No need for you, with MBU!

[BeerRust]

Ya the new Mr. Beer seems to be focusing a lot more one the quick purchase decisions like holiday gifts instead of retaining customers.

I did not see any MR B kits for sale around here this year at all. They used to be all over the place at Christmas time. This past Christmas we had small batch kits from different breweries but no MR B.

I saw them at BJ Wholesale, but nowhere else.

[jimjohson]

they weren't in k mart this year down here

[GOF]

Only place I saw them was in a local Target store. And then it was just one kit. Not a shelf full.

[RickBeer]

They make a lot more profit per unit direct to consumer vs wholesale.

[duff]

I saw some Mr. Beer products in the holiday clearance section at a couple of CVSs, a Sears, and a Target. It seems like the only time I see them in a box store is the holidays.

But the place that used to have the most of them was BB&B and it seems like they decided to go with Brooklyn Brewer kits which didn't seem to sell well but they never discounted them after the holiday.

[blaxbear]

Yes for me, the advice to ferment for 3 weeks, and carb + condition for 4 weeks, was the fundamental thing I learned, that and CAL just can not be any good no matter what you do. But seriously, this may have made the MB people angry, because they were selling 2 week beer, but since I changed to 3+4, like after the first batch, that one little piece of information is still the critical thing, I think, in my subsequent success. So I don't see how you can sustain the business, when you feel that 2 weeks start to drinking, is the way to make money, since statistically most beer made that way with their HME, will not taste very good. Especially when your target constituency was raised on perfectly lagered light colored beer. How is your 'green' ALE going to compare to that? So you may get some sales from curious people, or impulse buys, or 'guy' gifts from relatives, but nothing sustainable, UNLESS you get them to like your beer. And even then, once you get into it, one of the things a MB customer learns is they don't like POR hops. So I can see Cooper's mgmt panicking a bit after spending that much money on Mr Beer.

Monty

I would bet that the majority of the people that purchase or receive the MR.B kit never go to the website, let alone visit the forums.

I visited the website to buy refills, but stumbled upon the old forum by accident and fell in love with talking about beer and brewing. I think if Mr. Beer pushed the website just a little bit in their manuals/literature they'd be able to gain plenty of Web traffic.

Glad my post generated some good discussion.

[Yankeedag]

Blaxbear, we tried for a long time to get MB to high light the chat room. They wouldn't do it.

[haerbob3]

A lot of people quickly move away from the kits. Simply because of the cost. You pay for the convenience offered by MR B. When my nephews found that they could brew 5 gallons for the same price they changed. Others like myself just found the MR B kits too boring. That is one of the reasons I went AG and into larger batch sizes. The biggest reason I left MR B was that I would be in full control of the beer I brew.

[RickBeer]

A lot of people quickly move away from the kits. Simply because of the cost. You pay for the convenience offered by MR B. When my nephews found that they could brew 5 gallons for the same price they changed. Others like myself just found the MR B kits too boring. That is one of the reasons I went AG and into larger batch sizes. The biggest reason I left MR B was that I would be in full control of the beer I brew.

Cost and the ability to brew what I want to were the two drivers for me. My average 12 pack cost is under $7.00 including Mr. Beer refills. And I love being able to brew a Moosedrool clone, the two White House brews, etc. All with extracts and steeps. No reason for me to ever use any canned HME from anyone ever again.

[GOF]

For me it is not so much about the money. It's the 'I made that' factor. Which is why I'll be moving out of the MrB setup and trying to advance some.

[monsteroyd]

For me it is not so much about the money. It's the 'I made that' factor. Which is why I'll be moving out of the MrB setup and trying to advance some.

Yeah, That's what I like. That and the fact that you can't buy beer that is this fresh and full bodied.

Monty

[haerbob3]

I love the control that all-grain gives me. When I see some of these 1 gallon kits I can't help but love the fact that MR B missed the boat on this one

[berryman]

The MB company is still trying to market in the past, they had their hay day and they're not keeping up anymore. It doesn't take much to do a search on homebrewing to find a better way to make good beer. Lets face it if you brewed a MB batch as per, it might not be that great. They were selling lots of kits up front and really not too worried about repeat customers, one might do a few batches with them and quit, but there were always new customers to take their place and that's how they were making money. They didn't think there was a need to go on after the beginner level.
The forum fiasco was a two part thing, they cheapened up on the upgrade/downgrade and they didn't like the advice the members were giving because it went against what they were preaching.
Maybe the MBU can save them

[Banjo-guy]

After being on the Mr Beer site for a few months I started to think that the forum didn't serve Cooper's corporate interests. A lot of the advice when followed encouraged people to brew with something other than MB products. It didn't take long for me to realize that I could brew better beer for less money by using qbrew or Beer Smith and making my own recipes. The advice could be to split a Northen Brewer or other kit. This was all great advice but didn't help Cooper's bottom line.

Coopers doesn't really care if the forum members learn to become better brewers they only care that more MB products are sold. That's the only purpose the site exists.

I actually think they wanted to purge the old members and take control of their site.
Mission accomplished!

[Brewing Gal]

NOW AIN'T THAT THE TRUTH!!!

After a 2 year hiatus from brewing (got married & had a baby) I go back to MR Beer. What a let down I actually cried!!! Where did my buddies go? Where is Frozen IN Time, Haerbob, FedoraDave, Swenocha and oh so many others!! I am so glad I found you guys again!! So where is a good place to start again? I don't ever want to buy MR Beer again!

Below is what I posted at MR Beer:

I am wondering why after being out of the loop here at MR Beer for a
couple of years where by brew buddies where came to find out that they have been banned for life from the MR Beer Forums!!!! Have you not been wondering what happened to some of the most helpful posters. Such as FIT (Frozen In Time), Haerbob3, Duff, DaYooper and so many others from the old MR Beer Form.



Why because they recommend other home-brewing forums for us to get
help. Now does that sound like MR Beer wants us to learn other methods
of brewing??? I think they want us kept in the dark. So we
will buy only their products. What do you think?? What is your answer
to this MR Beer?? Why do you fear other help forums so much??



EDIT: Come on people tell Mr Beer what you think!!!! I beg you ask
Peter why he is so afraid of the other brewing forums. You better watch
what you say THEY'LL BAN YOU TOO. IT WOULD BE THE BEST THING FOR
YOU!! YOU WILL LEARN TO BREW GREAT BEER!!