Mr. Beer Order

I am officially obsessed. I placed a decent sized order today from Mr. Beer. I used a 10% coupon code that was mailed with a free stick on thermometer after I registered on the website. I found a Fallen Friar recipe that I want to do after the Whispering Wheat is done. I already have the two cans of Hopped Malt Extract from my previous variety pack and just need to order some additional hops. I will elaborate on some items, but here is a complete list of what I purchased:

Hand Bottle Capper
Metal Bottle Caps (Qty 144)
Spigot and Wand Assembly
Hydrometer & 10" Sample Tube
BrewTensils Package
2 Gallon Fermenter (Beer Keg)
Premium Refill 4 Pack
Muslin Hop Sack
Sterling Pellet Hops

I purchased the bottle capper and caps (Qty 144) because I wanted to start using 12 0z. glass bottles. I don't think there is anything wrong with the 1 liter plastic Mr. Beer bottles. I just wanted to have the option of bottling my beer in smaller quantities.

Without getting into too much detail right here, a hydrometer is used to measure the gravity of the beer. The ABV can be determined from calculating the difference between the reading taken before the yeast is added and the reading after fermentation has finished. It will be very helpful when I start doing all extract brewing.

I ordered the Premium Refill 4 Pack instead of the standard refills. Each refill has 2 cans of Hopped Malt Extract and no booster.

1 American Devil IPA
1 Pilothouse Pilsner
1 Sticky Wicket
1 Witty Monk

Problem Solved

After 1 more week at room temperature and only 1 day in the fridge, it tastes like a beer! The extra carbonating time at room temperature was all it needed. I'm eager to see how much it improves after more conditioning time.

Since the West Coast Pale Ale (WCPA) was a success, I just brewed the Whispering Wheat Weizenbier! I did not notice a cidery taste in the WCPA, so I used the booster per the instructions again. I will probably utilize a 2-3-2 rule this time around, allowing for that extra week of carbonation time.

Finally!

Disappointment... I was able to taste my first beer after a long awaited 6 weeks. Which turned out to be subpar. It was sweet, like a beer with a ton of sugar added to it (which essentially is what I did). It would have been much better suited for Edgar from Men in Black. In addition to the sugar sweet taste, it was also under carbonated.

I went to Home Brew Talk and Mr. Beer Fans to try and find where I went wrong. I did not find a lot of discussions that closely fit my situation, but there were a few posters who talked about temperature and how it affects the carbonation phase. Since my heat goes off during the day, the temperature in my apartment can drop down to 60 degrees. The yeast has a very hard time doing its job at this temperature. I posted a thread on the Mr. Beer Fans forum to see what they thought. The recommendation was to remove the bottles from the fridge for a week, then put 1 bottle back in for a day and then test it.

It was a relief being told that the beer wasn't ruined and that it probably just needed more time. I drank the rest of the sugar beer regardless. I had to, it was my first one!

14 More Days

My West Coast Pale Ale was in the fermenter for 14 days, and it just finished (i hope) carbonating for the past 14 days. The bottles are very firm which is a good indication that they are carbonated enough. Better yet, there were no bottle bombs! Now it is time to move the bottles into the fridge where they will condition for 14 days. During the conditioning phase, all of the CO2 that was produced in the carbonating phase is absorbed by the beer. You can try a beer after a few days conditioning, but everyone says the best results come from waiting the full two weeks (which I plan on doing).