Sure, if you're doing a concentrated boil, and don't want to boil all of the extract for the full boil.

Of course, when I was doing partial mash BiaB recipes with 5~ish lbs of grain and 3 lbs DME (4-4.5 gallon batches), I always added all of the DME after the mash (precisely because it was so much easier) but before the boil, and it produced some great beers.

That is also the way I have been using DME. I have had no clumping issues, I still use a whisk but it dissolves quickly

I did order the 2 gallon German Pilsner kit.

One thing I liked when ordering extract kits was trying new things. This kit comes with Danstar Nottingham dry yeast (It appears all the 2 gallon kits do) and carb tablets. I'll go ahead and use both. It also comes with an anti-foam agent, think I'll save that for possible use on something else.

The kit does come with a muslin bag for the steeping grains but not for the hops. And any new brewer ordering these kits needs to remember to order some sanitizer, the kit does not include that.

Apparently these kits really are "2 gallon kits" (not 2.2 or more), so if you start topping off the Mr. Beer keg to a usual fill line the beer will be weaker. I'll try to remember that on brew day.

I'll ferment the Nottingham at about 60 (since this is supposed to be a lager).

The only disappointment was the hops. I received 1oz of "German Hallertau" 4.3AA. The instructions say to spilt that between a 60 and 5 min boil. That's way low on IBU. I've attached pics of both 5 gallon kits I got of this "German Pilsner" and they both had better hopping. I'm gonna modify this in some way on brew day.

1st pic is the 2 gallon kit, the other 2 are the 5 gallon kits I brewed.

is that liquid extract in a bag? seems like a mess waiting to happen. I do like all the labeling though, marking what each thing is for. most others don't mark things like that.

On the 2 older 5 gallon kits, yes, double bagged.

The Mr. Beer all grain kit I ordered when Chug had his store up had all the hops measured and marked.

Is this still around?

Sadly, no.
If you really wanna try the small batch all grain, the only mystery is the exact grains and any "Pale Ale" sort of recipe will be fine.

Alright, I was a bit disappointed with the 2 gallon German Pilsner kit. It needs to be made as a "2 gallon" kit (fill to about 1/2 inch below the 8.5 liter mark) and done as is the ABV is 4.4, IBU 23. Probably a nice beer, but the style guidelines suggest 25-45 IBU. Using all the hops at 60 min gives a 40 IBU (with no flavor or aroma contribution).

So, of course the correct thing to do is to turn around and order the "American IPA" and see what I get. This one has 3 lbs DME and 2 oz hops. It is perfect for making whatever you like in a Mr. Beer keg. Since there are 3 lbs DME (6.5ABV in 2 gal) a Mr. Beer Batch is a nice 5.1 ABV (filled to the "quart" mark). The IBU is 40ish as is but changing to some 20 minute additions can push it to 60. So it can be anything from a Sierra Nevada sort of brew to a real IPA.

I'll still say these are worth a look but consider using something like Beer Calculus to get the beer you want.

Getting ready to brew the "German Pilsner" today.

Since I have a 3.75 gallon pot I'll go ahead and go a full wort boil starting with 2.5 gallons of H2O. My boil off is about 1/2 gallon in an hour. This kit needs to finish at only 2 gallons for a 4.4 ABV.

I fooled with the hops in Beer Calculus.

The kit comes with 1oz (4.3AA) Hallertau. The instructions say to use 1/2 for 60min and 1/2 for 5 min. That gives about 26 IBU. The style guidelines say 25-45 for a German Pils.

1/2 60; 1/4 20, 1/4 5, about 30 IBU (bittering, flavor, and aroma additions)
3/4 60; 1/4 20, about 39 IBU (bittering and flavor only)
1.0 60, about 43 IBU (bittering only)

I like the 39 IBU choice with higher bitterness and some flavor.