Skip to main content

Brew at Home With Mr. Beer

brewmaster select kit mr beer  homebrewing
Image used with permission by copyright holder
With all those delicious microbrews around, we’ve been wondering what it would be like to brew our own beer. Thanks to the good folks at Mr. Beer, we can get everything we need in one handy kit, which comes complete with a two gallon keg; a spigot, washer and nut; a can of hopped malt extract (HME); yeast; eight 1-liter plastic bottles, bottle caps and labels; no-rinse cleaner and the handy Brewing With Mr. Beer instructional DVD. All you have to provide is three gallons of water, a one gallon container, a one quart pot, a metal or hard plastic spoon, a can opener, a measuring cup, a bowl or plate and white granulated sugar. Now let the beer-making fun begin!

First we assembled the spigot. Next, we sanitized it, along with the spoon, can opener and measuring to kill all the gross bacteria and wild yeasts that could potentially produce that funky beer taste that we don’t want. Back to Beer Making 101. In case you didn’t know how beer is produced, it’s a process, called fermentation, of combining a starch source with yeast. Then the yeast devours the sugars in the starch, which produces alcohol and carbon dioxide. So basically we carefully followed all the steps in the directions and then we let the mixture sit. Then we waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, around two weeks later our homebrew was ready to be bottled! We sanitized the bottles and put a little sugar in each, along with the mixture. Then we waited again — this time around two-and-a-half weeks for the secondary brewing to take place.

We let the beer sit for two more days, and invited some folks over to watch football, have some snacks and enjoy our homebrew. How awesome is that? We think we’re going to whip up a spicy batch for the holidays. Oh, and speaking of holidays, wouldn’t this make the perfect gift?

The Brewmaster Select Kit, $99.95 at mrbeer.com.

Editors' Recommendations

Ann Binlot
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Ann Binlot is a New York-based freelance writer who contributes to publications like The Economist, Wallpaper*, Monocle…
The best IPA beers to drink in the winter, according to bartenders
Best IPAs for winter
Beer glass

The winter months (and January) are well-known for their porters, stouts, and generally darker, bolder, richer beers. But you can only drink so many barrel-aged stouts and barleywines before looking for something lighter, hoppier, and more thirst-quenching. That’s why we spent the winter months mixing in an IPA here and there.

Why IPAs?
What’s not to love? Hazy, juicy New England-style IPAs, piney, bitter West Coast IPAs, and every other style of IPA are ideally suited for the colder months. These hoppy brews are like a tropical, dank vacation from the freezing air outside.

Read more
The best beverage coolers for chilling your beer, wine, and soda in 2024
Upgrade your "chill space" with a legit beverage cooler to keep all your favorite drinks ice cold
Kalamera 24-Inch Dual-Zone Beverage and Wine Cooler

If you consider yourself a decent home bartender or at least somebody with a knack for entertaining, you likely need a beverage cooler. This specialized fridge is built especially for all of your favorite drinks, from the best Cold IPAs and amber ales to Sauvignon Blanc and even your favorite lesser-known liqueurs.

This is the beer fridge of fridges, tailor-made for all the best liquids. It's not overly huge, meaning it can be tucked away in a basement garage, or beneath a bar top. And it'll deliver all of your favorite sippers at the perfect temperature, or, in the case of certain wines, allow them to age beautifully as though they were in some lovely European wine cellar.

Read more
Blue Moon beer has one of the weirdest (and best) Dry January promos we’ve ever seen
Buy some Blue Moon beer, get a discount code on Blue Moon beer - easy!
Blue Moon

Blue Moon is a big name in the beer world. It’s been one of the most well-known wheat beers since its inception in 1995. It’s such a household name that it’s the kind of beer that probably wouldn’t see much of a dip in sales even if it never advertised again. But that’s not necessarily the case for its new non-alcoholic Belgian-white ale. And since drinkers might not be completely aware of this alcohol-free offering, the brand launched one of the weirdest and best dry January promotions ever.

If you’re unaware of dry January, it’s a time when many people attempt to “dry out” from the recent holiday season. There’s a good chance that due to all the social gatherings and parties, many drinkers had a few too many beers, glasses of champagne, and boozy cocktails. While it’s a great idea for many drinkers health-wise and as a way to start a new year on the right foot, like many resolutions, about halfway through the month, beer starts to look more and more appealing. Luckily, the folks at Blue Moon figured out a way to help you fight your urge to sip alcohol-filled frosty brews.

Read more