Mr Beer

[eyeguy 54]

Giving it a shot. A batch of Octoberfest Vienna Lager has been brewing 7 days. I think I'll give it 2 or 3 more days and then bottle it. First attempt at this so hope it turns out tastey.

[solbes]

I would leave it on the yeast longer than 10 days as you will likely get better beer. You would be fine to leave it for 3 weeks easy, many go 4. What temp are you fermenting at. and which yeast?

Lagers can be tricky (fermented really cool and need lots of yeast). You can easily ferment it as an ale at higher temps though and make fine beer, just might not taste like a lager.

Congrats on your first! I bet you get hooked. I brewed a Fat Tire clone yesterday.

[eyeguy 54]

I'll be hooked for sure. day 8 today. Just going by the directions from MR Beer. Room temp has been 66-72. No more foam on top. It says to go at least 7 days. Just using the yeast that came with the kit. The smell by the cover is great. I have a good nose. Tough to wait longer but I'll bottle it Wednesday. Then looks like I gotta wait at least another week.

[solbes]

Sure its your beer That first one is so exciting. Aging a little longer on primary yeast will give you a beer that is less "green". There are a lot of fermentation byproducts created early on that need to be cleaned up. Takes about a week on primary yeast after fermentation is complete, or can take a few weeks in the bottle as there is less yeast to do the same work.

Bottles will usually carbonate in 1-2 weeks, but again that 3rd week will allow it to clean up.

Learned this the hard way by following the instructions on my first batch. Remember they want you to buy another batch and cycle it through. A lot of the homebrewing websites presribe to either a 3 week primary or 3 week combination of primary/secondary. I drank up 3/4 of my first batch and then saw a remarkably better beer after it had sat in the bottles for awhile. Again just my two pennies here. Best of luck!

[WalleyeChaser]

Its hard to wait but you will be disappointed if you follow the manual. Check out the forums on Mr. Beer site. I think most guys go 4 weeks in the keg, 4 weeks in the bottle, and then at least 2 in the fridge. The longer the better! And don't move the keg around when bottling it Will stir up the sediment in the bottom of the keg and cause an off taste. Don't mean to scare you off from doing it, just be patient! Its fun and rewarding!

[eyeguy 54]

Thx for the tips! If I bottle it Wednesday and then sit for 11 days that would be the 3 week combo. So if I can hold off yet I will... Wednesday will be the test, lol. Kinda like buck hunting.... should I shoot this 8 or gamble and hope a bigger 10 walks by.

[solbes]

Patience is something every homebrewer has to learn for themselves. I would guess most try a beer that sits in primary for 1-1.5 weeks and then tries a few bottles that have only been carbonating for a week or so. Gives first hand perspective on the time element in brewing.

The best way to deal with it is to get another batch going as soon as you bottle. Eventually you have enough bottled that you don't have any issues going 3-4 weeks in primary and the full 3 in the bottle. A couple days in the fridge is enough to force the CO2 into solution, but it will "smooth" out with a full week or two in the fridge as the yeast drops out of suspension from the cold temps.

[eyeguy 54]

I'll just drink my Bud or Bud lite till it's ready. Got the whole kit from a friend who did not use it so not ready to buy another one yet.

[deets22]

i had a mr. beer kit a few years back. take everyones advice and give it more time. me and my buddies in college rushed our batches with the minimum time at first and they were terrible. then we took our time after that and made some pretty tasty stuff. it was a great way to be introduced into home brew and to learn and tweak recipes.

[eyeguy 54]

chatted online with Mr Beer. Nice service! Suggested the 2-2-2 method for lagers. Thanks for the input guys. 2-2-2 it is. I'll post a pic when bottled.

[ThunderLund78]

My buddy is big into homebrewing and is getting me into it. I have my first batch going at his house with his equipment right now (an IPA). It was a really fun and interesting experience and it's a good excuse to get some buddies together and have a good time. I can see how a guy could sink some serious dough into, but what hobby don't you? Maybe I'll buy a couple fewer fishing lures this year and get some of my own basic equip. After all, the bottle bass are ALWAYS biting

[eyeguy 54]

Plan to bottle it Sunday. Got on the MR Beer forums and having fun with some of the beers snobs... LOL ordered a Patriot Lager and 8 more bottles online. And 4 glasses to drink from of course.

[solbes]

More people hooked on the hobby, I like it.

Thunder, by far the best equipment deal I have run across is the Midwest Supplies Groupon deal. You get a 5 gallon equipment set that has almost everything, plus an ingredient kit, and sometimes a $25 gift cert for like $62. You can pick it up at their store in Golden Valley or have it shipped. They can't be making money on this deal, but I'm sure they are pushing for repeat customers.

I bought a wine kit for my BIL, and picked up a second set of equipment for myself last year. Awesome deal!

[eyeguy 54]

I might try wine someday also.

[JP Z]

It doesn't look like Midwest is running that Groupon Deal Currently. They have a starter kit for around $150 with Shipping.

[solbes]

I was able to find one. I can't post a link, but try searching with this in G-search site:

groupon midwest supplies December 27

[JP Z]

NICE!!! Might just have to pull the trigger.

[Alagnak]

Well. I've been going to try this for years. Just pulled the trigger on the starter kit. Thanks to you guys for finding and sharing that deal. Either it collects dust after trying it a few times or I go ballzz deep into it- nothing in between. As much as I like cooking/ smoking meats/ making sausage and all that I think I might just have some fun and REALLY enjoy the samples. ;-)

Thanks!

More people hooked on the hobby, I like it.

Thunder, by far the best equipment deal I have run across is the Midwest Supplies Groupon deal. You get a 5 gallon equipment set that has almost everything, plus an ingredient kit, and sometimes a $25 gift cert for like $62. You can pick it up at their store in Golden Valley or have it shipped. They can't be making money on this deal, but I'm sure they are pushing for repeat customers.

I bought a wine kit for my BIL, and picked up a second set of equipment for myself last year. Awesome deal!

[mrklean]

Have been making wine for about a year now and just started beer a couple months ago its a blast the most important thing ive learnd age age age doesnt matter if its wine or beer. Its an addiction be prepared

[solbes]

Sweet, we'll have to startup a homebrew thread after you guys get started. Homebrewtalk is the other site I hang out at a lot.

Its really not that hard to do. Extract kits are an easy way to start out and fairly simple to do. Three simple rules for your first batch. 1) Keep fermentation temps close to the bottom end of the yeasts temp range (more important for the first 2-3 days & don't add yeast until you chill your wort down to there). 2) Use filtered water (removes chlorine) or grocery store RO water. 3) Be patient, or as patient as you can stand. Preferably 3 weeks in primary fermenter and 3 weeks in the bottle.

[ThunderLund78]

More people hooked on the hobby, I like it.

Thunder, by far the best equipment deal I have run across is the Midwest Supplies Groupon deal. You get a 5 gallon equipment set that has almost everything, plus an ingredient kit, and sometimes a $25 gift cert for like $62. You can pick it up at their store in Golden Valley or have it shipped. They can't be making money on this deal, but I'm sure they are pushing for repeat customers.

I bought a wine kit for my BIL, and picked up a second set of equipment for myself last year. Awesome deal!

Thanks for the tip, I'll check it out! I've heard Midwest is more affordable, I got my extract kit that I'm currently brewing with my buddies equipment at Northern Brewer just because of proximity. I'll have to check out Midwest.

Another fun thing associated with home brewing is fashioning your own homemade custom equipment. My buddy made a really cool copper chilling coil fed by a pump that circulates ice water from an igloo cooler. Sure they sell them but it's cheaper and more fun to make. Got that temp down in minutes!

[solbes]

I like NB too, we're lucky to have 2 great stores here in town.

I made a copper chiller too, although mine just hooks up to my kitchen sink. Works great for 8 months out of the year. June-September can be a little tough with warmer ground water. With the way the weather's going, it'll still work great in until 4th of July this year. Ice water pump would work great year round, kudos.

[mrklean]

Im closer to Midwest but did buy a couple kits from Northern still want to try the Caribu Slobber heard its dang good. Only thing i dont like about Northern is they dont include the priming sugar you have to buy seperate compared to Midwest that includes everthing. I was thinking about buying a wort chiller but have stuck with adding ice and setting it in cold water seems to work good for me and i already have to much brewing equipment.

[eyeguy 54]

the kit I have is for 2 gallons, 8 quart bottles. mr beer starter kits run 55 to 100 bucks online.

[mrklean]

most of the extract kits you get from Midwest or NB are 5 gallon kits about $30-50 a kit you can get bottles either super cheap on c-list or even free i got a ton a free clean bottles on there. Since i had almost all the equipment already besides bottles and a press to put bottle caps on i figured my cost is about $.50-$.75 per bottle