Back in the late 90's rec.crafts.brewing regular Brian Grier posted the following instructions on how to make good beer with Mr Beer. Brian also gave me permission to post this information on my website. If you are starting out we would not recommend Mr Beer since there are better ways to start for the same price, but if someone ends up giving you one as a present, you can use the below to make the best of it.
cheers,
-Alan
Since I have been receiving quite a few requests for this I
just thought I would post it for other Mr. Beer users to
look over. Also other brewers can comment on my process
and suggest other recipes.
I started with the Mr. Beer kit, Pilot fermenter to be precise. I put
together a set of instructions for making non-kit beer with the
Mr. Beer Pilot fermenter. I thought you might be interested.
I have moved to all-grain 10 gallon batches. But I still use the
Pilot Brewery to test styles/recipes I am not sure I will really like.
I wrote these instructions when I started lending the Pilot Fermenter
to people so they could see if they really liked making their own beer,
without having to pay the $50+ startup costs.
Brian
btw: My wife, gave me the Pilot Brewery for Christmas in '95.
For the recipes included you will need the following
in addition to ingredients:
- 1 12 quart stock pot
- 1 large fine strainer
- 1 dial thermometer (0 to 220 degF)
- 1 unscented chlorine bleach
First some simple directions to read a beer recipe. The
ingredients are broken up into 4 types:
- Malt extracts (liquid or dry, light, amber, dark)
The basis of the beer, added to the boiling kettle
- Specialty grains, (crystal, caramel, and chocolate malts)
Steeped in a small amount of liquid and removed prior
to boiling.
- Adjuncts (Honey, sugar, rice extract)
Used to uncrease the alcohol content but not increase
the body of the beer. Added to the boiling kettle
- Hops
Add bitterness, aromas, and flavor. Added to the boiling
kettle. The numbers next to them state the number of
minutes the hops should be in contact with the boiling
liquid. (60 minutes, 30 minutes, 15 minutes, 0 minutes)
If a time of zero (0) is stated you should add the hops
and immediately remove the kettle from the burner.
To start making beer assemble the fermenter by attaching the
spigot to the fermenter, the washer goes on the outside of the
fermenter. Add 1floz of chlorine bleach to the bucket and fill
with COLD tap water. Place the gasket and airlock into the
chlorine solution and set the lid on the top. Tighten the
spigot just enough to not leak around the seal.
In a two quart sauce pan add 1 quart of cold water and any
specialty grains the recipe calls for. Heat this to 155 -
160 degF and hold for 30 minutes. Transfer the liquid to the
12 quart stock pot, use a strainer to remove the grains.
Add enough water to reach 2 gallons. Heat this to a boiling.
Remove from heat, and add the malt extract syrup. Stir well
and return to the heat. Bring to a boil. Skim off any foam
that will start to form. Boil for 10 minutes and make your
first hop addition. Make additional hop additions so that
each will be in contact with the boiling wort for the stated
amount of time.
2 minutes prior to completing the boil, fill your sink with
cold tap water. Place the boiling kettle in this cold water
bath. Change the water twice, every ten minutes. At the end
of 30 minutes the wort should be around 80 degF.
Empty the chlorine solution from the fermenter and rinse 3 times
with hot water. Rinse a final time with cold water.
Pour the contents of the boiling kettle into the fermenter,
using a fine strainer to filter out any trub (pronounced troob).
Add enough cold water to the fermenter to reach 1 pint greater
than the volume of the recipe.
If the wort temperature is below 80 degF, sprinkle 1 packet of
yeast on top of the wort. If the temperature is above 80 degF,
cover the wort and wait until it is below 80 degF and the sprnkle
the yeast onto the wort.
Afix cover, fill airlock with enough water to reach half way up
the stem inside the airlock. Place the airlock in the lid of the
fermenter. Place the fermenter somewhere in a dark, draft free
area that maintains a temperature between 65 and 75 degF.
In 6 to 12 hours the airlock should begin to expel CO2.
Wait 10-12 days. Activity in the airlock may stop anywhere from
2 to 7 days later. The beer will be truely "done" when the
"diving" bell in the airlock is resting on the stem. Give
the beer about 2 days after this then bottle.
Move fermenter to where you will bottle the beer.
Clean 8 16oz bottles per gallon in the recipe. Rinse well.
To each bottle add 1 rounded 1/2tsp of sugar. If you are going
to use 12oz beer bottles, you will need 10 bottles per gallon
in the recipe. Use a level 1/2tsp of sugar per bottle.
Note:
I still use 16oz Pepsi bottles for test batches.
Remove the airlock from the lid of the fermenter.
Open the spigot and collect the first 3 to 6 ounces in a glass.
This gets rid of any yeast that settled there. Save this until
later.
Open the spigot and fill the bottle to within 1/2" of the top.
Repeat this until the beer is gone. You can tilt the fermenter
to get every last drop, but try to avoid any of the yeast sediment
that will be in the bottom of the fermenter.
After filling each bottle place a bottle cap on each bottle, but
do not tighten yet. After all the bottles are full, tighten the
caps in the order you filled them.
Sip the beer from the glass that you first started with, avoid
the majority of the yeast. This will give you an idea what you
beer will taste like.
Store for 14 days at fermentation temperature to allow the beer to
carbonate, then chill for 24 hours.
To serve pour into a glass. Carefully stop pouring when the
sediment starts to leave the bottle, you will leave behind about
1/2floz of beer per bottle. Immediately rinse out the bottle. Then
sample the beer.
Recipes
If you are using a Beer Barrel Brewery double the quantities of
all ingredients these a recipes, you will then be using a standard
3.3lb bag of malt extract syrup. Do not double the water used in
the above instructions.
Basic Beer (5 quarts)
- 1.6lbs Light Malt Extract Syrup
- 1/2oz Cascade hops (45)
- 1/8oz Cascade hops ( 5)
Better Beer (5 quarts)
- 1.6lbs Light Malt Extract Syrup
- 1/4lb 40L Caramel Malt
- 1/2oz Cascade hops (45)
- 1/8oz Cascade hops ( 5)
Porter (5 quarts)
- 1.6lbs Light Malt Extract Syrup
- 1/4lb 40L Caramel Malt
- 1/4lb Chocolate malt
- 1/2oz Northern Brewer hops (45)
Stout (5 quarts)
- 1.6lbs Light Malt extract Syrup
- 1/4lb 40L Caramel Malt
- 1/4lb Chocolate Malt
- 1/4lb Roasted Barley
- 1/2oz Northen Brewer hops (45)
For these recipes purchase:
- 4 - 1.6lb bags of Light malt extract syrup
- 1 - 1.0lb 40L caramel malt
- 1 - 1.0lb Chocolate malt
- 1 - 1.0lb Roasted Barley
- 2 - 1.0oz Cascade hop pellets
- 1 - 1.0oz Northern Brewer hop pellets
- 4 - 7gm pkts Whitbread Ale yeast
If your local shop does not sell 1.6lb bags of extract you can
use either 1/2 of a 3.3lb bag of syrup, and save the rest in
a zip-lock bag in the fridge. Another alternative is to use
1.5lbs of dried malt extract.
You can purchase 1.6lb bags of extract at:
American Brewmaster
3021-5 Stonybrook Dr.
Raleigh NC
(919) 850-0095
www.americanbrewmaster.com
But, if possible please use your local shop.
