On

Christmas 2003, I got a Mr. Beer kit as a gift. I've had an interest in home brewing

for decades but didn't have the room for all the equipment. With this kit, you use pre-mixed ingredients to make

two gallons of beer. My first batch wasn't that great, due to either a lack of cleanliness (I accidentally messed

up with the fermenter's lid) or old ingredients or both. But the other two batches I made last spring turned out

well.

You mix up the ingredients with water and let it set in the fermenter for about a week. In my

experience though, it has taken two weeks for most batches. This is the stage where the alcohol is produced. You

then transfer the beer to bottles that have a bit of table sugar in the bottom. This is the carbonation stage and

takes at least another week before it's drinkable. It's a "live" beer, so there is yeast in the bottle, so you

pour it into a glass, leaving a little bit of beer in the bottle to avoid pouring the sediment.

Just sampled

a beer I bottled last week, "Caribbean Lime Lager." The kit comes with recipes to include fruit in the mix and as I

had accidentally ordered a mix I had made last spring, and the fact that I like lime with Coronas, I decided to try

this one. In addition to the "Englishman's Nut Brown Ale" mix, the recipe also includes brown sugar, honey, and the

zest and juice of two limes.

Not bad! As it sits in the bottles longer it should get even better.

I

went on the Straight Dope Message Board last year in praise of this kit and got flamed by home beermakers saying

that the kit was trash. But for my circumstances it's perfect.

The beer is comprable to a microbrew and is

actually an ale. I've only had a few swallows and am having trouble typing, the alcohol content is so strong. I

have an Oatmeal Stout in the fermenter right now that I had hoped to bottle this weekend, but again the fermentation

ws slow to start. I had hoped to get a Canadian style done before it got hot, but we've been in the 90s this

weekend so I don't know if I'll get a chance to make it. Optimum fermentation temperature is about 68 to 74

degress Farenheit. It can ferment at higher temps, but can produce chemicals that will cause headaches if it's too

hot.

Except for my first batch, I've been very happy with the brews I've produced. For anyone who has had

in interest in brewing, I think this is a great way to start out.