As a person who started with Mr. Beer it gave me what I needed when I started the confidence to continue and not sweat the mistakes that most of us make when we start. Since Mr. Beer has been bought by Coopers the malt extracts have improved…it will make a good beer (not great) if done using a proper technique as mentioned here before.
They should have gone with an Ale versus a Lager to begin with but they saw “Lite Beer” and probably said hey lets go with that…
I went from Mr. Beer kits to a second LBK and splitting 5 gallon recipes, before I got a couple of buckets for ful five gallon. The LBK still works as a good 2.5 gallon fermentor…
I just wish CR would have done a bit more research…
i got my start with mr beer and have long since moved on.glad i did!! it was ok at best but got me obsessed with making my own better beer! i just joined this forum an glad i did. i was going to the mrb forum and just getting iritated with the know it alls on there.there is ALOT better and more in depth info on here from,it seems to me, way more experienced brewers here.
Thank you for taking the time to contact Consumer Reports®. I want to express how much we value your choice of our products and services to help you make informed purchasing decisions.
We appreciate your writing to us regarding our report on beer in the August 2013 issue. I think you have taken too much out of a short comment on an individual home brew kit review. This in no way is meant to disparage or diminish the entire realm of home brewers. We know that many can and do put forth great effort to produce high-quality products. Since that is something we couldn’t control or measure with a standard, all we could include was the results produced by a uniformly sold kit.
Please be assured that our readers’ feedback plays a strong role in the work that we do. Because of this I have taken the liberty of sharing your feedback with the appropriate members of our staff for their review and future consideration.
Consumer Reports is committed to making your experience positive and informative.
Sincerely,
Peter D. Harzewski Specialist Customer Relations ____________________________________________________________
Goldenchild, you received at least an edited form letter response. Mine included no reference to my letter or subject matter whatsoever; it was an entirely bland response.
Also, Stompawampa, you’re 100% on-course, I think. Consumer reports did disparage the entirety of homebrewing with its statements and direct comparison to commercial products. They didn’t say “How did Mr. Beer do?”, but instead said “How did home brew do”?
Ok I’m seriously losing my mind. Who was the guy who did the infomercials for Mr. Beer (or maybe Beer Machine, or one of those other terrible devices) who looks kind of like this guy from Police Academy?
One of those few times where Google can’t provide an answer and I am frustrated beyond the bounds of someone from the 90’s who has never used Google.
In other words, you don’t know what you’re talking about. We’re Consumer Reports, dammit.[/quote]
No, what they meant was that they have to have a standard to judge by. Since every person’s individual homebrew is not standard, the only way they can do it is to use something available to everyone. People just need to calm down about this…
Thank you for taking the time to contact Consumer Reports®. I want to express how much we value your choice of our products and services to help you make informed purchasing decisions.
We appreciate your writing to us regarding our report on beer in the August 2013 issue. I think you have taken too much out of a short comment on an individual home brew kit review. …____________________________________________________________[/quote]
Wow! What did you say in your message to them? I got back a very different response. They didn’t say anything meaningful, but they also didn’t tell me to go jump off a cliff either.
Thank you for taking the time to contact Consumer Reports®. :blah:
We appreciate your writing to us regarding our report on beer in the August 2013 issue. I think you have taken too much out of a short comment on an individual home brew kit review. :blah:
Please be assured that our readers’ feedback plays a strong role in the work that we do. :blah:
Consumer Reports is committed to making your experience positive and informative.
Sincerely,
Peter D. Harzewski Specialist Customer Relations ____________________________________________________________[/quote]
Translation: “F@*& you.”
Honestly, their methodologies were deeply flawed. A bunch of first timers following a kit is only good for determining if the instructions are clearly written and easy to follow. And that’s not a beer comment. That’s ANY kit; even Ikea furniture.
From now on, when a beer doesn’t turn out because you didn’t think the procedure through properly, the new term for it is a “Harzewski Brewski”
People actually read consumer reports? :roll: Honestly I think the home brew movement will do much better based on word of mouth from all the folks on this forum than it will do from commercialized sources. A year ago I would never have thought of brewing anything, now I can’t stop thinking about what to brew next. BUT, a lot of my success is based on friends that help me from their own experience and forums like this. I feel for anyone who starts brewing based on a consumer reports article. They’re going to have a real uphill battle without such good resources to navigate the processes involved.
I think the problem is that there are a lot of people who think home brewing sounds neat, but haven’t tried it. (me for years) When you see a report that seems to confirm that it’s really hard or impossible to make drinkable home brew, it scares those people off.
The fact, as we all know, is that it’s really easy to make drinkable* home brew. And it’s a disservice to scare off those who may be on the fence about trying.
*Granted, truly awesome, or competition-worthy brew requires more technical skill and control. but I’d compare it to “tasty” versus “competition worthy” BBQ. I cook some 'cue that my family raves about, but I’m no pit master.
I think it is more of a disservice to us brewers who already have to face people who think homebrew is nasty, cheap, swill. There are still many beliefs out there that homebrew is yeasty nasty sedimenty beer that makes you sick, gives you the runs, gets you tanked, and taste like crap.
When you read an article like that it almost confirms peoples belief. Not that I’m going to go to consumer reports to build a car but I will go there to find out if a car I was thinking about buying is good. Do you think I would buy a car I was on the fence about if it got poor reports?
I have a Cherry Hefe that’s guilty on all counts. >sigh< But that’s one experimental batch that failed.
But you’re right. Some tool in a rag mag says all that about homebrew in general, and you say, “No, my friends and I make awesome homebrew!” and people not only believe the tool over you, but also conclude you’re deluded about what makes for good beer.
