brews.

they make 2 litre bottles with special caps and you just throw a yeast capsule in and screw the cap on and it goes. i'll take a picture, im going to the store in ten minutes

The fact that it's Mr. Beer, is why it's crappy beer. It doesn't really fully ferment in 5 days, the instructions just say it's done after 5. Mr. Beer knows that if people knew how long it really took to make a quality brew, a lot would simply turn away from the hobby. As for the carbonation, well seeing that it's not full fermented there is still plenty of action that will take place after the transfer, and even more so with the added carb booster sugar...that way, it's pretty much still fermenting when it's bottled, and being sealed all the gasses you would normally want to vent out during fermentation get pushed into the beer...and that would explain the crappy final product.

I had a friend who got one for Christmas a few years ago. I'm no expert brewer, but after seeing what I go through to make a fairly good beer, he tossed the unopened package in the dumpster, and is now slowly collecting enough money and equipment to do it right....

my buddy does the mr beer thing to i try to get him involved more with "our ways" but with a couple kids time is his factor.
be sides that those little f-ing cans of hopped extract are expensive i'm trying to at least get him to buy some extract from the LHBS to make his own stuff

THAT SOUNDS DISGUSTING.. just thrown a yest cap in an tada you got crap in a bottle.. LOL Why not just take a dump in it shake it u[p and call it mr. beer

If you take some time and patience I bet you can make a decent beer with it, but most people that get those things don't realize that and follow the directions

I Love to Gamble Thom.....how much cash would you like to bet?...a close friend of mine has a Mr. Beer brewery...he swears by it!! Ive tasted his brew....Im sure you'll love it!!! On a serious note: Thom i wouldn't take your money...its a very poor product from the samples ive had even after following the directions to the "T"

well that's what I'm saying, once you understand the process and throw out the Directions, I'm sure you could make a decent, not on the level that we make, mind you. But a decent enough beer. I actually have heard people on this forum in the past talk about making drinkable beer with it. I wouldn't expect to get award winning beer, but if a brewer in know was to give some tutalage to a Mr. Beer owner, I bet it wouldn't be so bad. I have only known one person with one and he said it was decent, not as good as the beer I gave him, but decent.

I think Mr. Beer is a conspiracy from BMC to make no brewers think that making beer is something only "they" can do right to keep people that don't know any better drinking their swill....

my $0.02

I used my Mr Beer fermenter to make small beers and it works fine. The problem with the Mr Beer kit is it is all extract and is who knows how old and the yeast is stored at room temp also for who knows how long. You can use the Mr. Beer fermenter with quality ingrediants (extract and grain recipe) and it works fine.

If it wasn't for Mr. Beer I wouldn't be brewing my own now. He got me started, pointed the way and pushed me to all grain. I still have Mr. Beer, he is up on a shelf looking down at the equipment in my brewery.

I guess one could say Mr. Beer is a gateway process to better beer.

Long live Mr. Beer.

So the abv chart is a just guessing what the alcohol content might be then. I dont wish to make a plus or minus issue of mr. beer, but it seems like mr. beer is a less than beginner item, I am glad I never went that rout.

mister beer vs mr. beer. Big difference, make sure of which one you are talking about.

huh didnt know they were seperate things, its hard to know now from just talking to the guy but if this helps he buys cans of "beer stuff" and boils it ads sugar and ferments for 5 days, bottles by adding some sugar to each bottle then wats a few days and drinks.

oh! i mean mister.

I couldn't get the f#$$%&g carbonation when I used my Mr. Beer! I tried it 3-4 times, gave up and bought my starter equipment. LOL....thanks for the trip down memory lane.

hey, theres nothing wrong with f*cking up on mr beer, because it encouraged you to scale up