Mr. Beer Goes Horribly Wrong 

Best Lines: "Personally, I drink Pabst Blue Ribbon & Bud Light very frequently - so I'm not going to mind how this tastes" "The instructions said: 'If you want to boost the alcohol add 1/2 cup sugar'...so, of course, I added 2 cups of sugar" "It tastes like the flavor in your mouth when you burp after eating a lot of breadsticks"

8:54 "......it's gross ..... I could get used to this ...." LOL

I haven't laughed this hard in a while. Good stuff. "It kind of tastes like a belch after eating bread sticks"

Could not stop laughing when you said '1996'. 10/10 for effort

I love how you say "Yeah, that tastes kinda awful." with such a straight face. :P I'll be sure to check out more of your vids :D

Wow!! This is the best comedy I have seen in a long time. I think he earned a new/fresh brewing kit. Mike licked it

never, ever, used expired LME, especially after 15 years after the date. again, never, ever use bakers yeast to make beer, thats for bread, to make beer, you need yeast for beer... You can try again, just go to your local homebrew shop and buy fresh stuff, or go to mr.beers website. Try not to experiment too much right out of the gate. get your process down and then play with recipes.

My kids and I watched this when they were very young about ten years ago (2013). The "It tastes kind of awful" line at 8:01 is so classic

I stopped watching at 4 minutes..... The list of mistakes was too much. Get a coopers kit new from the shop and follow the instructions. Perfect beer.

I'm glad you both enjoyed it, thanks so much for the comment.

You should sell it, as “ mikes vintage pale ale” and say it’s aged 20 years

Yes I really admire people who are willing to be brutally honest and not try to cover up or 'sugar coat' their video.

Funny, I just bought one today at a yard sale for $5

Thanks for the comment. I'm glad you found it funny and not sad.

Don't be so cheap and get yourself good brewing equipment.

Thanks for the comment. Midwest supplies is pretty great although recently they've messed up a couple big orders for me. Right now I have a homemade 15 gallon system, i only order my hops, grain and yeast online and come up with most of my own recipes based on preference.

Were did you go wrong ?????? Easier to say - what did you do RIGHT. - at least you sanitized before you brewed. ALWAYS use fresh ingredients and a beer yeast. Try it again with fresh, and see how much better it is Happy brewing

Thank you very much, I really appreciate the accolades. You are very kind to write that.

Hahaha so you basically did everything wrong then made a video about it too funny

Thanks for the comment, it was hard to summon the courage to do this, but I'm glad I did.

Kudos for the effort, remember that we usually learn a lot more from our failures than our successes. #1 Never use old shit... ever!!! You wouldn't cook with 15 year old vegetables or meat #2 Always use fresh stuff, when in doubt, throw it out! #3 Don't expect too much from a commercial kit unless your not picky. #4 Read, learn, read, learn! There is much to know grasshopper! #5 Don't be afraid to try different recipes #6 watch out for heavy metals, wood alcohol, and shit like that.

My pleasure, thanks for the kind words.

I've been brewing beer for about a year now with some great successes and some horrible failures. I cannot TELL you in this comment section how much joy this video brought me. I laughed so hard at several points. Thank you for making this video, it was amazing.

Thanks so much for the comment : ) For six dollars this was a pretty fun and worthwhile experiment. I had a lot of fun playing with Mr. Beer and afterwards I knew it would be worth it to spend the money on better setup. I would have never payed 20 dollars let alone over 100 for something i might not have liked at all.

My pleasure, thanks so much for the comment.

My pleasure, thanks for all the great comments.

This was hilarious! I'm so glad you posted it, I'm sure there are other people with an experimental streak that will benefit from it. And I sure appreciated a good chuckle. Glad you've gone on to experience success. Off to check out some of your other videos.

Thanks for the comment. Never had to go to the hospital, it was fairly non-toxic.

Thanks for the comment. I wish you the best of luck on your brewing Journey.

I like the true honesty you put in your description about this beer. NICE...

Thanks so much. I really appreciate the comment.

I have kept at it and have been doing pretty well. Thanks for the comment.

My son and I really enjoyed your video! Haven't laughed so hard in a while, thank you so much!

Thanks for the comment. I actually did google bakers yeast, and the consensus on the interwebs seemed to be that it would make alcohol fine but would impart "off flavors". I had no expectation that this would be the best beer ever, so I just went for it. If anything, the horrible crap that resulted was good for a laugh.

holy shit. I've never laughed so hard in my life as I just did after you took that first sip. thank you. 15 yr old kit?? wtf

Good luck with coopers, and sorry to hear about your leak. Always remember it can be worse. Thanks so much for the very thoughtful comment.

Thansk so much. I really appreciate the comment.

the way you carbonate it is you add some sugar to the bottle and then close it up, the yeast will break down the sugar and as long as it doesn't escape will add CO2 to your beer. After a few days put it in the fridge. My wine i made was flat as well, until i did this.

Thanks so much for your very kind comment. I've actually become something of a fairly avid homebrewer over the course of two years since I recorded this video. My LHBS has been a great resource, and I like to make it an objective to check out other LHBSes when I travel.

One of the best videos I have ever seen on the Internet! I don't know when I laughed harder. The description after he opens the beer.......just perfect. Well done Mike.

Thanks for posting this, man! I've seen how much progress you've made since, and it's endless fun to look back at this first effort (as we all do to some degree!) and be able to laugh at it!

So full of golden moments and quotes. "Wow It's gross, with that said, I could kind of get used to this" I'm sure this is exactly what ancient man said the first time they tasted wild fermented honey in water and the first time thousands of years later when they added hops.

agreed. and dont let this little mishap discourage you. just keep at it and youll make something you'll enjoy

Six weeks is long, but some big beers need months of conditioning before they're palatable. Thanks for the comment. I'm glad your beer ultimately ended up tasting good.

This is quite possibly the best beer review I have ever seen. Brutally honest.

No, sulfites or potassium sorbate is used on beer, fermentation stops on its own and a lot of brewers rely on residual yeast for the carbonation process.

I re-made West Coast Pale ale and it turned out well with a fresh can and normal yeast, it was ok. Then I made the Witty Monk Witbier and the Belgian Dubbel, which were extremely good. Haven't made the Bewitched Red though I'm sure it's very good. Thanks for the comment.

Very much so, thanks for the comment.

I got used to it eventually, but it was hard. Thanks for the comment.

Thanks for the great comment. This video is almost two years old now, and I've brewed quite a lot since. I'm not quite as sophisticated as 3 tiered keggles, but I have done BIAB all grain 5 gallon batches. However, most of my regular brews now a days consist of a 7-8 gallon partial mash in a turkey fryer, followed by a lot of LME / DME, and top off water to fill a 15 gallon fermenter I made out of a PTE liquid storage drum. Part 2 of this video gives a pretty good demonstration.

Thanks for the comment. I'm sure your beer will turn out better than mine did.

Oh my goodness, "I could get used to this" ,my eyes are watering from laughing. I noticed my 2014 Mr. Beer kit on the shelf and decided to make my third batch after two years. If nothing else you convinced me to careful read the instructions again. 👍

your initial reaction was GREAT!! LOL. I did learn "don't use expired ingredients" - Thanks for the tip!

It was an all around fail, but the coconut didn't help. Thanks for the comment.

My kit came from a garage sale, where I bought it from the family member of someone who had purchased it in the mid nineteen nineties. The keg was yellow it had an airlock, and most importantly the yeast and LME had been expired for over 15 years. The newer kit is quite different from what I've read, I kept my batch covered with a towel, it mostly got ruined because of the age of ingredients I used, and supplementing dead yeast with bread yeast.

"I'm not completely unfamiliar with brewing because, you know, I've read about it a lot." That illustrates familiarity with reading, not with brewing.

"yeah, that tastes kind of awful", this guy says! LOL I LIKE'd your video instantly after you said that! Great job.

It was only six bucks at a yard sale. I've made multiple refills since this that have turned out great. Thanks for the comment : )

glad to see you kept going and didnt get discouraged. good luck to your zymurgy!

That was really funny! You're a brave man for drinking that, but I admire the adventurous spirit! When I saw your Mr. Beer I had an idea what was going to happen because I bought one with a buddy of mine in college back in 1998 I think, and it also had the air lock on top. The new ones don't come with an air lock and use a slotted lid instead. The diminished head was probably a combination of the breakdown of old ingredients and finished off by the oils in the coconut. Keep brewing, great video!

Hilarious! thanks for the laugh. i dont know how you kept a straight face after each sip. That’s gold Jerry, gold!

Whatever works, there at least some value in everything. Thanks for the comment.

This video is from a couple years ago, I brewed with the kit several more times and it was fine as long as the ingredients were fresh. Eventually I pieced together my own kit from scratch and now I brew 15 gallon all grain.

PS. I have noticed it needs to be in the keg and bottles much longer than recommended, also, the plastic bottles always seem to make the beer taste crappy, using glass bottles and my beer tastes much better, even out of the same batch.

For someone that negotiated 8 bucks to 6... then using bakers yeast... you get what you pay for....

Loved the "hmmm...tastes kind of awful". Every one who brews has had problems with a few batches. That's how we learn.

That would technically be illegal, but not a bad idea ; ) Thanks for the comment.

@GrtGads Thanks for the comment. I'm glad I could give you a laugh. I've made multiple good brews since this failed first attempt.

Thanks so much for the comment.

thanks so much for the comment.

@zeeva69 I did put priming sugar in the bottles. It was actually very well cabonated, it just didn't form a head. Thanks for the comment.

This is great! Seeing how far you've come to an all grain setup i'm envious of, only makes this video better. I was laughing out loud at some 'noobie' brewing his first beer (noobie here too) but it's wonderful to see a 15 year old Mr Beer kit create a brewer. Excellent!

If I ever do a coconut beer again I'm going to add coconut water after the boil right before primary, whole coconut is too oily and kills head retention.

It was supposed to be a blonde colored ale, but it came out black. 15 years in the can caused some amazing chemical changes to take place. I've made multiple refills, since this video, and a lot of partial mash recipes. I've done all grain on a small scale, but for the most part I brew 15 gallon batches with a condensed 7 gallon boil. If you watch part 2 of this video it will give you a better Idea of what I've been up to lately.

I give you credit for trying it. That's dedication right there.

It's amazing how he did everything wrong that you do wrong, and still made something kinda drinkable.

I gave you a big thumps up ! You are so funny. I am still laughing !

Thanks, this ended up being funny completely by accident. I really appreciate the comment.

Thanks for the video. It was fun to hear your story. I've used Mr.Beer for a couple years now and have brewed some award winning beers in national competition with it. So it can produce really good beer. My biggest issue with Mr Beer is the batch size and cost/effort ratio. For that reason I'm moving on to larger batch options. But for those just getting started wanting to learn the basics it's a viable system. Just be prepared to out-grow it quickly.

will do. thanks for the comment.

Almost black, no head retention, but decently carbonated, tastes like burnt toast, with notes of Parmesan cheese, and fresh tennis balls and has a very strong yeasty barnyard after taste. Overall, good alcohol and carbonation, but extremely peculiar flavor, it eventually becomes drinkable if you stop expecting it to taste anything like any other beer.

I'm glad to see this didn't make you give up on brewing (at least as of a year ago judging by your all grain videos). We all make mistakes and learn from them. Cheers!

Thanks for the comment!

Pretty sure that was just one of a number of things I did incorrectly.

The carbonation was actually fine. It just looked flat because there was no head retention.

Very true! Thanks for the comment.

I have, most of my brews since this have been successful. Thanks for the comment.

"Sugar" is generally a synonym of Sucrose which is a disaccharide of Fructose bonded to Glucose. Mr. Beer Booster is made from a mixture of other various "more beer like" carbohydrates like maltose and dextrose. I think one of the reasons a lot of serious brewers steer away from cane sugar (sucrose) is that it tends to impart a cidery character to ones brew. Personally, I still will dump pounds of regular sugar in my brew but I choose my grain-bill specifically to balance out the cider flavor.

Great job on the video. My first try with the Mr. Beer turned out pretty much exactly the same. Thanks for the laugh this morning!

Best line: "Cause I like alcohol." -- I drink a lot of beer, myself, and have often thought about brewing my own. Maybe if you went and bought a fresh batch of brewers yeast and used hops instead of coconut just to really give it a good neutral shot, before branching out. But it doesn't look like it's too bad for a first effort. Thanks for making this video. Very entertaining!

I laughed so hard as I was watching this. I don't know what was funnier - hearing that baker's yeast and dry coconut was added, or the the comment "I think I can get used to this". Not knocking ya man, but the results are pretty consistent with all the factors in play. Thank for the vid.

@pcfix33 Alot of yeasts can produce very unexpected flavors and aromas. The whitelabs WLP300 makes beer taste and smell like bananas. The bakers yeast I used in this brew made it taste like charcoal and bread. Thanks for the comment.

My pleasure, I'm happy to amuse.

"Hmmmmm... Yea that tastes kinda awful..." so much respect for posting this gem bro!

I've got a pretty good LHBs nearby, but I was able to do a couple other MR. Beer refills successfully on my own. Making the yard sale beer was guaranteed to fail regardless. Thanks for the comment.

This video was classic! Loved it ... thanks for sharing your 'experience' ... had a good chuckle

Thanks man, I made the a bunch of the regular Mr. Beer kits, after the expired first try, and they all turned out great. This first one didn't necessarily taste so horrible once I started pretending that it was something other than beer, I sort of acquired a tolerance for it's unique flavor.

It doesn't taste like plastic. I'd imagine it's the material of choice because it's resilient and light weight, also cheaper to produce.

I'm actually growing Cabernet Sauvignon in my backyard right now! Hopefully in a couple year not only will I be making my own wine, but I'll be making it from my own grapes.

Thats very true! Thanks for the comment.