What we are NOT

[joechianti]

Most of what can be said has already been said. I'll just chime in with my own feelings, even if they are similar to others. I certainly don't hate Mr Beer. I'm also very grateful for the part they played in my evolution as a brewer. Even from the start, there were some things I liked more than others about the entire Mr Beer experience, and some things I liked less. I can say basically the same thing about every person, place or thing I ever encountered in my life. Ever since Cooper's came along, I think Mr Beer has suffered for it. The profits have to be spread that much thinner, and we all know what that means. There's plenty of ways to multiply the profits, and it's very rare that any of those ways are in the customer's best interest. Anyway, the die have been cast, it is what it is, and we all do what we have to do(or want to do). I'm sure we could go into pages and pages of detail about every little thing that is right or wrong with Mr Beer, but what good would it do. I realize that we probably all seem a bit obsessed at the moment with this whole issue of Mr Beer, but let's face it, it's an emotionally charged issue, and it holds a great deal of significance for us in both our brewing and our social lives. It will all settle down and life will carry on. And that will be a very good thing. Until then, it's probably not all that unusual, or even necessarily that unhealthy, for us to vent off our frustration with the "loss" of something that was obviously very important to us. It's all gonna be just fine in the end. So as for me, personally, I may be disappointed, or frustrated, or confused, or whatever with Mr Beer and their forum and their business model, but I don't think I hate them or am even mad at them. I always knew that they existed mainly to make money, and I existed mainly to save money, and we negotiated our relationship accordingly. Now, I may poke some fun at them and their current misfortunes, but then, that's what comedians do, after all. I just can't help myself sometimes.

[RickBeer]

I think hating a company for having technical incompetence would be silly. No company does what they did to the forum intentionally. If their intention was to drive people off, it would be done much simpler, i.e. preventing a user from logging on or removing a user for violating policies. A forum I participated in years ago tightened policies at one point, knowing that the most prolific posters would no longer be able to do what they were doing and would leave. I was the most prolific poster on that forum and I left.

I don't care what Mr. Beer does on the forum, or doesn't do. Technical competence aside, they lack communication skills. Regardless, hating or not hating doesn't come into play. I haven't bought from them since October and didn't plan on buying again, so it impacts me little. I'll just post here for now.

[mtsoxfan]

No hater here... as stated in an earlier different post, I am gratful for their forum. It got me in touch with many wonderful people whi helped me along the way. I have nothing against their product, just don't use them. I prefer AG and am starting to create my own recipes, after a few of you shared yours and gave me a foundation.
I look forward to asking and answering many more questions on my new home....

[duff]

I still am grateful they got me started in homebrewing. However the complete lack of response to questions in the forum and the email really just triggered all my irritation about everything that has gone on since the buyout. I feel like they stopped caring about their customers after the buy out.

I won't hate on them and I certainly won't knock any people who still use or start using their products. I just realized that this place was better for me than their forums.

[Tabasco]

Not angry at Mr. BEER at all. Just think that they were incredibly short sighted alienating sooo many of what seemed to be their biggest, most knowledgable supporters. Will most likely continue to order from time to time.

+1

I still don't (and I'm not sure) think that their messing up the borg was malicious in any way, or intended to deny us anything. I don't know why they did it, but folks seem to be assuming there was a lot of thought put into it, a plan, an agenda, etc. I thought it might be to better keep off references to their new competitor, and maybe it was, but now I remind myself that almost every time I assume something, I turn out to be wrong.

They are a company. The are given profit targets by Coopers. Their recent market erosion (could become significant) to their new competitor must be their focus, and I doubt the borg is a high priority to them right now.

It is what it is. The borg runs now ... albeit w/o smilies or PM's. But it works. It is a tad too boring in its current state, and there is nothing wrong with coming here if you enjoy it better, and get more out of it. The newbies at MrB, it seems, will have to find their own way. And they will, if they enjoy their new kits as much as I enjoyed mine.

I am not averse to ordering some MrB/Coopers ... but I've come to want it to be on sale to do that. It is expensive at full price, and so is BrewDemon's stuff. Extracts are not a good value if you brew a lot, and I do. They make a nice break for me, and I'll never stop doing them entirely.

I will likely get some of the oatmeal stout from BrewDemon for old time's sake ... but like I say, I also find the MrB lineup these days to be good ... the fact that you can get "side orders" of LME packs and stuff was a good move by them.

I wish all people and businesses that are ethical the best of luck, including MrB and especially their employees, like Diane. I kind of feel bad for Diane ... she's always been even keeled, nice, and a good sport. I loved her on the podcasts, she was killer on that. So, yes, Dave, I agree ... let's not forget what they were / are. Whatever changes transpire are Cooper's design.

[Brewbirds]

I guess I'll chime in here too and say that yes I was upset but my mistake was that I was treating them in my mind as a forum hosting service not a sales company so that is my bad.
I was and still am upset about the loss of content almost exclusively.
That is where lack of communication angered me.
If we were informed that our saved PMs and posts were going to be removed and given a chance salvage what we wanted to keep I probably would have been okay with that.
There was a lot of great info on that site and it got wiped out without a second thought for the effort the contributors made.

So no I'm not bashing anyone I guess I just wish I'd been offered a chance to save some of my info.

[Tabasco]

I guess I'll chime in here too and say that yes I was upset but my mistake was that I was treating them in my mind as a forum hosting service not a sales company so that is my bad.
I was and still am upset about the loss of content almost exclusively.
That is where lack of communication angered me.
If we were informed that our saved PMs and posts were going to be removed and given a chance salvage what we wanted to keep I probably would have been okay with that.
There was a lot of great info on that site and it got wiped out without a second thought for the effort the contributors made.

So no I'm not bashing anyone I guess I just wish I'd been offered a chance to save some of my info.

I think they fixed the search feature, or at least are working on having it run better. Yah, looks like the pms are toast. I should have saved my post from mid 2010 where I talked about burning my first attempt at DME boil. It got a lot of laughs. True story, too. eh, pfffffffffftttttttttttttttt

[Bluejaye]

If we were informed that our saved PMs and posts were going to be removed and given a chance salvage what we wanted to keep I probably would have been okay with that.
There was a lot of great info on that site and it got wiped out without a second thought for the effort the contributors made.

This is basically my complaint. I had dozens of bookmarked threads with really great info on yeast washing (with video), steeping grains, hop discussions, etc. All worthless now because the "new and improved" Mr. Beer site doesn't know what a redirect is. Can't really search for it again, because I'd have to have some clue what keywords to use so I don't have to weed through thousands of posts.

[jimjohson]

disappointed but not hating MrB. while it's true i don't brew MrB hmes (or any other) but that's primarily cost. a cal costs like $16 (rounding off)+ s&h= $24(also rounding off). i can brew my own 5 gal extract recipe(apa) for $26(rounding off). just not cost effective.

[Chuck N]

No matter how you look at it, weather it was an intentional degradation of the forum for what ever reason or if it was just plain incompetence on the part of their IT team, Mr. Beer "effed" the pooch on this matter. I can understand almost any reason for what had happened to the forum. Even if it was a dollars issue I would understand. But to pull what they did over there and then leave us in the dark like they did was/is inexcusable. What really pi$$ed me off was the way Diane and Samuel were posting as if everything was just hunky-dory (it's a Minnesota term don't bother looking it up it ain't in the dictionary). And that's what leads me to believe that the way things are there now is going to be the way things are going to be for good. I don't want that so I'm here.

I hold no ill feeling toward Mr. Beer as a company. I wish them nothing but success in the future. But, product-wise, we had parted company a while ago. But I had so many people on their forum that I considered to be friends and I wasn't willing to give that up. They forced our hands in the regard. So all of this is on them as far as I'm concerned. All my friends are here now and I don't see any reason to move elsewhere.

[Tabasco]

disappointed but not hating MrB. while it's true i don't brew MrB hmes (or any other) but that's primarily cost. a cal costs like $16 (rounding off)+ s&h= $24(also rounding off). i can brew my own 5 gal extract recipe(apa) for $26(rounding off). just not cost effective.

I occasionally try for lowest cost ... for fun ... to see what I can hit and still get a great ale.

I think my record bargain, a BIAB AG SMaSH was:

8.5 lbs of two-row @ 1$ = $8.50 (I get 50.5 lb sack for like $47 at LHBS, so it's a bit less than a buck a pound)
1 oz of Warrior (high alpha) $2
0.5 lb sugar $0.25
1 5g pack of active bakers yeast $0.65
misc one step, etc. $0.50
No caps (kegged).
Total costs = $11.90, call it $12
Divided by 48 (12 oz beers per 5 gallon corny) = $0.25 per beer. And it was very good.

The bakers yeast is better saved for a stout or real hoppy IPA so you don't taste the bready character,
but even in this pale ale SMaSH it worked. The beer was about 4.5 ABV.

P.S. don't ever try "rapid rise" yeast ... bleeecccccccchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[DaYooper]

I agree about the lack of communication. It wouldnt have bothered me as much if it appeared they cared. Gone are the days when Mike "Mr. Beer CEO" would pop in from time to time just to say howdie. Since the Coopers buyout the family patriarchs seemed to be focused on dollars and cents (not sense) rather than their customers. Yet, they had a prime opportunity to integrate the 5g kits with MrB and get back some of the customers who were still on the forums that migrated to larger batches. But now, thanks to no communication, they have driven out most of the givers of knowledge to the newbies who will then continue to follow the directions and expect to have GOOD beer in two weeks, who will then decide that brewing isnt for them and quit.

I do, however, have to give them kudos for not censoring the posts that directed all the long timers here. Maybe in time it will get fixed.

[Trollby]

I guess I would say I am not "Anti-Mr. Beer" but more disappointed Mr. Beer follower.

I hope they get it together since it was the Mr. Beer and site that got me to meet everyone here and that is a real PLUS!

[Tabasco]

The big thing for me was finding out about BrewDemon .... I hadn't heard, because I've been off the borg for a while. It's good to be back.

I just find it so interesting about BrewDemon. It's all fair game ... I'm sure Coopers wasn't planning on that happening .... it'll be interesting to see how it does. MrBeer has the footing in the retail industry.

[BeerRust]

We're not the Anti-Mr. Beer site.

I'm beginning to see some hostile sentiments. Mr. Beer has gone in whatever direction they felt was best for them. Whether it suited our needs/wants doesn't matter. That was their decision. This is our decision. This is what's best for us; maybe what MB is doing is what's best for them.

Yes, I've pretty much abandoned everything Mr. Beer (except using the LBK for small batches). But let's not forget our roots. How many of us wouldn't be here were it not for the start Mr. Beer provided? I'll always be grateful for that first batch of Whispering Wheat. It showed me I COULD make my own beer. If I've outgrown MB, or if they've changed in a way that doesn't suit me, so be it. It doesn't change what they were.

Let's not forget our roots and run down what brought us as far as we've progressed.

Their site is brutal.....but other than that they have serve the purpose for me.I can make small batches and experiment other ingredients too. I am not a pro or want to be, I use and buy their stuff to make my beer. I have 2 lbks ( both empty right now ) and I can make beer when I want. I agree this is a much better place to talk and learn some stuff about brewing.