I’ve just completed my first batch of Mr Beer. I’m a little disappointed with the taste of the beer, but I realize that the West Coast Pale Ale beer included with the kit that I bought isn’t the kind of beer I normally like. I like something a little richer and darker. It basically tastes like Coors Light, although after drinking a bottle I like it better than Coors Light. It’s got a nice, light, flavor and the aftertaste is very slight.
Making the beer couldn’t have been much easier, so it’s a great intro into brewing your own, but I don’t feel like I learned as much about the beer making process as I would have liked. Good experience overall though. The process basically involved sanitizing everything with a provided solution, mixing water, yeast, sugar and their beer mix malt together in the supplied plastic keg-thing and then letting it sit for about a week in 68- 76 degree Fahrenheit temperature. This temperature requirement was the hardest part since it’s getting chilly and we don’t keep our house that warm when nobody is home. After the week in the keg, you bottle and leave it for another week to carbonate a little in the bottles. Then you chill for a few days, and drink.
I might try to find a way to make an extra fridge I have into a heater so that I could just put the beer in there and have the fridge keep things heated to a certain temperature. Not sure how this would work yet, but if anyone has a better solution for keeping a small space warm at a constant temperature, let me know.
There are some interesting beer making kits that seem more involved and do-it-yourself at www.perfectbrewingsupply.com. I’m resisting the urge to get more involved in brewing right now though. Too much other stuff to do, but someday when I get a big enough garage I’ll probably want to get some equipment and go at it with a little more dedication.