Basic Brewing Video - Doctoring Mr. Beer - January 7, 2012

James and Steve take a Mr. Beer kit and use grain and hops to pump up the recipe.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• beer
• brewing
• homebrew
• mr.
• grain
• hops

[Beerjunkieguy]

You should not boil any hopped Mr. Beer extract at all, only the un hopped extract. Mr. Beer hopped extracts should only be added when the boil is finished and still very warm. Boiled hopped extracts can change the profile and flavor.

[basicbrewing]

@Beerjunkieguy You're right - we could have gotten away with only adding the liquid extract at the end of the boil. We were just being overly cautious. I would always boil dry extract for ten minutes to sanitize. However, I don't think the short time we had it in the boil would have affected the flavor or bitterness dramatically. Either way, the beer turned out very nice! Cheers, James

[hmbrwable]

I started brewing with Mr. Beer... still use the little brown fermenter for my small volume BIAB batches. when i brewed with mr. beer HMEs, i usually just steeped some sort of crystal and used a pound of DME (with a hop boil and better yeast, like you guys did)... i always found that a little easier than doing a PM, and it came out great. digging the beard, btw.

[basicbrewing]

@hmbrwable The little fermenter is pretty cool for small batches. The only issue I have with it is when the trub gets too high for the spigot. And, I think Mr. Beer sells them for ten bucks on their site.

[Excrucibo]

James: I like the 'winter insulation'/beard! Cheers!

[basicbrewing]

@Excrucibo Thanks! It's a work in progress. :-) It's getting so gray, you can't really see it. - James

[crazybrody06]

Great video guys, very informative. I started with Mr. Beer and I think its the best starting point for homebrewers. It is super easy and not intimidating. Some people could be turned off from the hobby if its too complicated to start with. Sure the beer from the Mr. Beer standard refills is not the best, but it's a great place to start. As you clearly show you can doctor those up and make them better. If a brewer gets deeper into the hobby he will have a better understanding of fermentation.

[rkoppinger]

This has got to be one of the coolest videos you've done. Great job tackling this. I can't wait to hear how this beer turns out.

[blackcollarfiend]

I CAN'T STOP STARING AT JAMES' BEARD!!!!!

[fuzzbalz]

Great video guys, makes me want to pull my three LBK out and get them going again. One thing you might want to touch on when your ready to drink it, is show the progression of how extending the conditioning period helps. MrBeer recommends 14 days, and I've learned that with most styles 3-4 weeks is better.

[swenocha]

Well done, gentlemen... I generally do AG (BIAB) now, but I started a few years ago with Mr. B and still use a mix of 3 gallon better bottles and Mr. B fermenters to this day. It's very easy to do what you are describing in this vid and get a good beer from the ingredient kits as well. Kudos for not just dismissing Mr. B outright... It's a great way to get people interested in homebrewing at a low cost and is a gateway drug into more advanced homebrewing techniques.

[hmbrwable]

@basicbrewing you can prop the front end of the keg up with a CD or DVD case, or small book to "coax" the trub to settle away from the spigot. keep up the good work!