OK... So I got my premium kit monday, and made my first beer last night... Everything seemed to go very well and I only ran into 1 problem.. What do you guys do when using the booster.. It seemed to take forever for it to disolve!! :shock: I was using a wire whisk and cold spring water as the directions stated. Is there an easier way?? I made the West Coast Pale Ale which is a fairly simple recipe.. I also got an extra fermenter and am making the 1776 Ale tonight, and since that also uses the booster I wanted to see what others are doing... Also 1 other question.. I have some Coopers drops on the way.. Any opinions positive or negative on using them?? Hopefully this forum will take off.. I've been watching topix, but looking back through for specific information was time consuming.. Thankyou for making it Chug!

Booster can be a pain thats for sure. The only thing you can do is add small amounts of Booster to the water and be patient.

The only purpose in adding the booster is to increase the alcohol content.

In the Mr beer guide, There is a list of other things you can add to the wort to boost the alcohol content. In my humble opinion, adding honey or maple syrup is far superior to adding Booster.

Some Mr Beer brewers don't use Booster at all. Booster does tend to make your beer taste cidery.

I have not used Coopers sugar tabs before, I am still new to brewing myself. I too would like to know the pros and cons of using them.

Chug

I will have to try that suggestion Chug.. Any idea on ratio?? Like 1 Booster=?? Cups Honey... Also, I wonder if Mr Beer would want to put a link to your site on their site??

Hey Dubman, the booster is just corn sugar, which is used in mainstream homebrewing for carbonation instead of white sugar. The booster serves as an inexpensive and somewhat sweetening substitute for unhopped malt, whether dry or syrup. It isn't so much to "boost" alcohol, but actually to make alcohol at beer level. Without something to ferment, the syrup in the can would make your beer about 2% abv, hence not actual beer, and the yeast would be mostly pointless.

The Coopers drops are for carbonation in the bottle. If you want great Mr Beer, save the booster for carbonation, and buy some dry malt, about a pound for a normal Mr Beer mix. Bring the water to a boil, turn off the heat, stir in the syrup, then the malt, then reboil for 6-8.

I'm gonna post some recipes as I compile and experiment soon. Next up is a hopped-up wheat this weekend. I have heard of homebrewers using honey or syrup, but there is no formula as the fermentable level of it all varies from bottle to bottle. So you have to cross your fingers every time.

How much booster do we add to the bottle for carbonation?

Could you elaborate on the dry malt. Is there a certain type of dry malt we should use?

I am new to home brewing and can use all the help I can get.

Chug

Hey Chug, the universal formula for carbing is 3/4 cup corn sugar per 5 gallons - translating to 1/3 cup for a Mr Beer 2 gallon batch. The thing is, Mr Beer bottling instructions are based on old Prohibition methods, when homebrew stores and proper equip didn't exist. Tossing dry table sugar in the bottle is inaccurate and can add bacteria.

The perfect bottling is to boil the corn sugar in a cup of water (to sanitize), let cool, pour it and your fermented beer into another vessel, gently stir, then bottle that. No question then that you have the right combo in each bottle.

Using the booster for bottling is my own idea because I didn't want to throw it away. I haven't done it yet, since I stocked up on corn sugar recently. I'm gonna try it on the next bottling in a few weeks.

So, as far as malt goes, it's the main ingredient in beer besides water. With store bought and homebrewing, I tend to stick with the Reinheitsgebot (German Purity Law) which requires beer to be strictly barley, hops, and water, or it ain't beer. Of course, I plan on making a wheat this weekend, so I have to bend a little for that

Your basic Mr Beer can of syrup is just barley malt and hops. When you add the booster - corn sugar - to it, it's not much different that the rice syrup in Budweiser, properly called an "adjunct" (unmalted additive). Mr Beer's UME (unhopped malt extract) is just malt syrup. I use Munton's dry malt, because it's inexpensive to buy especially in bulk, and storable for like 2 years. Check out this site as an explanation of how it works: http://www.homebrewzone.com/maltextract.htm

You can buy it online from dozens of stores. I shop locally in Denver and get it here: http://www.stompthemgrapes.com. It's available from extra light to dark, depending on the final beer you want.

Dan.. Thankyou for your advise and links! I am looking forward to your report on the hopped up wheat!! Decided to wait on brewing the 1776 ale until I finish my current one.. Then hopefully I will be able to better judge recipe etc...

Darryl

Thanks Dan, great link and advice.

I was totally unaware that malt extract came in powdered form. Now I know what DME stands for.

Chug

"How much booster do we add to the bottle for carbonation? "

Booster is actually not just corn sugar. Corn sugar is dextrose. Booster is a mixture of dextrose and maltodextrins. I have been told before not to use booster for carbonation. I'm sure it would work to an extent since it is fermentable but I have been told to just use corn sugar. I just don't buy booster anymore.

Corn sugar is really cheap and works really good though.

Ok, Thanks for the info on the DME. I've been pondering the use of DME but, wasn't sure how much at add for a small 2Gal batch.

As far as the Coopers Drops, I have a batch cold conditioning right now that is my first batch bottled in glass and my first using the coopers drops. I'm shooting for a 2 week cold conditioning but, Tuesday marks the first week in cold conditioning and I think I'll pop open a bottle and see how well the coopers droops did on the carbonation.

Also to, I would like to try making a mocha porter, has anyone tried brewing a beer with chocolate? I'm actually planning on ordering some cocoa nibs and using right in the fermenter almost like dry hopping. Anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

Cheers and Happy Brewing!