Others say...

"Fun and Easy to use"
I bought this for my boyfriend and we've made several batches already. (Actually, I've made several batches. He drinks it, I make it) I don't drink beer myself, but have alot of fun brewing it. We've made some light beer, like the canadian mist, we've made the irish beer, and german beer and all of them turned out good. Our friends liked some of them even better then what they bought at the store and brought. The last batch I added a can of blueberries to it, and while we thought it'd be horrible, after it was ready, it had a slight color to it and a slight blueberry flavor. This kit is perfect if you want to have everything ready for you and all you have to do is pretty much mix it together. Plus with all the different flavors and crazy recipes, you have plenty to choose from.

"Makes an awesome brew"
So finally getting around to reviewing this thing. A quick rundown: Mr. Beer is basically a stripped down method of home brewing. While "real" home brewing is not brain surgery by any means, Mr Beer takes a lot of the legwork and time out of the equation. There is no boiling or steeping needed, no need to prepare airlocks, no need to rack the beer to a secondary fermenter, etc. Its extremely "dumbed down", for lack of a better term. But don't let that deter you!

The MAIN thing to first timers: Do NOT judge this kit by the initial creation!!!!!! I cannot stress this enough! The kit will come with a can of hopped malt extract, usually the West Coast Pale Ale or the Canadian Draft and a package of "Booster", which is basically corn sugar. These base ingredients, when used properly, will provide a PASSABLE beer. But honestly, it's just a way for you to learn how to do it. A bottle of budweiser will likely taste much better. If you persevere, go to the Mr. Beer website and order some of the other (and better) ingredients. Instead of using the booster, its highly recommended to go with a Unhopped Malt Extract. Used in conjunction with one of the hopped cans, these all malt recipes can make some EXCELLENT beers. MUCH better than what is commonly available on the store shelves. You can even get creative and add some of your own touches, such as coriander, cinnamon, orange peel, etc. Also using finishing hops is a great way to add some good aroma and flavor to the final product. I recently brewed up an Octoberfest that blew my friends away. They thought that I had used my "real" homebrewing rig to make it, so I strung them along for a while and finally told them it came from Mr Beer. A real beer kit is excellent and something Mr Beer users may want to graduate to, but I can tell you that this kit here brews some beer on par and sometimes exceeding what I have done with the real deal, and I have made some killer brews the "real" way.

All said, this is a great product. It does suffer some design flaws, such as the lack of a traditional airlock and limited capacity. Making brews with a high amount of fermentables, such as any fruit ale recipes, can be a pain as the notched vents can become clogged during the initial stage. I had a close call where the plastic keg swelled almost to the point of explosion. The woman would have loved that! Also, there is a certain joy to "real" brewing that is missing with Mr. Beer, such as doing a long boil of the wort with different hop varieties. With this kit, its just boiling the water and then removing the heat to add the premixed malts. Simple, makes a unbelievable beer at times, but some of the "fun" is sacrificed. As with all brewing, SANITATION is key! And good water. This is a great buy and I highly recommend this kit to any beer lover. Easy and can put just about any store bought beer to shame.

"Good way to start"
This was an excellent way to introduce myself to the world of homebrewing. I don't believe it's possible to make one's own beer for a lower initial investment.

My first batch came out great, which was a big worry for me beforehand. The instruction booklet that came with the kit was well done and gave a lot of excellent tips. The only thing about the instructions that I thought needed to be improved was to add a step-by-step checklist, since all the instructions are written in narrative form. I used those instructions to make my own checklist before I started, to make sure I didn't skip a step or start out without everything being ready. Since the kit only comes with materials enough for one batch, I didn't want to mess up the only one I had.

I've been homebrewing with the Mr. Beer kit for three months now, although I have steadily progressed beyond the basics in the kit until the only thing I'm using now is the keg for initial fermentation. I also bought an extra keg, since the wort mix I get from my homebrew supply store makes twice as much as the small Mr. Beer mixes.

While the kit itself was cheap, I felt that refills were too expensive, and having a homebrew supply store within driving distance, I have bought additional supplies and equipment there. Of course, there's the additional benefit of advice from the knowledgeable salespeople there too.

If you've never brewed your own beer, and think you might want to, but you don't want to spend a lot to find out, this is an excellent choice. And if you're like me, once you realize it's great fun and a rewarding hobby, you'll want to go beyond this kit very fast.

"pretty darned solid"
I will preface this by saying I will post a second review once my first batch is done.
I am at a slight advantage over most because I live in Tucson and am only 2 miles from their offices. So much easier to pick up product.
If you follow the directions in the book you can become a lot more creative and try more complex beers. I would also say the biggest thing is a clean environment. Wait more than 10 minutes on the sanitizer step, more like 15. I would also say get a larger than 3 quart pot to brew with and sanatize the reck out of it. If you use more complex recipes a 3 quart pot is too small and will spill all over the fermenter keg when you pour into it.
I read the reviews of all the people who have had negative comments on the booster. I have used it in combination with honey, brown sugar and mandrin orange and you get a better percentage than just using booster alone. in my first batch, light lager with honey and mandrin orange the flat taste was excellent.
Get the better yeast and ingredients and you get a better beer. A good beer takes more than 14 days to make so be patient and if not get a second keg and start a second batch. my first batch fermented for 9 days and bottles should be ready by the end of the month.
Great customer service and help on brewing ideas. I do reccomend this product but only real drawback is that the system is not dishwasher compatable. Get grolsh type bottles!!! Fischer makes a 22 oz amber that is perfect for this.

"Missing O Ring Delays Brewing"
The item I ordered took a long time to ship but did arrive 7-10 days from the shipping date as quoted. So it took over two weeks to get to me. That was dissapointing because it was a birthday gift for my son. The day I gave him the belated gift he was so excited and planned to go right home and start making beer. Unfortunately when he opened the starter kit, critical parts were missing. It took another 3-5 days to get the missing parts.