Mr. Beer American Porter - Going, going, ...

[RickBeer]

Mr. Beer recently had Patriot Lager 2 for 1. It's now gone from their site, possibly discontinued. American Porter is now Buy 2 Get 1 Free! It may also be headed for extinction.

[Foothiller]

I see that Diane now has a reply to a Mr Beer site posting on this question, saying Patriot is just out of stock and will be back. They're having a sale now, and Diane says that hopefully will cause others to be in short supply. I think that's what retailers often hope when they have sales, and this could reveal how things are going now for Mr Beer.

[RickBeer]

I saw that too. Really shows how they are clueless. You NEVER want to run out of product, and most certainly you never want to REMOVE IT from your site - besides the impact on natural search, you always show your offerings.

Sometimes companies do a poor job forecasting inventory needs, and I think this qualifies. Wonder if stock was getting old and they had to get ready for a future order?

[ssorck]

You know, I saw the 20% sale, and had gotten one of those 20% 'come back' coupons not too long ago. I was almost going to place an order last night with the 40% stack but decided not too. I figure it's better to just brew up the rest of my stock and be done with them. I'll give BrewDemon a shot later in the year if I decide to do some more HME brews.

[John Sand]

I agree Ssorck. I admire and appreciate the business concept of MrBeer. It makes an easy introduction to brewing, and for many, is all they need. It got me into brewing, but I progressed to grain brewing, occasionally extract with steeping grains. The MrBeer products don't provide good enough results for my wants now. I also find the grain brewing much more interesting and diverting than simple HMEs. The last time I brewed an HME, I could hardly rouse the interest to bottle it. I hope this all does not come off sounding snobbish, I'm not trying to set standards for others, only myself. I do like the BrewDemon better than MrBeer.

[RickBeer]

Agree. Next up I'm going to do two Mr. Beer batches, but only because I have them from 19 months ago and because the fruit for one of them expires later this year. Then I'll be down to 3 cans. I find the recipes I've made much more interesting.

[ssorck]

Yeah, I've found that I REALLY like the AG process, just not particularly enamored with the 6 hour time commitment. But at any rate I've got 2 more AG batches with the grain ready to go then it's my blowout my Mr. Beer stockpile mission. I have like 11 cans left and I'll be using LME to blow most all up into 5ish gallon batches.

On another note - to blow these batches up - I plan on using LME from Williams Brewing. I haven't used them before they have a pretty amazing selection of LME packs. I'll be placing an order of 8-9 packs in the next few weeks. Don't know if anyone has ever used them but their 3.3 lb packs look like they would be a great alternative to move on from HME brewing.

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/WILLIAMS ... T-C99.aspx

[RickBeer]

Haven't used them, but a logical step after Mr. Beer / Brewdemon extracts is to go to LME, hops, and steeping grains. That's where I am. Most recipes I find involved about 7lbs of LME, many people buy two 3.3 lb LME containers and use DME for the rest. Or they use just DME. I happen to live within 14 miles of my LHBS, so I buy bulk LME for $2.50 per pound from them and get the exact amount I need in a container. All the recipes I've done have these simple steps:

1) Step the specialty grains for 20 - 40 minutes (recipe dependent) in a pot of 160 degree water.
2) Add the LME.
3) Bring to a boil.
4) Add hops, then add more hops later, then more hops before the end.
5) Put pot in sink surrounded by water and ice (make tubs of ice in Cool Whip containers in advance).
6) Put into two LBKs, after adding a gallon of water first to each, then top off to 2.5 gallons.

Couldn't be more straightforward. Working on my stove, I find that with the time to get to temp (across 2 burners), steep, bring to boil, boil for an hour, cool, get into LBKs, and cleanup that I spend around 4 - 4.5 hours.

[John Sand]

I too sometimes lack the time for all grain. But there are those experimenting successfully with shorter mashes. I've used shorter boils, adjusting the hops. And my current Irish Red is extract
+steeping grains. I find that faster than mashing. It's all still longer than HME, but I enjoy the process and the results.

[RickBeer]

Funny, I have Irish Red in the LBKs right now, entering week 3. Extract and steeping grains also.

[DaYooper]

I pretty much banned myself from doing long boils in the house so still find a use for HMEs when the urge strikes and for a quick brewday when I am in the midst of a polar vortex. Although, I have found wine a nice diversion as well (except for my last attempt that is).

But I digress. Marketing is NOT Mr. Beers strong point. If you run out of a product, OF COURSE you want to flaunt that on the website as it shows that "everyone must LOVE it." It almost seems like Coopers is doing a Microsoft where you buy the competition and then kill it off.

I must say however that if I found something to stack on the 20% I would grab a few.