Here'* the results of a week of sitting in the keg... I know there'* a few guys out here that do their own and are much more in depth than I am (willwren, toasty, JMH, etc). Do you guys have any tips for doing this? I looked at www.mrbeer.com and seen some kits that looked pretty tasty.
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Mmmm Beer

8 bottles, that'* it? Gezz, I make beer by the corny keg. Kits are a waste. Go to a brew shop and get what you need, talk to the people there. The small kits are a lot of work, with little beer. Hmm, now you got me thinking, time to brew some more midnight milk stout.

It'* 8 bottles, one liter each. It was all that came with the Mr. Beer kit.

Hmm, those are the same bottles that Frost Top root beer comes in...($0.99 a liter!)
Tip, ditch the plastic bottles and get some brown glass jugs...from what I recall, thicker, darker glass helps preserve beer, and larger amounts keep it from going skunky as fast....

If you don't want large containers, just use some of your store-bought screw-cap empties.
Or I believe you can buy new caps?

Only a week fermenting? That'* not going to be very good. You'll find you need to go almost two weeks minimum for most of those, especially with dry brewer'* yeast, which takes longer to grow colonies in the fermenter.

Try liquid yeast from www.williamsbrewery.com

Leave it in the bottle twice as long as they say (or you'll be disappointed). Their timeline is for the bare minumum to barely pass as beer.

Then dump the PET bottles, and go to non-twistoff glass (brown) bottles, get some caps and a capper. I prefer 22-24oz bottles for half the amount of capping (although the girls LOVE to cap for me as long as I fill).

Get a drop tube to fill your bottles from the bottom up. Don't use table sugar to bottle prime. Use Coopers drops from williamsbrewery. One per 12oz, two per 22-24.

The best priming is done by saving one bottle of wert, capping it and putting it to the side before yeast is added. That way your not introducing a different sugar. Then you add that bottle back in to the wert before racking it. Kegging is better because you dont have to rack it and wait a few more weeks. You can drink in a few days, and that'* what it'* all about.

Well, so far it sounds like this batch is going to be a bust... Plastic bottles, plain white sugar, only a week in the keg... Live and learn I guess. It says to let carbonate for a minimum of 7 days, but for optimal carbonization let sit for 2-3 weeks. Which timeline should I double?

Not wert.

WORT.


And 'saving wort' won't do you much good. Save your YEAST off the bottom, not the wort. Your beer will take on a 'personality' of yours if you keep your yeast in circulation.