Coopers assimilates Mr. Beer

[mashani]

See:

http://www.mrbeer.com/beer-kits

The design of the new fermenter looks to be a refined version of Coopers own "big kit" fermenter they sell with for use with their big cans. IE the "Krausen Kollar" to give you head space which you can then remove post primary to eliminate headspace if your going to leave the beer in the fermenter for a while. And you can chuck the whole thing in the dishwasher without melting it.

Looks like they are going to release a 6 gallon version too. I bet that Coopers will start selling that one as their regular fermenter too. (it might actually be their regular fermenter).

They seem to have better spigots too, which is much needed.

I won't use the 2 gallon fermenter, I'm committed to 2.5 gallon batches, but it's interesting. It is the beginning of the end of the LBK I bet.

[RickBeer]

I don't get clear vs brown.

Doubt either new one would fit in dishwasher. Neither will fit in my fermentation freezer.

Maybe they will clear out the LBKs cheap.

[Beer-lord]

24 Liter Fermenter:
Each fermenter is completely reusable and will make 2 gallons of award winning beer with every batch. The 24L has an industry leading and durable BPA free plastic that is both UV-resistant and imparts zero flavor to the beer. Easier to clean and maintain, and better than ever!

Either this is a mistake or a mistake.......24 liters is more than 6 gallons so why would you want to make 2 gallons of beer in a 6 liter fermenter?

[BlackDuck]

24 Liter Fermenter:
Each fermenter is completely reusable and will make 2 gallons of award winning beer with every batch. The 24L has an industry leading and durable BPA free plastic that is both UV-resistant and imparts zero flavor to the beer. Easier to clean and maintain, and better than ever!

Either this is a mistake or a mistake

Fixed that for you.

[LouieMacGoo]

It looks like those new fermenters are rounded on the bottom, not quite a conical but not flat bottom either. Also after watching the Instructional video it really seems like the "sanitizing" method that they recommend is not that easy. Also you get 3 cans of Mr. Beer HME with the 24L kit and are using all 3 cans for 1 batch of beer. Yes it works but why wouldn't they just have 2 larger cans formulated for the larger size kit? Seems strange to me.

[BlackDuck]

why wouldn't they just have 2 larger cans formulated for the larger size kit? Seems strange to me.

Having 2 larger cans would most likely mean that they have to source out someone to make the larger can. Which could mean a higher cost. It is probably cheaper for them to just put 3 of their existing cans in the box and ship it out.

And I'm with RickBeer.....how in the world is that thing going to fit in the dishwasher?

[mashani]

why wouldn't they just have 2 larger cans formulated for the larger size kit? Seems strange to me.

Having 2 larger cans would most likely mean that they have to source out someone to make the larger can. Which could mean a higher cost. It is probably cheaper for them to just put 3 of their existing cans in the box and ship it out.

Coopers already makes cans that will work perfectly in the 6 gallon fermenter.

http://us.diybeer.com/

http://us.diybeer.com/category_s/1819.htm

Note the 6 gallon fermenter pictured there... and then go back to Mr. Beers page...

Basically it will allow them to sell the big Coopers cans, their boxed DME, sugar, brew enhancer (booster more or less) and better enhancer which is a DME/Sugar/maltodextrin blend (it's like booster with 25% or so dme in it).

Those "full refills" (see second link) sell for $30 - $50 for 6 gallons, depending on which one you pick.

My bet is they are "coming soon" to Mr. Beer's site.

[Crazy Climber]

I give 'em credit for branching out.

Every fermenting product out there has benefits and drawbacks.

The biggest drawback on these, IMO, is the price. $90 for a kit with a BrewDemon conical knock-off? A bit steep.

[mashani]

To be fair, Coopers has had the 6 gallon one you see on the DIY site I posted for well over a year. So they just shrunk it down into a 2 gallon version to fit their 2 gallon extracts. It's not actually a Brew Demon "knock off" as such.

If you have never seen one of those things for real, the top part from the lid about 4-5 inches down can be removed, it's a separate piece (that's what they call the "Krausen Ring"). You can then put the lid back on and clean off the beer stone/krausen junk from the ring. It does make cleaning the thing a lot easier, because that's where the bulk of the mess is.

They adapted that into the small fermenter, so the small fermenter is a refinement of their own design.

It is a nifty feature in it's own way. Before I got my LBC's I was trying to decide between them, a 3 gallon Spiedel, or the 6 gallon coopers fermenter. (I wanted a spigot). I decided 2.5 gallons was my sweet spot, as it makes 5 gallon splits work easy too.

[Foothiller]

At a minimum it's nice to have the choices. I'm still looking for my dream fermenter, but between Mrbeer and BrewDemon, there are interesting choices in the meantime.

[Beer-lord]

how in the world is that thing going to fit in the dishwasher?

Do you mean the whole fermenter or the ring? I remember seeing someone on youtube who uses the Coopers fermenter alot show how he fits the ring in the dishwasher but there's not a lot of room for dishes. Besides, why not just use PBW and soak it?

[ScrewyBrewer]

I would've liked an LBK made three times bigger than the original one. Things started going downhill when MB introduced the new improved spigots that all broke, wonder why it's so hard to develop the ideal fermentor, maybe they needed to get input form users instead of their marketing folks.

[DaYooper]

Ive been biatching at them ever since the takeover to do just this. It was silly for them to give up customers once they decided to make bigger batches since all they had to do is rebrand the Coopers product, or simply offer Coopers as an upgrade path using the Coopers name. At least this will keep them around for awhile longer, especially if they dont have a LHBS. What is equally as silly is they havent rebranded the Coopers HMEs to launch this, or, simply put more of the current Mr. Beer branded HMEs into a larger Coopers can. I have to guess they have consolidated their canning operations by now.

However, I do not see the LBK dying out. How many of us have started out because SWMBO saw the LBK and said "that is cute, Im going to get one for him." Most likely if she saw a more conventional kit while perusing the hallowed halls of Sears she would have thought "Making beer in a bucket? That stupid." and ended up picking up some Craftsman tool.

One thing that had my laughing was that they have their small bucket branded as "Our Most Popular Kit." lol, it doesnt even ship until 10/20.

[M42]

With the 6 gallon fermenter I think they'll just relabel the bigger Cooper's cans with Mr. Beer labels. Already a lot of the names are the same.

[berryman]

However, I do not see the LBK dying out. How many of us have started out because SWMBO saw the LBK and said "that is cute, Im going to get one for him."

Yup That's how I got my first kit, "Cute and On SALE" two magic words for the SWMBO......The first LBK leads to more.