This is definitely a good kit! I got one a couple Woot-Offs ago. Fairly simple to use and yields pretty decent beer

I bought this kit from Woot many months ago. I've brewed about 6-7 beers in it and recently switched to an higher-end all-grain setup.

My opinion on the Mr Beer kit... It's a perfect starting avenue for those interested in homebrewing. It's very easy to do. From my experience, the quality with all the different Mr Beer varieties I've tried (6-7), the ending brew is fair to good. As I said, I've moved to an all-grain setup and I've really gotten some great beers from that. It's shown me what's possible from an in-home setup. Your results and opinions will obviously vary. But regardless, it's a cheap and worthy starting point.

@atd15: I haven't (I'm not a fan of root beer), but I would imagine that it works very similarly. The carbonation comes from putting sugar in the bottles before adding the liquid...I can't imagine soda is that radically different.

@firebirdude is definitely correct. This was my first attempt at brewing (which I managed to mess up slightly), but if I ever got serious about it, I'd want something more advanced. This is good in that everything is prepared for you, but making wort sounds like it would be fun. To get the idea of brewing though, it's a great place to start.

it looks like most of the refills are $15 to $18 or so.

http://www.mrbeer.com/category-exec/category_id/11

Whew, I'm glad it's "New." Wouldn't want used beer now.

I see triple refill packs are about $25. (60 bottles 12oz)

Ahh decisions!?

@evawheel: Clark, that's the gift that keeps on giving throughout the entire year.

@evawheel: thats the problem with Mr. beer. You just cannot make a decent beer (ESPECIALLY a lager) with it.

Mr. Beer is the gateway drug of homebrewing. You'll start off with the $20 investment and then the next thing you know you'll be making kegerators and keezers.

I got into homebrewing from one of the $200 kits from a local brew store... "Extract Brewing" they call it. I did 3 or 4 Extract batches... then jumped right into All Grain Brewing... that cost me around $800... but it's the best beer I've made at home.

So for $20 ... this can get your first attempts at home brewing to see if you like it... then maybe move up to Extract Brewing if you really like it and want to make better beer.

@adshahs: I recommend moving to the "middle ground" that I mentioned earlier. It's an all-grain brew, that you brew in a fine mesh bag. Mash the grains, start your boil and add your hops, cool, pitch the yeast, and then transfer to the Mr Beer keg to ferment in. Homebrewtalk dot com is a great forum to learn more. Search the term "BIAB" (brew in a bag). After fermentation is complete, rack the beer to a secondary container to batch prime all the beer with sugar at once. Then use a bottling wand to bottle.

As for moving to glass bottles, it's your call. No difference in final outcome. Just collect dark colored glass bottles and buy a capper.

Just got home and it sold out. Guess it's back to making moonshine for me...